Homemade balsamic dressing is a staple in our house. So much so that we thought we should share three versions we make all the time: a basic dressing, creamy dressing, and strawberry balsamic dressing. More homemade salad dressings: Try our easy homemade ranch, this creamy blue cheese dressing or this better than store bought Italian dressing.
How to Make Homemade Balsamic Dressing
When making vinaigrettes, the idea is to slowly stream in oil and vigorously beat it into the base of the dressing — often vinegar or lemon juice. In this case, we used olive oil and slowly added it to balsamic vinegar. Depending on the quality of your balsamic vinegar you may only need to add salt and pepper for a thick, slightly sweetened vinaigrette. Most of us don’t have high quality balsamic vinegars at home (or if we do, we don’t want to use a 1/4 cup of it in dressing). They can be very expensive. So for our daily homemade balsamic dressing, Joanne and I buy relatively low-range balsamic vinegar (around $10). Then, we cheer up it’s flavor with some extras — Dijon mustard and a little brown sugar. The brown sugar adds sweetness, often found in the higher quality stuff and the mustard adds complexity.
How to Make Creamy Dressing
If we’re feeling like something different, we’ll go a little further and make the dressing creamy. We add a little mayonnaise and it works like a dream. We’ve also tried sour cream and crème fraîche — both are a nice touch and add a little bit of sour to the mix.
How to Make Strawberry Balsamic Dressing
Another option is to turn the basic dressing into strawberry balsamic dressing and use strawberry jam instead of brown sugar. By the way, you could skip strawberry and use another jam — blueberry, cherry and fig jam are delicious. This would be excellent drizzled over our Balsamic Strawberry Salad! More ideas for spicing up our basic balsamic dressing are to add garlic, a little red wine vinegar, or chopped fresh herbs. 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon brown sugar, or more to taste 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 1/2 cup (120 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
