A basic vinaigrette made at home offers many benefits over store-bought, including: save money, customize with the ingredients of your choice, control quantity (just make as much as you need or want), and enjoy greater versatility. Use it as a salad dressing, a marinade for proteins, or a sauce to drizzle over roasted chicken or cooked fish. Making your own vinaigrette gives you the flexibility to adjust flavors and textures depending on what you will use it with. One of the best reasons to make your own vinaigrette is that you probably already have all the ingredients you need on hand!
Here are the keys to making your own vinaigrette:
- The basic ratio of oil (fat) to vinegar (acid) for vinaigrette is 3:1. So, for every 3 parts of fat (for example: olive oil, walnut oil, bacon fat) use 1 part of acid (for example: vinegars, citrus juice, even leftover pickle juice). Knowing this basic ratio allows you to make as much or as little as you want. Once you have that measured out you can add other ingredients that will adjust flavor and texture, like mustards, chopped shallots, garlic, spices, etc…
- Taste the vinaigrette, and adjust the seasonings for your own tastes. You can follow a basic recipe, but remember that you won’t mess it up by adding/adjusting the amounts.
- Use high quality ingredients. The flavors will really stand out so you want to save your best oils and vinegars for dressings.
- Adding ingredients like Dijon mustard, or mashed-up, cooked egg yolk, can add more body to vinaigrette, and will help keep the oil and vinegar from separating as easily.
- Mixing vinaigrette is easy using a fork, but if you really want the ingredients to combine successfully, use a whisk to add oil to the rest of the ingredients, or use an immersion or regular blender. Another great option is to put all the ingredients in a glass jar, close the lid, and shake everything together vigorously.
- Vinaigrette will keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Just make sure to mix it well again before using.
Mark Bittman’s Basic Vinaigrette Recipe from How to Cook Everything
This is a great basic recipe to which you can add other flavors. The shallot in this recipe adds great depth and sweetness to balance the oil and vinegar.
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons or more good wine vinegar
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 large shallot (about 1 ounce), cut into chunks (optional)
1. Combine all the ingredients except the shallot in a blender, and turn the machine on; a creamy emulsion will form within 30 seconds. Taste and add vinegar a teaspoon or two at a time until the balance tastes right to you.
2. Add the shallot and turn the machine on and off a few times until the shallot is minced within the dressing. Taste, adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Variations:
- make a sweeter dressing by using canola oil, balsamic, Dijon mustard and honey.
- use flavored vinegars, like raspberry.
- add different kinds of mustards, like Dijon or a grained mustard for flavor and texture.
- add minced fresh herbs, like tarragon, dill, basil or oregano; use citrus juice to replace, or in combination with, the vinegar.
- add other aromatics like minced garlic, scallions, or grated ginger.
- use about 4 tablespoons of sour cream, mayonnaise, or buttermilk to make a creamy dressing.