It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of making my own salad dressing. They taste better, they’re more economical, and it literally takes no skill to make. Honestly, you just put some ingredients in a jar and shake it up! That being said I grew up on store-bought salad dressings, so I still have a soft spot in my heart for some of them. And one in particular is my absolute favorite, kens zesty Italian dressing.
Seriously, It’s like the best salad dressing ever invented. It has a perfect balance of salty, sweet, and sour flavors. It works great with just about any combination of salad ingredients. And best of all you can use it as a quick marinade for meats, so it’s multi-purpose.
But what exactly is zesty Italian dressing?
Well unlike its name suggests it’s not something that you would find in Italy. Instead, it is one of many American invented salad dressings that just happened to be named after some country. You know like French dressing, Russian dressing, and Greek dressing.
As for the ingredients Italian dressing is typically made out of oil, vinegar, bell peppers, parmesan cheese, sugar, herbs, and spices. So while it requires a few more ingredients than most salad dressing, I feel like it is well worth the trouble. Anyways, enough talk, let’s get to making out Italian dressing!
Tips Tricks & Suggestions
- What oil and vinegar are best for Italian dressing? Well, when you look at the list of ingredients on Ken’s bottle you will find that they use canola oil, and distilled white vinegar. And while those would work, I prefer to make my dressing a little bit “fancier”. That’s why today’s recipe uses extra virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar. That being said if you want to keep it more in line with what Ken’s uses then use canola and white vinegar.
- One of the keys to this dressing is the minced onion and bell peppers. Make sure to mince them as fine as you can, or simply use a food processor.
Italian Dressing Recipe
Total time: 3 minutes
Servings: A little over a cup
Ingredients
¾ Cups of extra virgin olive oil
¼ Cup of red wine vinegar
Juice of one large lemon
2 Tablespoons of minced red bell pepper
1 Tablespoon of minced white onion
1 Tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
½ Teaspoon of each: granulated garlic, dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley, paprika, sugar, & salt
¼ Teaspoon of black pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to either a jar or a bottle with a lid.
- Shake everything up until the ingredients combine.
- Pour your Italian dressing over a salad, or use it in whatever recipe you need it for. Enjoy!
Italian Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- ¾ Cups of extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ Cup of red wine vinegar
- Juice of one large lemon
- 2 Tablespoons of minced red bell pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of minced white onion
- 1 Tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese
- ½ Teaspoon of each: granulated garlic dried oregano, dried basil, dried parsley, paprika, sugar, & salt
- ¼ Teaspoon of black pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to either a jar or a bottle with a lid.
- Shake everything up until the ingredients combine.
- Pour your Italian dressing over a salad, or use it in whatever recipe you need it for. Enjoy!
