Zippy, zesty Homemade Italian Dressing is delicious on salads and makes an excellent marinade…plus it’s all-natural and easy to make!
Have you jumped on the make-your-own-salad-dressing bandwagon yet? Because if you haven’t, there’s no time like the present. Fresh, homemade salad dressing is so much tastier than store-bought. It’s also way less expensive, not to mention free of any icky ingredients or additives.
I have always loved Italian Dressing, both for its flavor and its versatility. Not only is it tasty on green salads, but it’s also delicious on sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, pasta salad, or as marinade for chicken, pork, or beef. And while I’ve enjoyed some yummy bottled Italian salad dressings over the years, nothing compares to making it yourself from scratch.
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When I was growing up, my mom always bought the Italian dressing seasoning packets that came with that special glass cruet marked with lines to indicate how much oil, how much water, and how much vinegar to add along with the seasonings. As a child, it was actually always my job to “make the dressing.” So I’d do my measuring and then…shake, shake, shake! Salad was served.
But would you believe that making your own from-scratch Italian dressing is just about as effortless?! Sure, there are a few additional ingredients involved beyond a packet of dry seasonings. But it still only takes a matter of minutes to whip up a fresh batch. As a bonus, you can customize it to your own tastes, tweaking the herbs and spices as you see fit.
I like to make my Homemade Italian Dressing with extra-virgin olive oil, but a neutral vegetable oil (like canola or safflower) will work as well, if that’s your preference. As for vinegar, I honestly can’t decide if I prefer white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar. Both of them yield a delightful dressing, but the results do taste slightly different. Dressing made with white wine vinegar seems slightly more acidic to me and the flavor is probably more akin to store-bought dressing, whereas I feel like red wine vinegar adds an extra undertone of flavor. I love them both and, as a result, I typically alternate which one I use…or sometimes I make a batch of dressing using half white wine vinegar and half red!
Spring is here, so it’s time to bid adieu to soup season and bring on the salads! And I really believe that once you try this Homemade Italian Dressing, you won’t be going back to store-bought. It’s better than what you can get at The Olive Garden yet it’s made with real, straightforward ingredients. Who can argue with that? 😉
(Don’t miss the recipe video below!)
Zippy, zesty Homemade Italian Dressing is delicious on salads and makes an excellent marinade...plus it's all-natural and easy to make!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil OR neutral vegetable oil, such as sunflower or safflower
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar OR red wine vinegar OR a combo of the two
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 to 2 teaspoons honey
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
- 3/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake vigorously until well-blended and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt and pepper if necessary. (Alternatively, you may whisk ingredients together in a bowl, process ingredients in a mini food processor, or blend them in a blender.) Store leftovers in a sealed container in the refrigerator; allow to come to room temperature and shake well before using.
Notes
The honey mellows out the acidity of the dressing, but you may add more or less, to taste.
♥More homemade salad dressings…
The BEST Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Lightened-Up Honey Mustard Dressing
Homemade French & Catalina Salad Dressings
How long does this dressing keep in the refrigerator?
Hi Guylaine! This dressing should keep just fine in the refrigerator for several weeks. It will separate and solidify once chilled, so just let it come to room temperature for a bit and shake well before using. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂
I LOVED IT!! THANK YOU!!
Yay! You’re so welcome, Martha. 🙂
I was disappointed in the dressing. I followed the directions but it didn’t come out looking at all like the photo and it was much too sweet without much interest at all.
Sorry to hear that, Dawn!
How did you get yours so yellow and fluffy? Mine does not look like yours!
Hi Lauren! I usually whip up my dressing in the mini food processor, which makes it a bit frothy at first. The final color can also be dictated by the olive oil that you use. Hope that helps! 🙂
Made it today! Loved it!
Yay, Laura…so happy to hear that it was a hit! 🙂
I should have tripled the recipe; it was so good!!! Thank you for sharing.
Yay, Trish! That’s a good problem to have. 😉 So happy you enjoyed it!
Love this dressing! I had no problem with emulsification using my blender. I will never buy bottled Italian dressing again.
So happy to hear that, Jeannie! And I have to agree…it’s hard to go back to bottled dressing after you find a good homemade version. 😉
Our multi-generational family (11 people) adores this dressing. I have started filling extra 4oz glass jars with the dry ingredients when I make a batch, so it takes much less time in the future. I always double the recipe and do not add parmesan cheese until I make a batch. Sometimes we add extra salt to make the flavor pop. I mix it with an immersion blender. It looks just like yours.
Thank you.
I have a bunch of fresh ingredients I’m trying to use up, can I substitute the dry herbs (basil, parsley and oregano) for fresh herbs?
Do you know roughly how many calories are in this dressing? Sounds delicious!
I’m so sorry, I don’t…but I always recommend MyFitnessPal.com as a resource for calculating the calories of any recipe. 🙂
LOVE THIS DRESSING!
I can’t find any nutritional facts on your recipes. Do you just not list them or am I not looking in the right spot?
Hi MJ! I don’t currently have nutritional info listed for my recipes. I plan on adding this information when I redesign my site later this year, but in the meantime, you should be able to plug any recipe into an online nutrition calculator (like My Fitness Pal) to get the info you need. I apologize for any inconvenience!
Delicious! I’ll be making this again. Thank you!
My husband says this is the only Italian Dressing allowed in our house now. I love it too. Being of Italian descent, this reminds me a lot of what I grew up on. I like the two tbsp honey, but also add a tad more lemon juice. We didn’t have Parmesan cheese one night and used Asiago cheese instead. It was a good substitute.
Made this dressing to go with an Italian dinner we had this week end. Everyone loved it and I was printing out copies as people were going out the door. Lol. Instant hit! Thanks.
I don’t normally comment or review recipes. But…OMG! This is the best Italian dressing I have tried. I did use fresh garlic, and no salt. But that’s the only deviation I made from this recipe, and is simply because of preference. I could drink it straight! This will definitely be my go to from now on! Thank you!
Thank you for letting me know how much you enjoyed this dressing, Erica…yay! 🙂
Can you offer any alternatives to the honey? I can’t have any type of sugar. Would a tiny pinch of the artificial sweetener Stevia work? I would love to try this. Looks really good! Thank you for any input you can offer.
I bet that would work just fine, Norma, or you can leave it out altogether. 🙂 A tiny bit of sweetness is only included to balance the acidity of the other ingredients, but the dressing will still turn out fine without it.
I made this dressing today but used Rasberry Wine Vinegar in place of white. Oh my, it is wonderful! My husband always buys Kraft Zesty Italian, but he likes this so much better. Thanks for posting it.
Does it have to be refrigerated?
Hi Cory. Yes, the recipe says to store this dressing in the refrigerator and then let it come to room temperature and shake well before using. Enjoy! 🙂
How much garlic powder would you use instead of garlic salt which I don’t use.
In place of the garlic salt, I’d start by using 1/4 teaspoon salt plus 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and then tweak to taste. 🙂
Thanks! Delicious recipe. The honey is a nice touch, gives a different flavor than just sugar. On the vinegar, I used 2/3 white wine, 1/3 white balsamic as we were out of red wine vinegar. The touch of white balsamic added another little hint of sweetness.
I’m so happy to enjoyed it, Joe. White balsamic sounds like a yummy adaptation!
My new favorite dressing!! I was craving olive gardens dressing but his was even better!!! Thank you!!
Yay, Tess! Happy to hear it. 🙂
We don’t have cheese if any kind in our house. Do you think it would change the flavor much to forgo a cheese altogether?
It will still be good without any cheese, Jennifer…just more like a regular vinaigrette. 🙂
To emulsify it you will need a blender. If you don’t want to bother with that and still want it emulsified, you can add a teaspoon of mayonnaise or mustard or both. Tastes even better this way.
Great recipe except but I used olive oil. With all the research out there, canola oil needs to be avoided like the plague!!!
Olive oil is what I prefer to use as well, but as the recipe indicates, pretty much any neutral oil will work. 🙂