homemade italian dressing

The other day I got a craving for pasta salad and decided I wanted make my own italian dressing to go with it. I think I will always make my own now. The recipe I used from the parsley thief was amazing. The flavors were so much more full and fresh than they are in the stuff from the bottle. Worth the extra effort for sure.

Just mix your sugar and spices in a bowl with red wine vinegar.


Combine extra virgin olive oil and canola oil in a measuring cup and pour it into the vinegar mix in a thin stream, whisking constantly with a fork or, well, a whisk.


Add your chopped herbs on top and mix again.


At this point I was going to pour it into a cute mason jar and store it in the fridge but I decided to see how much I need for the pasta salad. I just chopped up a yellow and a red bell pepper, some mushrooms, and olives and mixed them with a box of tricolor pasta. The dressing was pretty much the perfect amount to coat all of this evenly so no leftovers this time. I'll have to make some more later!

Homemade Italian Dressing
recipe from the parsley thief

makes 1 1/3 cups

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp dried mustard
kosher salt + freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tsp finely chopped fresh marjoram
1 tsp finely chopped fresh oregano

In a medium bowl, whisk together garlic, sugar, mustard, red pepper flakes, and red wine vinegar. Whisk together the two oils and pour into the vinegar mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly to form an emulsion. Add the fresh herbs and stir in salt and pepper to taste. Store the dressing in a container for up to a week.

Pour it over your favorite salad mix or use it to marinate chicken! Nothing beats the fresh ingredients.