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This zesty Homemade Italian Dressing is loaded with herbs! This vinaigrette is perfect for drizzling on salads, vegetables, pasta salads, or using as a marinade.
Love salad dressings? Try our Homemade Ranch Dressing, Avocado Ranch, or Blue Cheese dressings.
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Zesty Italian Dressing: Your New Salad Staple!
This homemade Italian dressing is possibly the BEST salad dressing around. It’s zesty, tangy, and incredibly easy to whisk together, making it the perfect addition to so many dishes.
Drizzle it over your favorite side salad, toss it into a fully loaded Italian chop salad, mix it into a pasta salad, or spoon it over fresh veggies for a crisp summer side dish.
Whatever you choose, this dressing is bound to take it up a notch!
Why You Will Love This Dressing
- Zesty, herby, and perfectly balanced flavors.
- Made with simple pantry staples.
- Quick and easy to whip up.
- So much better than store-bought!
♡ If you’re a fan of Italian flavors you need to check out our Italian Pasta Salad, Grinder Salad, and Italian Chop salad recipes.
Ingredients Needed
- Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is a great option, another option would be to use an avocado oil.
- Vinegar: White wine or a red wine vinegar
- Honey: This is essential to balance out the vinegar in the dressing. Can also use sugar if preferred.
- Lemon juice: Adds a fresh bit of citrus.
- Parmesan: Use freshly grated parmesan cheese, not the stuff in the green bottle.
- Herbs: Use either fresh or dried. Amounts for both are included in the recipe card.
- Garlic & Onion powder
- Salt & Pepper
Step-By-Step Directions
Find the complete recipe card below with measurements and full instructions.
Making homemade dressings is ridiculously easy to make. My personal preference is to add all of the ingredients to a jar so that I can shake things together, and store in the refrigerator if needed.
- Combine the liquid ingredients.
- Add in herbs and seasonings.
- Whisk together. Or close jar and shake.
Tip: If you are wanting a creamy, emulsified dressing simply blend this up with an immersion blender!
Storage
- Since we are using herbs in our vinaigrette, to safely store your homemade Italian Dressing keep in a sealed glass container in the refrigerator.
- Use within 3-5 days.
- For best results remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature for 30 minutes before using. Shake or whisk together if separation occurred.
More Salad Dressing Recipes:
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Homemade Italian Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil (120 ml)
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar (60 ml)
- 2 tsp honey (10 ml) or sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice (15 ml)
- 3 tbsp parmesan freshly grated
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼-½ tsp crushed red pepper
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Whisk or shake to combine.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Salad Recipes
Photography by KJandCompany.co
I really did not like this with EVOO. Remade it with regular vegtable oil, plain white vinegar (shorted the 1/4 cup), 1 tablespoon of bottled grated parm (no block at home) and a full teaspoon of salt. It was pretty darn close to what I was looking for. Will keep tweaking but a great and easy recipie to start with!
Big hit at the dinner table!
Favoloso condimento a noi è piaciuto molto…ho salvato la ricetta
This is it! For me, this is what I was looking for. Nice and zesty. I’ve made Italian dressing several times, and could never get that “zing.” Maybe it’s the addition of lemon juice. Very good. Thank you.
Used fresh herbs, onion and garlic. Blended with a hand blender. Delish!
This amazing dressing very use multiple of ways.
My absolute favourite is using it for a Mediterranean pasta salad
Fabulous Italian dressing! Perfect for all my salads in New Jersey
This is by far the BEST dressing ever!! Thanks for sharing!
Made the Homemade Italian Dressing the other night and it is my husband’s new favorite. I like that it uses staples that I always have around … and no chopping required! Couldn’t be simpler or yummier. Thank you for the delicious recipe Serene!
OMG! This recipe goes to the top of my Italian marinades. I filled a jar with mixed veggies n added some of this recipe. Am in in Heaven?