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I had a friend in high school who loved French dressing on everything, including her pizza. I never understood why she loved it so much, but my mom and oldest son both like it a lot too, so I wanted to find a good homemade version.
French Dressing?
I found out that “French dressing” was originally a very healthy oil and vinegar dressing but as it was Americanized, sweeter ingredients (and even ketchup) were added to make the bright orange version that is popular today.
It may not be actually “French” at all, but it certainly is an American favorite.
This homemade version made me understand why people love French dressing so much. With all real food ingredients and no preservatives or vegetable oils, this dressing is an easy and delicious addition to any meal (except maybe pizza?). I purposefully tried to find a balance of the original oil and vinegar base with a slight bit of sweetness reminiscent of the newer version.
My kids enjoy dipping fresh veggies in this salad dressing (probably because it resembles homemade ketchup). If you are a fan of French dressing (or perhaps even if you aren’t), try this healthier homemade version instead.
Not your thing? Try these other homemade salad dressing recipes instead (including ranch, Caesar, Italian, Greek, Sweet Asian, vinaigrettes, and balsamic).
Healthy French Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 TBSP mustard
- 1 TBSP tomato paste
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 TBSP honey
- ½ tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Put all ingredients in a small blender and puree until smooth.
Notes
Nutrition
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Do you like French dressing or prefer something else? Share below!
This is my new favorite dressing. It uses ingredients I always have on hand and is delicious on a variety of salads. Thanks for posting this!
Thank you!
I made this dressing and it was amazing
I didn’t have white wine vinegar so I substituted champagne vinegar and it was perfect
Thanks for this recipe! I am pregnant and craving cottage cheese with french dressing on top (a childhood favorite), but all of the store dressings have canola oil.
French is my go to dressing for green salads. This recipe does it all in a more healthy way. The only change I made was to use canola instead of olive oil. I found that the olive oil had too much of an oily after taste for me. If canola oil is considered a vegetable oil, then I apologize for changing your recipe but I rate it as a 5 out of 5 with this change.
How long can you store this for if made in a larger batch ?
This is my first visit to your site so please forgive me for sounding ignorant, but I am somewhat confused. I followed a link to find this dressing recipe. You write:
“With all real food ingredients and no preservatives or vegetable oils, this dressing…”
This line caught my eye immediately because I need to find a delicious oil-free recipe. But then the recipe calls for 1/3 cup olive oil. Are olives not vegetables? Are they considered a fruit, like the tomato, so technically the recipe is vegetable oil free?
Yes, olives are a fruit and are not considered a vegetable oil.
Hello,
Since I’m french I thought I’d share my family’s version of this dressing :
6 parts olive oil
2 parts vinegar (experience with any you like, apple, balsamic etc)
1 part mustard (old-style with whole mustard seeds is nice too!)
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all but the oil and mix well until the salt is dissolved, and then slowly add the oil and whisk thoroughly to create an emulsion. The simplest way of doing it is shaking it in a bottle.
The ratios are approximate, everyone is free to adapt it too their preferences. If you use real french mustard it can be quite hot if you’re not used to it.
Anyway, we usually just use it on plain green salad in the summer, or as a dressing for asparagus – also, it tastes wonderful to put a bit of that dressing in the hole left by the seed in one avocado half and then spoon it out!
Most of the time the simplest recipes are the best 🙂
Is it alright to substitute vinegar with fresh lime juice?
You could try it, but it may not work.
This was so delicious! My son who usually turns up his nose ate 2 servings! I wish he would eat his salad as happily.