Herbal Salad Dressing for Everyday Health

Store bought salad dressings are junk.

I’ve got a simple herbal salad dressing tutorial for you today and the truth is, I think making your own salad dressing is one of the best and easiest health hacks out there.

Store bought salad dressings are junk.

You make all that great home cooked food or set yourself down to a nice healthy salad and then what? Even the organic salad dressings are junk and not to mention, they are expensive.

So many salad dressing labels say they use olive oil and then when you read the label they sneak in soybean, canola oil and other oils that contribute to inflammation in the body.

When you make your salad dressing at home, you know exactly what kind of oil is in it, what kind of salt is used and how fresh the herbs are.

But the salad dressing isn’t just for salad… it’s also for marinades, adding to veggies dishes, rice, fish… It’s all about the sauce, right?

Herbs

This is where the fun comes in and no salad dressing will be the same!

I usually pick from one to three herbs for my salad dressing. For the recipe here, I mix together ½ cup of fresh herbs total or ¼ cup of dried herbs total.

Common choices are: sage, basil, thyme, chives, garlic chives and oregano

Oil
I use olive oil for my dressings. You want to find olive oil that is organic, extra virgin and cold pressed.

If you purchase olive oil that doesn’t say extra virgin or cold pressed on the label, often the olive oil is adulterated with other oils. Do your research on the kind of olive oil you use. I purchase olive oil here: https://organicfruitsandnuts.com/orsaandsuoil.html

Olive oil itself is anti-inflammatory, full of antioxidants and a great source of essential fatty acids that feed the brain.

Vinegar

You can use just about any kind of vinegar, there are so many options. My favorite is apple cider vinegar and I also really enjoy rice vinegar for a lighter flavor. Make sure your vinegar is organic.

Salt

This is where even the natural salad dressings don’t match up. You want to eliminate table salt as much as possible from your diet. Instead you want salt in its natural form that hasn’t been processed into only sodium chloride (table salt). Pink and grey salts in are their original form and are full of electrolytes and are considered healthy salts. When you create your own salad dressings, you are eliminating the negative health effects from eating the table salt that is hidden in so much of our food.

Other ingredient possibilities

2 tablespoons nuts: sunflower or pumpkin seed if you want a thicker salad dressing

4 tablespoons whole yogurt or 1 avocado if you want a creamier salad dressing

1 tablespoon honey if you like a little sweetness

So, what do you think? Ready to start your week with a few minutes of whipping together some salad dressing?

It is easier than you think and once you get in the habit, if you skip it… well, you’ll get right back to it!

Not only will you feel more inspired to cook at home because you have a great dressing on hand to add to whatever you eat, but since your dressings are loaded with herbs, it means that every meal is an herbal one! 

Vitamins and minerals, enzymes to help you digest your food, anti-oxidants…. Who doesn’t want more of this at every meal.

Here’s one little thing I’ve learned with making salad dressings. I never use measuring cups because I don’t like to lose even one drop of olive oil. So I use the same jar every time I make it and know where in the jar each measurement goes to.

My mom used to have a salad dressing jar with lines that showed the measurements, but now I just eyeball it. It’s the little things that you never appreciate while it’s happening, but thanks mom, for making such awesome homemade salad dressings.

OK! Let’s ditch the junk dressings, and bring on the good oils and healing herbs!

Enjoy!

Print Recipe

Basic Herbal Salad Dressing Recipe

Author: Kami McBride

Ingredients

• ½ to ¾ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup vinegar
• ½ cup herbs or ¼ cup of dried herbs
• dash good salt

Instructions

• Put vinegar in jar
• Chop herbs finely and add to vinegar
• Shake well
• Add oil. I add oil last, because I like to add the oil a little at a time to see exactly how much I want for each batch.
• Sometimes I like less olive oil.
• Add salt

Now that is simple, right?