Tangy Goodness: Creamy Italian Dressing

http://www.MelJoulwan.com/2011/01/25/tangy-goodness-creamy-italian-dressing/
When I was a kid, I hated sandwiches… especially ham & cheese–but I loved salads… especially with lots of creamy Italian dressing. My mom would pack my lunchtime salad in a Tupperware container, then put the bottled creamy Italian dressing in a plastic baggie. All I had to do was cut the corner off the bag and squeeze out the dressing. Pretty genius, right?

Now I mostly dress our salads with a vinaigrette made from EVOO, vinegar, garlic, a dab of mustard, salt, and pepper… easy-peasy. But then one night, the homemade mayo caught my eye as I reached into the fridge for the vinegar.

The mayo is made from olive oil, I thought. What if I replace the EVOO with mayo?

I love when I have thoughts like that. Enjoy!

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Creamy Italian Dressing from Well Fed

Serves 2-4 | Prep 5 min | Whole30 compliant

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb blend or dried oregano leaves

  • 1/4 cup homemade Olive Oil Mayo

  • 1/2 clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 teaspoon)

  • 2 tablespoons vinegar: balsamic, red wine, or cider

  • salt & ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1

In a small bowl, crush the dried herbs with your fingers, then add mayo and garlic. Blend well with a fork.

2

Drizzle in the vinegar, mixing with the fork, then taste and season with salt and pepper. If your dressing is too thick, add either vinegar or water–a 1/4 teaspoon at a time–until it’s the right consistency. Keep in mind that it will thin slightly as you toss it with your salad ingredients..

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Comments

  • Pensguys says:

    I love thoughts like that too! Just last night I realized my recipe called for a 90 min simmer time! YIKES! I only had 30. Presto chango and out comes the pressure cooker to take over the cooking and I made it JUST in time. 😉

  • Leah says:

    This is great! I actually did something very similar the other night. I love salads but get sooooo bored with the vinaigrette dressings. I missed the creamy ranch that I used to love to eat, but the other night I made a delicious steak, avocado, tomato salad and made a creamy avocado dressing using my homemade paleo mayo and blending it with an avocado and some apple cider vinegar. It was delicious! Thank you so much for all your great recipes. It makes it so much easier to stick to clean eating when there's so many good recipes to choose from.

  • Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan says:

    Your creamy avocado dressing sounds heavenly — I'm going to have to try that! So… thank YOU right back!

  • JL Autry says:

    Just made this tonight!! it was amazing!! I made it with balsamic vinegar but next time I'm going to try it with apple cider vinegar.

    Thank you so much for a 'creamy' paleo dressing recipe!! I've been missing my ranch lately…

  • Melissa 'Melicious' Joulwan says:

    Jennilee –> It's really fun to play around with the vinegars because they change the flavor so much. I've been wanting to get a tarragon vinegar to try.

  • Jennifer says:

    Love love love – this dressing – salads, chicken, steaks – awesome!!
    Just a quick question – how many calories tblsp?

    Ps – love the book! Got me my copy but no #WOD for the kitchen keeping that for the box #CFSS

  • Amy Chapa says:

    I am allergic to ALL bell peppers (AKA Paprika), which is in ALL mayo & so far all of the Italian Dressings. Both are my favorite & I have not eaten them in YEARS!! Thanks sooooo much for your recipes!!! I’m about to get BUSY in the kitchen!! Yay!! 😀

  • Morgan says:

    Day 12 of my 1st whole 30. My hubby whipped up your mayo (yumm!) last night and I made the creamy Italian dressing tonight. Such a treat on our journey! Thanks for the easy and delicious recipe.

  • Debbie says:

    Yum! This was awesome and crazy easy. And you were right, it was great on my burger and my salad. Thanks for yet another winner!

  • Hi, I am on day 8 of my Whole30, I had started cutting out things like Soda, Candy, Cakes, pastas, breads etc before I heard of Whole30 but anyway I started whole30 and very quickly got bored with my food….(I was still enjoying things like bbq sauce ranch dressing etc on what I call a “modified” whole food diet) Well yesterday I finally decided to get some new meal ideas and this recipe was on the list to try, I do not like garlic so I did not put in the garlic and since I was afraid it would be really bitter I added maybe 1/2 tsp of orange juice. It came out great! I have also tried Coconut Amino and Cauliflower rice WOW, yummy, now I will have to try the homemade version when I am done with my whole30. Ok I have cheated and weighed myself because I have been on a mission since June so I am tracking my weight loss goals I have lost 35 lbs!!Since I started eating better (28 before I started whole30) I am sorry to go on and on but I wanted to share…I love the recipe above!!I have never been excited about a “diet” before, but all the yummy recipes are going to make it so much easier to adopt as a lifestyle change because I can do cauliflower rice instead of white rice all the time and I think making my own dressing too. I am going to try the ketchup tonight!! (that’s just a start)

  • Molly H Pearson says:

    Your mayo recipe will not open…. 🙁
    what is it?

    Thanks!

  • Ilaine Dymont says:

    Hi,

    I appreciate your recipe Creamy Italian Dressing.

    Could you come up with a Creamy Greek Dressing – Paleo OK – please and thank you.

  • Yum, this was super tasty. Thanks for a keeper recipe!

  • Maggie Cain says:

    This is my go-to dressing. But I think you’re missing a huge time-saver here. If you make the whole thing except keep the vinegar out, it keeps for as long as your mayo would keep. You’re just putting dry herbs, seasoning, and garlic in it. Then when I want to use it, I grab it and do 2 parts dressing, one part vinegar, and voila, nearly endless possibilities since I’m a vinegar addict!

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