With the rise of celiac disease and gluten intolerance, so many people are following a gluten-free diet these days. Our Italian dressing has no gluten-containing ingredients without sacrificing anything at all! Making next level healthy salads just got easier.
With spring just around the corner, we're looking forward to all of the great things coming from our garden. One of the best ways to enjoy fresh produce is in the form of a perfect salad with some homemade salad dressing. Did we mention that this is also a dairy-free option, as well as vegan?
We've been making lots of gluten-free recipes lately, like our citrus almond olive oil cake, and crispy cauliflower bites, and frankly, the challenge has been a lot of fun! It's always refreshing to discover new ways to approach food products and cooking.
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Newest Recipe!
Lexington Style BBQ Sauce
This sauce is an all time classic. Easy, quick, and made with ingredients you probably already have!
Ingredients
Making gluten-free dressing is not rocket science, and the ingredient list is so basic, that most folks should already have almost everything laying around.
- Olive Oil - Oil is a key ingredient in almost all homemade dressings, not only for the viscosity, but also for flavor. This lovely extra virgin example has a great fruity and herbaceous quality.
- Vinegar - With this being an Italian style vinaigrette, we are going with red wine vinegar, but you can use your favorite, just be aware that you may have to adjust the oil and sugar content, since different ones have different levels of acidity, (please stay away from white vinegar, as it's highly processed and tastes like medicine!). Another note, malt vinegar is not gluten free.
- Dijon Mustard - This gives a really nice spicy note to the finished dressing, as well as it acts as an emulsifier, where a lot of store-bought salad dressings may contain wheat thickeners.
- Garlic - Fresh and minced. You can use dry in order to increase shelf life by a week or two, but we really prefer the taste of the real thing.
- Salt - Pure, kosher salt.
- Sugar - We used white granulated sugar for it's very simple sweetness, but if you would like to avoid refined sugar, maple syrup or honey will also work to balance the flavors.
- Red Pepper Flakes - The mild heat that this traditional Italian seasoning adds just the right kick.
- Basil - Sweet, with a slight anise flavor.
- Thyme - This is probably my favorite herb. It has a way of creating kind of a handshake between many different ingredients.
- Oregano - If you can find oregano that is Greek or Mexican in origin, they are the most full flavored.
- Rosemary - In place of using all fresh herbs, we just used this one. The dry version is very one dimensional.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Once you have everything from the ingredients list, making this healthy salad dressing is a snap!
This is one of our favorite ways to mix things up. Just put everything into a mason jar, and....
shake it up!!! Ta-da, homemade gluten-free salad dressing!
Helpful Hint
Since we used a extra virgin olive oil in this dressing as opposed to a highly processed one, the oil will solidify in the refrigerator. You can work around this in a number of ways. If you pull the mason jar out of the cooler an hour or so before using it, it should come to room temperature and "melt". Shaking it aggressively will also do the trick, as well as microwaving it for just a few seconds.
Variations
There are lots of different options for this high-quality gluten-free salad dressing!
- Vinegar/Acid - Balsamic vinegar is a very popular choice, or apple cider vinegar, even lemon juice will work really nicely!
- Oil - There are lots of flavorful options available, like avocado oil, grapeseed, or even some really flavorful ones, like walnut, (just use powerful oil like this one as a seasoning, replacing all of the oil will result in overpowering bitterness.).
Equipment
We like to use a good chef knife to mince up the garlic, but if you are looking for an easier way, a garlic press comes in handy.
If you don't have any mason jars, do yourself a favor and get some. They are by far one of the best old-school items ever. So useful, and for so many things.
Storage
Store this dressing in the tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It's actually at it's best after 4-5 days!
Chef Tip
This vinaigrette salad dressing doesn't have any food starch or gluten ingredients. It also doesn't have any thickeners or emulsifiers that will keep it together permanently. Make sure that it is well shaken or stirred before using it on a salad, or you will just be getting the oil from the top.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Gluten Free
- Dark Chocolate Ganache
- Gluten Free Crispy Baked Cauliflower Bites Recipe
- Creamy Mushroom Asiago Soup
- Black Eyed Pea Salad
Recipe
Gluten Free Vegan Italian Salad Dressing
Equipment
- 1 Chef Knife
- 1 Garlic press optional
- 1 Measuring Spoon Set
- 1 Measuring cup set
- 1 Mason Jar
Ingredients
- ½ cup Olive oil extra virgin
- 1 tsp. Garlic peeled and minced
- ¾ tsp. Sugar white, granulated
- 1 tsp. Salt
- ¼ cup Red wine vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp. Red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp. Thyme dry, whole
- 1 tsp. Basil dry, whole
- ½ tsp. Oregano dry, whole
- 1 tsp. Rosemary fresh, minced
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a mason jar.
- Seal the lid tightly and shake to combine.
Jason Miller
Incredibly easy.