Readers often ask: “What to season a vegetable salad with, besides mayonnaise?” In fact, there are a lot of healthy and tasty homemade dressings that will serve as an excellent alternative to the far from harmless store-bought sauce. I will share my favorite recipes for delicious and nutritious vegetable salad dressings.
Basically, they are all based on olive oil with various interesting additives and there is an option for a spicy yogurt dressing that can fully replace the ubiquitous mayonnaise.
Salad dressings can be varied by adding herbs, aromatic spices, ground nuts, soy sauce, honey or pieces of fruit and vegetables. I hope this selection was useful and you can find something for yourself. Personally, I will contact her constantly :)
1. French Creamy Salad Dressing
Ideal for dressing a variety of green vegetable salads. You can’t call it dietary; there is heavy cream in the sauce.
Ingredients:
- white onion - 1 pc.
- butter - 1 tbsp. l.
- cream 33% fat - 100 ml
- purified water - 50 ml
- olive oil - 100 ml
- salt - to taste
- white and black pepper - a pinch
Recipe:
Peel the onion and grind in a blender bowl to a puree. In a small ladle, simmer the onion puree in butter, adding fine salt, white and black pepper.
Add some water and continue cooking the ingredients until the liquid reduces. Next, add olive oil and cream. Boil the dressing for a few more minutes and remove from heat. Using a blender, grind the mixture to a homogeneous smooth consistency.
2. Vinaigrette dressing
Perfect for seasonal vegetables and potato salads.
Ingredients:
- olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
- lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
- white wine vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.
- salt, pepper - to taste
Recipe:
Mix olive oil with lemon juice in a deep bowl and add white wine vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix thoroughly with a whisk. The amount of lemon juice and vinegar can be adjusted according to your taste.
3. Italian dressing with orange juice
It will be a piquant addition to salads with radishes, green onions or arugula, iceberg lettuce, romaine.
Ingredients:
- fresh orange – 300 ml
- peeled pumpkin seeds - 50 g
- black pepper - a pinch
- olive oil – 300 ml+20 ml
- brown sugar - 5 g
- orange zest - 1 tsp.
Recipe:
Pour a tablespoon of olive oil (20 ml) into a frying pan. Fry some pumpkin seeds in it. Then pour freshly squeezed orange juice into the pan. Boil everything for a few minutes so that some of the liquid evaporates.
Add a little orange zest and a pinch of brown sugar.
Pour pre-chilled olive oil into a gravy boat. Pour the contents of the frying pan into it. Stir and add salt to taste.
4. Italian Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
Traditionally, this sauce is used for salads with herbs and tomatoes.
Ingredients:
- balsamic vinegar - 500 ml
- olive oil - 300 ml
- liquid honey - 100 g
- cloves - 4 buds
Recipe:
Pour the liquid honey into a small saucepan. Add balsamic vinegar to it. Add clove buds to the mixture for flavor. Boil the mixture over low heat for 25 minutes. As a result, the liquid should evaporate and decrease in volume by half.
Pour the olive oil, pre-chilled in the refrigerator, into a gravy boat. Then add boiled honey sauce to it. Before serving the salad, whisk the dressing well with a whisk or fork.
5. Yogurt dressing
Ideal for salads with mushrooms, good in a regular salad of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. Pairs perfectly with cabbage. In short, it creates a good start for salad creativity.
Ingredients:
- natural yogurt - 250 g
- lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
- liquid honey - 2-3 tsp.
- table mustard - 1 tsp.
- grated orange zest - 1 tsp.
Recipe:
Mix yogurt with mustard. Add lemon juice, liquid honey and orange zest, mix until smooth. Let cool before dressing the salad.
6. Egg mustard dressing
It will highlight the taste of vegetables and give them a spicy note. This sauce is universal and goes well with any vegetable salad.
Ingredients:
- olive or sunflower oil - 60 ml
- egg yolk - 1 pc.
- table mustard - 1 tsp.
- apple cider vinegar - 100 ml
- sugar - 1 tsp.
- salt - 0.5 tsp.
- ground black pepper - a pinch
Recipe:
Grind table mustard, fine salt, granulated sugar, ground black pepper and raw egg yolk in a mortar. Then add vegetable oil and vinegar into the resulting mixture, stirring constantly. The dressing must be shaken before use.
7. Dressing with olive oil, lemon juice and Italian herbs
Complements green vegetable salads. And if you add mustard, you get a sauce for vegetable salad with tuna, also known as French nicoise.
Ingredients:
- lemon juice - 50 ml
- fine salt - 0.5 tsp.
- ground black pepper - 0.25 tsp.
- Italian herbs - 1 tsp.
- olive oil - 100 ml
Recipe:
In a deep bowl, whisk lemon juice with salt, Italian herbs and black pepper with a fork. Without ceasing to beat, pour in the olive oil. You can add a little sweet table mustard to the resulting mixture to taste.
Bon appetit!
Sauces for vegetable salads play the most important role in a dish; the sauce is the mood and highlight of the entire dish. They can either enhance or ruin the taste of food. Even the most modest salad can be turned into a delicious dish if you season it with a delicious sauce.
To prepare sauces such as “mayonnaise”, you should take products at the same temperature; it is advisable to take them out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before cooking.
The variety of sauces is huge: sweet, sour, hot, spicy. They are prepared from all sorts of products, from the simplest (dairy products, fruits) to what we consider “strange” ingredients; in Asia, for example, they prepare sauce from rotten fish. Of course, we won’t cook from this ingredient, but we can offer a selection of interesting recipes. So, the most delicious sauces for vegetable salads:
How to prepare sauce for vegetable salad - 15 varieties
This recipe contains garlic, but even if you are planning a romantic evening, you can safely eat a dish with this sauce, there will be no unpleasant smell.
Ingredients:
- Olive oil 150 ml.
- Wine vinegar 3 tbsp. spoons
- Mustard 1 tbsp. spoon
- Garlic 1 clove
- Honey 1 teaspoon
Preparation:
It is better to prepare the dressing immediately in a small jar; it will be convenient to cook in it and, cover it with a lid, store it in the refrigerator.
First, pour the required amount of oil, then add three tablespoons of wine vinegar. Crush the garlic with a knife, but do not cut it finely. Pour honey on top and add mustard. Mix thoroughly and leave for about five minutes so that the garlic releases its aroma. Then, take out the garlic clove and you can season the salad.
A delicious salad requires delicious ingredients and a delicious, zesty dressing that you can whip up quickly.
Ingredients:
- Soy sauce 6 tbsp. spoons
- Olive oil 7 tbsp. spoons
- Spices
- Sherry vinegar 6 tbsp. spoons
Preparation:
Mix soy sauce, olive oil and sherry vinegar. If you don’t have sherry vinegar on hand, you can easily replace it with regular vinegar. Then add herbs, you can take any of them to your taste. This recipe calls for basil and chives.
Add the herbs and some pepper to the soy sauce, vinegar and oil mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the sauce over the salad and you're done!
This sauce has a delicious aroma and velvety texture. It is ideal for any salads.
Ingredients:
- Natural yogurt 1 ¼ cups
- Mustard 1 tbsp. spoon
- Lemon juice 2-3 tbsp. spoons
- Sunflower oil 4 teaspoons
- Salt and ground black pepper.
Preparation:
Place all ingredients in a food processor or immersion blender and blend at low speed until smooth.
Sunflower oil can be replaced with flaxseed oil; combined with yogurt it will give the perfect combination.
This sauce contains fewer calories than vegetable oil.
Ingredients:
- Juice of one lemon
- Mustard beans 2 teaspoons
- Olive oil 4-5 tablespoons
- Dried basil 2 pinches
- Soy sauce 2 tbsp. spoons
- Dry garlic, ground pepper to taste.
- Water 5 tbsp. spoons
Preparation:
Place all the ingredients in a bowl, add water at the very end so that you can adjust the thickness of the sauce, and mix thoroughly. Let the dressing sit for a few minutes. We pour the sauce on top of the salad, it turns out very tasty, you don’t feel the water.
The salad for this sauce does not need to be salted; the soy sauce in the dressing will do the job perfectly.
If you are watching your figure, then you should pay attention to this sauce, which has already become a classic.
Ingredients:
- Cottage cheese 255 gr.
- Greens (dill, mint, cilantro.) 1 bunch
- Lemon juice 1 tbsp. spoon
- Garlic 2 cloves
- Olive oil 3 tbsp. spoons
- Salt to taste.
Preparation:
First, the greens should be thoroughly rinsed under running water and then dried. You can shred it arbitrarily. Afterwards, transfer all the products into a blender and mix. If the sauce turns out to be thick, then it can be diluted with both olive oil and kefir.
To further reduce the number of calories, you can use natural yogurt instead of cottage cheese. It will turn out no less tasty.
The French say: with a good sauce you can eat an old sole. And in this they are absolutely right, today is just one of those.
Ingredients:
- Medium-sized lemon 1 pc.
- Cream 300 ml.
- Mint several leaves.
Preparation:
The recipe is so simple that it’s a shame to even call it a recipe. Squeeze the juice out of the lemon and put mint in it, you need to mash them a little and leave so that the juice is saturated with aromas. The leaves should sit in the juice for at least 15 minutes. When the juice is soaked, remove the mint from it, pour in the cream in a thin stream and stir gently. Literally before your eyes the sauce will become thick.
You can add a little brightness to the sauce by sprinkling with lemon zest.
Beets are great both as a stand-alone dish and as a great addition to other foods. But few people know that you can prepare a sophisticated dip sauce from ordinary beet and serve it with a vegetable plate.
Ingredients:
- Beetroot 2 pcs.
- Olive oil 3 tbsp. spoons
- Soft cheese 150 gr.
- Tarragon greens 2/3 cup
- For decoration, a small handful of walnuts.
Preparation:
The beets need to be peeled and boiled until tender. There is no need to drain the water, it must cool down. Place beets, cheese, tarragon and olive oil cut into arbitrary cubes into a blender bowl. Whisk everything together. In order to obtain the required consistency, you need to add the water in which the beets were cooked to the sauce. Garnish your sauce with chopped nuts and a sprig of tarragon.
This sauce goes with everything: both a regular vegetable salad and delicate fish.
Ingredients:
- Dor blue cheese 150 gr.
- Lemon juice 1 tbsp. spoon
- Chopped onion 1 tbsp. spoon
- Garlic 2 cloves
- Homemade cream 200 gr.
- Small bunch of cilantro
- Turmeric 0.5 teaspoon
- Olive oil 2 tbsp. spoons
- Curry 0.5 tsp
- Salt pepper
- Zira 0.5 teaspoon
- Soy sauce to taste
Preparation:
Add cream to a bowl, add dor blue cheese and all other ingredients. Using an immersion blender, mix everything thoroughly. The sauce is ready!
For the attention of all eggplant lovers, we offer an interesting sauce that is in perfect harmony with any vegetables.
Ingredients:
- Eggplant 1 pc.
- Olive oil 3 tbsp. spoons
- Lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. spoons
- Pine nuts or walnuts 0.5 tbsp.
Preparation:
Eggplant should be prepared in any way convenient for you: either baked in the oven or grilled. Nuts should be crushed into fine crumbs. In a blender bowl, beat the eggplant pulp, nuts, olive oil, lemon juice and salt. Make this sauce and it will become one of your favorites.
Ingredients:
- Cashew nuts 4 tbsp. spoons
- Soy sauce 4 tbsp. spoons
- Sesame oil 2 teaspoons
- Rice vinegar 3 teaspoons
- Boiled water 1 cup
Preparation:
Grind the cashews in a coffee grinder; it is better to do this in small portions, so the nuts can be ground more thoroughly. You should have the consistency of fine crumbs. Then pour the nut flour into a saucepan and add a little water. We put it on the fire and begin to boil, stirring everything thoroughly. Pour out all the water in small portions. The mixture should not boil too much. While actively kneading, make sure that there are no lumps. When the mixture has boiled down, add all the liquid ingredients. The sauce is ready, but must be cooled before serving.
This sauce is famous for its delicious cheesy taste. But it is worth considering that due to the content of cheese and butter, it is extremely high in calories.
Ingredients:
- Butter 3 tbsp. spoons
- Cheddar cheese 150 gr.
- Wheat flour 3 tbsp. spoons
- Dry mustard 0.5 tbsp. spoons
- Milk 400 ml.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation:
Melt the butter in a frying pan, add flour and mustard, stirring well and fry the flour a little; it will be enough if it darkens a little. Then add milk in a thin stream, remembering to stir so that the sauce does not separate and lumps do not form. Cook for about one minute. Then add the grated cheese (it should be about a glass.) Keep it on the fire until the cheese dissolves and the sauce becomes a homogeneous consistency. Remove from heat and add spices to taste.
We all know the world famous Greek salad. But not many people prepare it correctly, especially the dressing for it. Many people simply pour vegetable oil over the salad. We want to correct this mistake and make a flavorful Greek salad dressing.
Ingredients:
- Olive oil 1\2 cup
- Lemon juice 1/4 cup
- Garlic 1 clove
- Oregano 1 teaspoon
- Salt 1\2 teaspoons
- Ground pepper.
Preparation:
Place chopped garlic in a dressing jar and add all the dry ingredients there. Then oil and lemon juice. Close the jar tightly and shake well. You can store this dressing in the refrigerator.
The most favorite sauce in the whole world. It is easily available and can be stored in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Ingredients:
- Wine vinegar or lemon juice 1/3 cup
- Olive oil 1 cup
- Garlic 4 cloves
- Salt 1.5 teaspoons
- Ground black pepper 0.5 teaspoon
- Spicy mustard 2 teaspoons
Preparation:
Gradually add olive oil to freshly squeezed lemon juice. Pass the garlic through a press, and, along with the rest of the products, add to the mixture of oil and lemon juice. You need to mix everything very well. Pour into a container with a lid and let it brew for several hours.
This sauce is served with grilled or steamed vegetables, shrimp or fish.
Ingredients:
- Garlic 10 cloves
- Yolk 1 pc.
- 200 ml. olive oil
- Lemon juice 1 teaspoon
- Salt 0.5 tsp. spoons
- Pepper 0.5 teaspoon.
Preparation:
Beat the yolk, add garlic crushed in a mortar and the rest of the ingredients. Mix everything thoroughly. The sauce is ready.
Before breaking an egg, it should be washed thoroughly to avoid salmonella sticks getting into the sauce.
An unusual combination of sweet honey and salty cheese creates an unforgettable game of taste. Once you cook it once, you will cook it constantly.
Ingredients:
- Sour cream 30% 200 ml.
- Shredded Gorgonzola cheese 250 gr.
- Light honey 1 tbsp. spoon
- Chives 2 tbsp. spoons
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Preparation:
We make a mixture of sour cream, chopped cheese, honey and onions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let it brew for several hours and you can serve it with any vegetable salad. Bon appetit!
Fresh vegetables are a low-calorie source of vitamins and elements necessary for the human body. Nutrition will not be rational without including these products in the menu. Vegetable salads are popular all over the world, as they are healthy and tasty at the same time, and require a minimum of time to prepare. But they are not always prepared and eaten correctly. A salad dressing made from fresh vegetables needs a special one: it highlights the delicate taste of the products and makes them as healthy as possible.
Cooking features
Even a novice cook can wash, chop and mix fresh vegetables. But this mixture will turn into a salad only after it is seasoned with sauce. This ingredient plays a big role; it can make a snack taste good or taste bad, increase the benefits of a dish or make it harmful. Making a salad dressing may take even more time than preparing the main ingredients, but the results are worth it. To ensure that it always meets your expectations, you need to know a few rules for preparing salad dressings from fresh vegetables:
- Fresh vegetables are valued for being rich in vitamins. Without being subjected to heat treatment, they retain maximum benefits. However, a number of elements are fat-soluble, these are vitamins A, E, K, D. Without fats, they are not absorbed by the body. Salad dressing made from fresh vegetables should be based on fatty foods: cream, sour cream, butter. Otherwise, you will get much less benefit from the snack than you could.
- If you are watching your figure, do not put a lot of fatty foods in the sauce, and the dressing itself is enough to add just enough to cover the vegetables. The vegetables themselves do not have high energy value, but salad dressing can make a snack made from them high in calories.
- You should not add a lot of spicy and strong-smelling ingredients to the salad dressing - they will clog the taste and aroma of the vegetables themselves. The sauce in the appetizer should not add salt.
- Use only fresh, high-quality products to prepare the dressing, otherwise you will spoil the dish, making it, if not hazardous to health, then at least unpleasant to the taste.
Mayonnaise, which many people are used to dressing salads with, is not very suitable for snacking on fresh vegetables, as it has too strong a taste, high energy value and can be harmful. There are many alternative sauce recipes for dressing vegetable salads, which are gentler and healthier, and better harmonize with the taste of fresh vegetables. Be careful when choosing a dressing, and your fresh vegetable salad will turn out tasty and healthy.
Cream-based salad dressing for fresh vegetables
- onion (preferably white) – 75 g;
- butter – 20 g;
- cream 33% fat – 100 ml;
- filtered water – 50 ml;
- olive oil – 100 ml;
- ground white pepper - a pinch;
- salt - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Peel the onion and chop it using a grater, blender or meat grinder.
- Melt the butter in a frying pan, add onion puree, stir, and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- Add spices and water. Add salt to taste. Simmer until the water in the pan has evaporated by at least half.
- Pour in olive oil, mix thoroughly.
- After 2 minutes, pour in the cream, whisk and leave on the heat for another 1-2 minutes.
- Transfer the sauce to a blender bowl and blend to obtain a smooth consistency.
A delicate sauce with a creamy structure based on cream will give the salad pleasant creamy notes and a delicate taste. Vegetables will digest well with it. This version of salad dressing belongs to French cuisine, which is famous for its sauces.
Fresh vegetable salad dressing based on orange juice
- oranges – 0.5 kg;
- pumpkin seeds (hulled) – 50 g;
- olive oil – 320 ml;
- brown sugar – 5 g;
Cooking method:
- Wash and dry the fruit. Cut them into 2 parts and squeeze out the juice. It is better to use a special citrus juicer to maximize the yield of the drink.
- Grate the zest from one fruit.
- Clean the pumpkin seeds.
- Fry them in one spoon of vegetable oil.
- Add sugar and zest, pepper. Fry everything together for a couple of minutes.
- Pour in freshly squeezed orange juice and wait until it starts to boil.
- Pour olive oil into a mixing container and add the contents of the pan. Whisk.
Before using the salad dressing, let it cool to room temperature. This dressing will transform the taste of a familiar snack, enriching your menu with new dishes. The benefits of vegetables will be complemented by the benefits of fruits.
Fresh vegetable salad dressing based on balsamic vinegar
- balsamic vinegar – 50 ml;
- olive oil – 40 ml;
- honey – 10 ml;
- cloves – 1 pc.
Cooking method:
- Melt honey and mix it with vinegar.
- Pour the mixture into the frying pan, throw the cloves into it. Simmer over low heat until the volume of the mixture is reduced by half.
- Combine with chilled olive oil and whisk.
The cloves must be removed from the sauce before dressing the salad; they are only needed to give the sauce a spicy aroma. If the appetizer includes fresh herbs and tomatoes, then the dressing prepared according to this recipe will suit perfectly.
Fresh vegetable salad dressing based on lemon and olive oil
- olive oil – 100 ml;
- lemon – 1 pc.;
- ground black pepper - a pinch;
- dried Italian herbs – 5 g;
- salt - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Wash the lemon, blot it with a napkin, squeeze the juice out of it.
- Add salt, pepper, herbs. Stir.
- Combine with olive oil and whisk until smooth.
Dried Italian herbs in this recipe can be replaced with fresh basil, taking 20 g of it. If desired, you can add a pinch of lemon zest to the sauce to give the dish a unique aroma. This is one of the most common recipes for seasonal vegetable salad dressing. The sauce is popular due to its versatility.
Fresh vegetable salad dressing with yolk and mustard
- vegetable oil (olive, sunflower or other) – 60 ml;
- chicken egg – 1 pc.;
- apple cider vinegar (6 percent) – 100 ml;
- sugar – 5 g;
- salt - to taste;
- table mustard – 5 ml;
- ground black pepper - a pinch.
Cooking method:
- Boil the egg hard. Once cooled, peel. Cut into two parts, remove the yolk.
- Place the yolk in a bowl and mash it with a fork.
- Add mustard, grind the yolk along with it.
- Add salt, pepper, sugar. Rub again.
- Pour in oil and vinegar. Whisk to obtain a homogeneous mixture.
The salad dressing made according to this recipe is universal, but it harmonizes especially well with a salad that includes tomatoes or radishes.
Yogurt-based fresh vegetable salad dressing
- unsweetened yogurt – 0.25 l;
- lemon juice – 40 ml;
- honey – 10 ml;
- table mustard – 5 ml;
- grated orange zest – 5 g.
Cooking method:
- Squeeze the juice from the lemon, melt the honey to a liquid consistency. Stir.
- Add mustard and orange zest. Stir.
- Combine the resulting mixture with yogurt. Whisk with a whisk or blender until the sauce has a uniform consistency.
Yogurt sauce is suitable for any salads made from fresh vegetables, but snacks containing cucumbers, dill, and parsley are especially tasty with it. If mushrooms are included in the salad recipe, it is also better to give preference to this version of the sauce.
A simple recipe for fresh vegetable salad dressing
- lemon juice or white wine vinegar (3 percent) – 60 ml;
- olive or other vegetable oil – 40 ml;
- salt, ground black pepper - to taste.
Cooking method:
- Combine lemon juice or vinegar with oil.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Beat well with a whisk.
This dressing is suitable for both fresh and boiled vegetables. It is often called vinaigrette.
There are many options for dressing salad from fresh vegetables. They are based on yogurt, sour cream, olive oil or cream. It is almost necessary to add an ingredient that gives the dressing sourness, most often vinegar or lemon juice. Preparing most sauces does not require much skill and does not take much time. A properly selected dressing will not only improve the taste of the salad, but also make it more healthy.
There are hundreds of different salad dressings - from classic to the most exotic, but it’s not enough to prepare them correctly, you need to know which ones go with what. Many of the dressings, as salad sauces are now sometimes called, are universal, but some best emphasize and enhance the taste of certain products. We have selected options that are popular all over the world and clarified which dishes they are especially good in.
Universal salad dressings
Classic vinaigrette
Whisk 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons mustard, a pinch of salt and black pepper to taste. Gradually add 70 to 120 ml glass of olive oil.
Lemon-balsamic
Whisk 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard and salt and pepper to taste. Gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil and one crushed clove of garlic.
Mediterranean
To a classic vinaigrette, add half a glass of crumbled feta cheese, a few sprigs of finely chopped parsley, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano and a plum tomato, cut into small cubes. Let it brew for a couple of hours. Ideal for any seafood salads.
Italian
Bake ½ cup pine nuts in the oven until golden brown, about 8 minutes, then set aside to cool. In a blender, combine 1 cup basil leaves, roasted nuts and a clove of garlic, season with salt and ground black pepper. Gradually add 100 ml of olive oil and beat until smooth. You can replace the pine nuts with walnuts and the butter with yogurt for a “white and light” option.
"Caesar"
Combine 1 egg yolk, 1 clove of garlic, juice of 1 lemon, a little Dijon mustard and 4 anchovies in a blender. Gradually add half a glass of olive oil and a little water. At the end, throw in a handful of grated Parmesan.
Dressings for summer salads with herbs
Citric
Whisk the juice from half a lemon, 1 teaspoon each of hot mustard and lemon zest, half a teaspoon of sugar and salt to taste. Gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil and a few chopped dill stalks.
Poppy in Greek
Toast a tablespoon of poppy seeds for a couple of moments in a dry frying pan. Whisk in a bowl with 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, a spoonful of honey and a teaspoon of mustard. Add salt to taste. Gradually add a third cup of olive oil. This version is exceptionally good in celery salads.
"Bistro"
Make a classic vinaigrette, add 70 grams of crumbled blue cheese, a slice of finely chopped smoked brisket and a few chopped green onions.
Spicy honey mustard
Mix 2 teaspoons each of honey and Dijon mustard, the juice and zest of half a lemon and salt. Gradually add 70 ml of olive and vegetable oil, sprinkle with dried thyme and chopped fresh chili.
Sauces for warm and potato salads
Italian garlic
Cut off the base of 1 head of garlic, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in aluminum foil and roast at 220°C until tender, about 20 minutes. Let cool, peel. Make a “classic vinaigrette”, add baked and mashed garlic with a fork and 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan, and then shake everything together.
Italian creamy
Mix 100 ml of mayonnaise, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of sour cream and olive oil, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 clove of garlic and a little salt using a blender. Add a handful of chopped parsley.
Hungarian mixture
Take 70 ml each of olive oil and water, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and ketchup, one brown sugar and one teaspoon of paprika. Season with a pinch of ground red pepper and salt to taste.
Dijon sconce
Whisk 3 tablespoons each of Dijon mustard and white wine or champagne vinegar, salt and ground black pepper to taste. Gradually add 1/2 cup olive oil and process in processor until smooth. Add a little dried thyme.
Dressings for pasta and rice salads
Shallot Vinaigrette
The classic vinaigrette recipe can be made milder and piquant by adding 2 tablespoons of chopped shallots and white vinegar instead of red.
Creamy balsamic
Make a lemon-balsamic dressing, add 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 1/2 teaspoon each of chopped garlic and sugar, a few drops of white wine vinegar and 5 sprigs of chopped dill.
"Green Goddess"
Place peeled and chopped avocado, half a glass of mayonnaise, sour cream and chopped fresh parsley, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 chopped green onions and 3 anchovies into the processor. Beat until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
"Thousand Islands"
Mix half a glass of mayonnaise and mild ketchup. Blend in a blender with chopped green onions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, lemon juice and halved green, red and yellow bell peppers. Season with a few drops of Tabasco sauce. Also suitable for mixes with meat.
Farmer's blue
Mix a quarter cup of buttermilk and the same amount of sour cream, 1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese, juice of 1/2 lemon, salt and any hot pepper to taste. This option is perfect for green and warm salads.
Dressings for meat salads
Cowboy
Whisk half a cup of kefir with a quarter cup of mayonnaise, a little apple cider vinegar and garlic powder and add chopped parsley and green onions. Season with salt and add thinly sliced bacon if desired.
Smoky Ranch
In the basic Ranch recipe, you need to replace the parsley with cilantro, add 1/2 teaspoon of honey and, most importantly, hot chili peppers, cut into strips, heavily fried in a dry frying pan. An excellent addition to a composition with smoked meats, as well as beans.
"Sesame"
Whisk 3 tablespoons sesame oil, 2 apple cider vinegar, 1 brown sugar, and a little grated peeled ginger with a third cup of vegetable oil, a pinch of salt and black pepper. Add 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds ground in a coffee grinder and mix well. Ideal for duck and game salads.
Creamy curry
Whisk together a third of a glass of unsweetened yogurt and mayonnaise, the juice of half a lemon, a few pinches of curry powder, a little salt and honey. Add hot pepper as desired.
The number of dressings for vegetable salads is so large that it allows housewives to create a wide variety of flavor melodies. In cooking, they are divided into two types: liquid oil with the addition of vinegar, and thick, based on sour cream or mayonnaise. Thick types of dressings are used not only for vegetable, but also for meat and fish salads. The variety of recipes allows you to choose basic versions that are easier to experiment with. And we'll start with the classics.
Classic dressing recipe
What's good about the classic recipe? It uses a minimum of ingredients, their combination gives a taste that goes perfectly with many types of vegetables. It is made on the basis of oil. To create it we will need:
- olive oil - half a glass;
- lemon – ½ fruit;
- salt - half a teaspoon;
- pepper (ground before preparing the dressing) - ¼ teaspoon.
Preparation:
- Squeeze the juice from half a lemon into a deep bowl.
- Add pepper and salt to it. Whisk the whole mixture. Then add olive oil and continue whisking until smooth.
The dressing is used in vegetable and green salads.
Italian traditions in vegetable salad dressings
In the Italian recipe, which is based on the same olive oil, everything is much more complicated, and the flavor bouquet shines with a variety of aromas. We should take:
- oil (take olive) – 125 ml;
- marjoram – 2 teaspoons;
- oregano – 1 teaspoon;
- basil – 1 teaspoon;
- mustard powder – 2 teaspoons;
- granulated sugar – 2 teaspoons;
- garlic – 2 cloves;
- chili flakes – ½ teaspoon;
- wine vinegar (red variety) – 50 ml;
- add salt and pepper to your own taste.
Preparation:
- Crush the garlic cloves under pressure. Grind fresh herbs and seasonings. Taking a bowl, put garlic, mustard powder and sugar into it.
- Add salt, pepper, vinegar, and chili flakes.
- Add olive oil until the stream is thin. Stir until the mixture acquires the consistency of a beautiful emulsion.
- Add chopped herbs to the dressing and stir.
The finished mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
French motives
In French cuisine, dressings prepared for vegetable salads have similar taste qualities to Italian versions, but they have their own piquant characteristics. To prepare one of these delicious versions, we need to take:
- oil (preferably olive) – ½ cup;
- lemon juice – 1.5 teaspoons;
- tomato paste – 2 teaspoons;
- wine vinegar (red variety) – 25 ml;
- mustard (powder) – 1 teaspoon;
- onion – 1 teaspoon, chopped;
- celery seeds - ¼ teaspoon;
- ground paprika – 0.75 teaspoon;
- granulated sugar – 1.5 teaspoons;
- salt – ¼ teaspoon;
- black pepper (ground) to your taste.
Preparation:
- Pour all the dry ingredients into a suitable bowl, season them with vinegar and lemon juice. Knead.
- We proceed to whipping the mass, gradually adding olive oil to it. As in the first recipe, we need to get a homogeneous emulsion. The gas station is ready.
It goes well with salads containing red onions, fresh cucumbers, and radishes. By the way, all components of this dressing, except olive oil, can be immediately blended in a blender. Then, without ceasing to beat, you can add it.
Variety of sauces for vegetable salads
You can prepare a sauce for vegetable salad from various ingredients, using mayonnaise, sour cream, butter, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar as a base. Most often, housewives prepare sauces with mayonnaise or sour cream. These two bases are in perfect harmony with all types of vegetables and herbs.
If a low-calorie salad addition is required, take aromatic seasonings and mix them with vegetable oils. For added spice, you can add mustard or garlic to the oil. Compositions with balsamic vinegar are also low in calories, giving the dish a pleasant oriental note.
If you need a dietary option, use low-fat sour cream, natural yogurt, soy sauce, tomato paste with vegetable oil as a basis. There are several recipes from us to help you.
Based on mayonnaise and mustard
The highlight of the recipe is the organic interweaving of the pronounced taste characteristics of pickles, mayonnaise, tarragon, tarragon and mustard. To prepare it we will take:
- pickled cucumbers – 25 grams;
- lemon juice – 40 grams;
- mayonnaise – 30 ml;
- ready mustard – 20 ml;
- – 5 ml;
- tarragon and tarragon - a small pinch each;
- parsley and green onions – 10 grams.
Cooking process:
- Chop cucumbers and herbs.
- Mix all ingredients in a deep bowl.
- Cover with film and put in the refrigerator so that our sauce infuses for 1 hour.
An interesting version with the same ingredients is made from soy sauce and mustard.
Recipe with soy sauce and honey
A very tasty and quick-cooking option with soy sauce. We need:
- olive oil – 30 ml;
- soy sauce – 60 ml;
- honey – 250 grams;
- lemon – 2 pieces.
Preparation:
- Squeeze the juice from both lemons. Mix all prepared products, except butter. Then slowly add the oil, stirring the mixture.
At this point our cooking process is complete, we can season the salad.
Spicy sauce
For gourmets, we offer a complex version of the sauce with enchanting spicy notes. We will need:
- sesame oil – 35 ml;
- ginger root – 200 grams;
- balsamic vinegar – 30 ml;
- lemon juice – 200 ml;
- olive oil – 90 ml;
- soy sauce – 50 ml;
- garlic – 20 grams;
- chili pepper – 20 grams.
- Peel the garlic and ginger. Grate them on a fine grater. Remove the seeds from the chili and chop them too.
- Place everything in a bowl, add sesame oil, lemon juice, stir, add olive oil and soy sauce.
- At the very end, add vinegar. Mix all. The sauce is ready.
Culinary professionals advise coloring the warm taste of the oil with fresh and sparkling accords of lemon and vinegar. All other ingredients in the oil dressing are selected to suit your taste. Experimentation is not prohibited.
Oil dressing is added to the salad just before serving so that it does not settle and retains its flavor. If it has stood for some time, you should shake it and only then add it to the vegetables.
Dry mixtures in the form of loose powders are added to dressings at the very end of cooking so that they do not form lumps when stirred repeatedly.
When using sour cream or yogurt as a base, you should not add vinegar and lemon juice to them, they have enough sour notes.
Be careful with new recipes and be sure to test the prepared dressing on a small amount of lettuce. This way you can understand how successful the combination of products turned out to be.
Refrain from storing the dressing for a long time, use it immediately, or prepare in small quantities. After standing for 2-3 days, it will lose some of its aroma, and the taste melody will become dull and not so playful.
When storing, pour the sauces into small glass jars with a lid, so you can easily notice the separation of the ingredients and stir them in time.
If you need to quickly prepare a salad and dressing for it, use a mixer.
When choosing a recipe, consider your family's taste preferences. If something in the basic composition confuses you, try eliminating or replacing the questionable ingredient with another that is more acceptable to you. Be careful, be sure to taste the dressing at each stage of its preparation.
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