If you’re someone, like me, who loves a good salad, then this article is for you. I detest the store bought salad dressings. Not only are they much too expensive for what you get, but I am not a fan of the ingredients. Plus, when you make your own salad dressing, you can give it any flavor you want. And for so much cheaper, and healthier, than any of the store bought stuff. So, if you want to make your own delicious salad dressing, frugally, then read on.
Olive Oil
When it comes to a good salad dressing base, olive oil is the way to go. Not only is it full of good healthy Omega 3 fats, but it’s extremely diverse. There are many different types of olive oil you can go with, so the price points will vary. I typically prefer to use Extra Virgin Olive Oil from the Greek region when possible. Sometimes I’ll go with the Italian olive oil if I can’t find any of my usual Greek stuff.
Usually, I’m able to find a few different options at Trader Joe’s. More often than not, I will spend between $6.99 – $8.99 for a bottle. This bottle can typically last me close to a month. But, if you want to get really fancy, and your budget will allow it, you could check out one of the olive oil and vinegar stores. This option is a big splurge for us. But, every now and then we get a wild hair and decide to purchase some of the flavor infused olive oils.
Balsamic Vinegar
Once you have your olive oil sorted out, next comes the balsamic vinegar. I can tell you that I was not a fan of vinegar for the majority of my life. Until my spouse opened my eyes to the fact that not all vinegar’s are created equally. I had apparently only been exposed to more of the table vinegar, which is not nearly as flavorful as balsamic is.
Once he opened my eyes to the diverse, and robust, flavor profiles of balsamic vinegar, my world changed. Currently, we have 5 different balsamic vinegar choices to use in our salad dressings. We have:
- Mission Fig
- Neapolitan Herb
- Plum
- Oak Aged
- Cherry Wood Aged
All of these have completely different flavors and work well with certain foods. My two favorites currently are the Mission Fig and the Cherry Wood Aged because I love the little bit of sweetness they have that the others don’t. Depending upon what I put in my salad is how I determine which option might work the best.
And just like with olive oil, balsamic vinegar prices can range widely. The 5 we have range between $4.99 – $12.99 per bottle. So, if you haven’t dipped your toe into the balsamic vinegar land yet, it might be best to start out with one of the cheaper options to see if you like it. I can tell you that the more expensive ones tend to be a bit more balanced and smooth though.
Spices
After you have the olive oil and vinegar worked out, the last thing to add are your spices. A lot of people only think about adding salt or pepper to their dressings. We don’t actually add either regularly. In fact, I never add salt of any kind to my salad dressings. Sometimes I will add some cracked black pepper. But, typically I like to add some spice blends that are already made because they change the flavor so much.
I get a lot of my spice blends from Trader Joe’s. They do a good job of creating some delicious, and interesting choices. Plus, all of their spices are pretty darn frugal. My favorites recently are:
- 21 Salute
- South African Smoke
- Chili Lime Seasoning Blend
- Cuban Style Citrusy Garlic
- Ajika Georgian Seasoning Blend
Out of all of these, my two favorite go-to’s lately are the 21 Salute and the Ajika Georgian. The former is a bit more on the herby side, while the latter is more on the smokey side. And most of the time I can find these spices for somewhere between $2.99-$3.99.
How to put together your salad dressing
How you choose to put together your salad dressing is completely up to you. But we typically do it one of two ways. The first way we make it is our most common since it makes things easy to switch up daily.
All we do is pour some olive oil on the salad greens, followed by the balsamic vinegar of our choosing. Sprinkle the spice blend on top of that and use your hands to mix the whole thing around.
If you want to make a larger batch, then I suggest a 3:1 proportion of olive oil to balsamic. Then add your spices to taste. Put all of this in an old salad dressing container or empty bottle that will store well. Shake it up and pour over your salad. Since all of these items are shelf stable, you don’t need to refrigerate this dressing either.
Salad Dressing Summary
Overall, it’s exceptionally easy to make your own salad dressing that’s both delicious and frugal. Just mix all of your ingredients together and mix up with your salad greens. If I purchase my ingredients on the lower end of the price points, then I’m looking at somewhere around $15 for a good month of so of salad dressing. Maybe even longer if I stretch it out, since you don’t need as much of this type of dressing. A little goes a long way with the olive oil based dressings.
If you’ve tried making your own salad dressing before, what has been your favorite way to make it frugal, delicious and healthy?
