Making Olive Oil Dressing For Salads
While olive oil is a tasty topping on its own, most people like to mix it with some other ingredients to really add flavor to their salads. Homemade vinaigrette may seem impressive, but it only takes five minutes to put together and it takes no special cooking skills. Here are common dressing ingredients that you should keep in your pantry so you can make a homemade version whenever you feel like it:
How To Make Homemade Salad Dressing
Each of these recipes are made with minimal ingredients. There are a few ways to mix up homemade salad dressings:
- Put all of the ingredients in a mason jar and shake it up! I like using this method for oil-based dressings like vinaigrettes.
- Put all of the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend! I like using this method for creamier dressings that use ingredients like avocado but it also works great for vinaigrettes!
Tasting And Adjusting Your Vinaigrette
Before you actually use your vinaigrette to dress your salad, be sure to give it a taste. This is your moment to change the ratio of vinegar and oil, add more salt and pepper, or make any other last-minute adjustments.
Since tasting a vinaigrette on its own can give you a skewed idea of its flavor, taste it by dipping the edge of one of the greens into the vinaigrette. This will give you a much better idea of how your vinaigrette will taste with the finished salad.
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Why Make Homemade Salad Dressing
Many store-bought dressings are loaded with processed ingredients, preservatives and sugar so making your own dressing is much healthier. Plus, its cheaper! And once you get started making your own youll figure out what ratios you like best and it becomes so easy to whip up different variations.
As youll notice most of these healthy homemade salad dressings Im sharing have recurring ingredients garlic, apple cider vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, sea salt and pepper. So once you have these items in your pantry/fridge you can make a bunch of different dressings!
All of the dressings are made with whole ingredients and yield about 3/4 cup, which is about 12 Tablespoons and 6 servings. Each serving size is 2 Tablespoons. Oh, and if youre looking for sugar-free options, check out the zesty tahini and the apple cider vinegar dressings.
How To Build The Perfect Salad
Now that youâve put your healthy olive oil salad dressing together, letâs move on to salad ingredients. How you put your salad together will be the next important step in creating a delicious keto meal filled with healthy fats, good proteins and tons of nutrition.
For your standard Greek salad, youâll want to grab a box of mixed greens, thinly slice some red onions, cucumbers and tomatoes, pop open a jar of de-seeded kalamata olives, and toss with your dressing and feta cheese. Hereâs our recipe that tells you everything you need to know to turn a Greek salad into a filling meal.
If youâre a ranch dressing lover or craving a salad from across the pond, try this keto Cobb salad recipe. Itâs super filling and features only healthy fats from the olive oil ranch, avocado, feta, hard-boiled eggs and streaky bacon.
If youâre looking for a warm or wilted salad recipe, we have you covered too. Thereâs no rule saying that you canât put cooked veg into a salad. Try roasting some veg and chicken thighs in the oven before tossing the warm veg into mixed greens and an olive oil vinaigrette. Top with toasted pepitas or seeds and a chicken thigh for a one-bowl meal.
Meat-based salads are also great vehicles for wholesome olive oil salad dressings, especially if youâre looking to skip the mayonnaise. You could use a lemon vinaigrette as the base for a chicken salad, egg salad or tuna salad, and either eat it on keto bread or atop a big green salad.
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How To Choose The Best Olive Oil To Buy
When I buy a bottle of olive oil, I look for one that comes in a dark bottle. That’s the first rule.
Avoid any oils of any type that are either not in a very dark, opaque bottle.
The problem with clear bottles is that they allow light to spoil the oil. Olive oil, like most other oils, can go rancid pretty quickly.
Time, light, heat, and oxygen are dietary oil’s greatest enemies. So stay away from the clear bottled product when buying ingredients for your olive oil and balsamic vinegar salad dressing.
I also prefer bottles to cans, even though cans are good at preventing light and air in. This is because cans are most often very large. By the time you get halfway down to the bottle of the can, the oil is no longer fresh.
Ingredients Needed To Make Keto Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
All of the exact ingredient amounts are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Obviously, I used balsamic vinegar and olive oil. To this mixture, I also added some:
- Fresh garlic
- Dijon mustard
The dijon mustard gives this dressing a thicker texture and a bit of zest, too!
Please note: Check out the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients used to make this low-carb recipe.
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Other Ways To Use Nuvo Olive Oil Balsamic Vinaigrette
There you have it.
Have your own cool salad dressing recipe?
Wed love to see it so we can share it with others.
Leave a comment or email us and we will post it so others can benefit too.
Nuvo Olive OIl
Two brothers, Josh and Nate, fought hard to keep their 125-year-old and family owned olive orchard. After succeeding, they worked relentlessly to learn the business as well as being great stewards of Mother Earth by taking great care of their trees. This paid off, as the olives are giving back and each bottle the brothers produced has won an international award. The latest is a GOLD AWARD at the 2018 NYIOOC for their Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil.Both brothers are highly committed to bringing you the very best, all 100% natural olive oils from farm to your table – all made right here in the USA.
What Is The Difference Between Olive Oil And Extra Virgin
Extra-virgin olive oil is made from pure, cold-pressed olives, whereas regular olive oil is a blend, including both cold-pressed and processed oils. EVOO is made by grinding olives into a paste, then pressing them to extract the oil. There’s no heat involved, hence the “cold-pressed” label you often encounter.
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Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
My go-to apple cider vinegar salad dressing recipe. If EBF has a house dressing, this would be it! Get all the health benefits of apple cider vinegar with this delicious dressing! Use it for this Brussels Sprout Chopped Salad or as a .
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 163 calories, 18g fat, 1g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 434mg sodium
The Top 10 Salad Dressing Recipes With Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salad dressing is an art and not everyone is an artist. When it comes to the point of dressing, you have to keep in mind the flavor, combinations as well as nutritional value of the dresser. People all around the globe use different types of products for salad dressing, some use vinegar, some use lemon juice and some use different types of oil.
If you are well aware of the high nutrition profile of extra virgin olive oil, then you will definitely like to dress your salad with it. Here below, I am introducing simple top 10 salad dressing recipes which you can prepare in no time and make your salad tasty and delicious.
Lets dive in!
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Ways To Whisk A Vinaigrette
You can make a vinaigrette by whisking it together in a bowl, shaking it together in a jar, or blending it with a blender. Heres more information about all three:
Whisk with a fork or whisk
- Best for: Making a single salad for lunch or dinner.
- What to do: Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl or right in the salad bowl. Tilt the bowl and whisk the vinaigrette quickly for a few seconds. First youll see bubbles of the oil and vinegar break into each other, and then the vinaigrette will become uniform. The vinaigrette will quickly separate back into oil and water, so use it right away.
Shake in a jam jar
- Best for: Making a large batch of vinaigrette to use throughout the week.
- What to do: Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar or other container with a lid. Screw on the lid and shake the jar vigorously for a few seconds until the vinaigrette comes together. Use what you need for your salad, then store the rest in the fridge. The oil and vinegar will separate as it sits, so youll need to re-shake the vinaigrette every time you use it.
Blend in a blender or with an immersion blender
What Is In Your Salad Dressing
Salad dressing used to be a simple combination of ingredients put together before a meal to enhance the flavor of a salad. Now it is a multi-million dollar industry that has us pouring additives and sometimes other chemicals on our salads if were not careful.
Take a look at this ingredient label from a popular brand of salad dressing:
Or, how about the ingredients in this salad dressing?
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Ingredients For Ranch Dressing
We recommend using our Olive Oils and Italian Seasonings, but if you have a family favorite feel free to substitute with those. We’ve linked to each of our premiere products for your convenience in finding the right ingredients for this fun and healthy condiment.
If you do use our products, share your thoughts with us on our page.
- 1 cup organic Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp of Olive Oil Divine’s Garlic Fused Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Small Studies Suggest Glucose
Two small studies suggest that the vinegar and oil dressing may have other benefits, as well. They focused on two beloved additions to our meals: bread and potatoes.
Because both foods are high in carbs, they are swiftly absorbed and quickly raise blood sugar. Thats not a good thing when youre prediabetic or diabetic and trying to keep your glucose down.
The first study fed five volunteers simple meals on different days after fasting all night:
- Lettuce dressed with olive oil, both with and without bread.
- Lettuce dressed with olive oil and vinegar, both with and without bread.
- Lettuce dressed with olive oil and vinegar , both with and without bread.
Their blood sugar levels were measured before, and 95 minutes after, each meal.
When participants ate bread with lettuce, olive oil and vinegar, their blood sugar rose 34% less, on average, than when they ate bread alone, says Dr. Todorov.
- Cold-stored potatoes .
- Cold-stored potatoes, dressed with olive oil and vinegar.
Researchers measured blood sugar and insulin levels multiple times in the two hours after each meal.
Those who ate the cold-stored potatoes with olive oil and vinegar dressing had a 43% lower blood sugar response and a 31% lower insulin response than those who ate the freshly boiled potatoes, says Dr. Todorov.
More research is needed to confirm the results of these small studies. But she recommends adding a salad with EVOO and vinegar to meals because of its potential to keep carbs from spiking blood sugar.
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Is Olive Oil Dressing Healthy
A very basic dressing is olive oil and vinegar combined with seasoning. While olive oil is a fat, it’s an unsaturated fat that provides many health benefits, including helping to lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. … Keep in mind that while olive oil is healthy, it’s still high in calories.
Why Olive Oil And Lemon Salad Dressing
We make this dressing, or some variation of it, every single day with our salads.
This is partly because olive oil and lemons are something we almost always have on hand.
Lemons are a fantastic food, and full of Vitamin C!
We add a little Oregano to this dressing because we love the flavor of oregano, but feel free to leave it out if you do not have any on hand, or dont like it.
A little fresh parsley can also be a nice addition to this recipe.
What you wont find in this recipe is any added salt, gluten, dairy, or things you cant pronounce. The simplest way is the best way when it comes to food! As a bonus, this olive oil and lemon dressing is also vegan and low sodium.
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Choosing Storing And Using Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Light, heat and air are enemies of olive oil freshness. Look for containers made from dark glass tin or even clear glass placed in a box, or mostly covered by a label advises the UC Davis Olive Center.
Store olive oil in a cool, dark place, such as inside a cupboard in a cooler location away from the stove and oven. Refrigeration will cause olive oil to become cloudy and harden. Olive oil returns to its normal color and consistency when returned to room temperature. If you bought olive oil in bulk, you may wish to refrigerate a portion to prolong its quality until you’re ready to use it.
To enjoy EVOO at its best, UC Davis Olive center recommends buying an amount that will be finished in about six weeks after being opened. If you limit exposure to light, heat and air, it will likely maintain a satisfactory quality beyond this. Properly stored, unopened EVOO may maintain its quality for two or more years.
EVOO, because of its more pronounced flavor compared to other forms of olive oil, is most often used to flavor salads and dressings as a base for marinades and is drizzled on foods, such as pasta, just before they are served. The flavor profile of EVOO varies from robust to more subtle and fruity. Match the flavor to the ingredients red meat, for example, may support a more intense flavor. More delicate foods, such as white fish and veggies, may pair better with a milder EVOO.
References
Note On Nutritional Information
Nutritional information for the recipe is provided as a courtesy and is approximate only. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts as it has been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
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Nuvo Olive Oils Healthy Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
Fill your salad dressing container with these approximate ratios of liquids:
- 1/3rd of container filled with balsamic vinegar
- 1/3rd of container filled with apple cider vinegar
- fill the remaining 1/3rd of container with extra virgin olive oil
- Add just a small touch of real maple syrup
- Add a little bit of onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper and then shake the container to mix all ingredients well.
NOTE: Refrigerate and shake each time before use. And feel free to experiment with the amount, the flavor of olive oil and balsamic , or the kind of spices. E.G. if you enjoy Italian spices, try a pinch and see how it tastes.
This homemade salad dressing mixture is delicious and healthy, and we pretty much never get tired of it!
What Is The Best Olive Oil For A Creamy Salad Dressing
While a vinaigrette feels light, bright, and sometimes bracing, some salads call for a more decadent dressing. Creamy dressings dont necessarily need to be unhealthy, but they do feel more substantial. These dressings work particularly well on heartier greens, like kale.
As these dressings call on other ingredients to do the heavy lifting, like yogurt and mayonnaise, a more mild bottle of olive oil can do the job well. Sure, reach for that heart-healthy EVOO if youd like. Or, you can choose a more neutral, less pricey olive oil like regular olive oil that you’d use for cooking oil or even light olive oil, depending on the recipe.
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What Is The Best Vinegar For A Vinaigrette
Olive oil is only half the recipe or rather, three quarters. The rest is something acidic, which may be vinegar or citrus juice. You can try balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or rice vinegar. Regular distilled vinegar is very harsh, so thats probably not the best choice.
What Is The Best Time To Take Olive Oil
Some will preach the benefits of drinking olive oil first thing in the morning. Others swear by the benefits of taking olive oil at night before bed. The morning advocates claim that taking a shot of extra virgin olive oil on an empty stomach jumpstarts digestion and provides optimal absorption into your system.
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Try Using These Vinegar Or Acid Options
Try using any of the following for the acid in your salad dressing: Balsamic vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, rice wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar. Apple cider vinegar can be used, but you will most likely want to add a bit of sugar, honey, or another sweetener to the mix. Lemon juice, lime juice, or any citrus juice can also work.
If you have IBS or food sensitivities, be sure to check your vinegar or juice before using it! Some of the vinegars recommended above are not low FODMAP.