Lavishly drizzle your garden salad with crisp homemade Italian dressing. This easy, refreshing, salad dressing recipe is bursting with flavor! Happily, this recipe is quick and simple to make. You’ll just need a few staple items and spices you most likely already have on hand in your pantry and fridge. From start to finish it takes only 5 minutes to whisk up this fresh, healthy delicious condiment. In addition to enjoying it on green salads, Italian dressing is also a flavorful marinade for chicken, flank steak, Italian pasta salads, and vegetable skewers! Scroll down the page for the printable recipe card.
Ingredients for Homemade Italian Dressing
These are the simple ingredients for making yummy Italian dressing from scratch: virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, granulated sugar, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried minced onion, crushed red pepper, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese.
How to Make Italian Dressing
Here’s how to make homemade Italian salad dressing: Using a small bowl, mason jar, or wide-mouth salad dressing carafe, add the olive oil, wine vinegar and lemon juice. Whisk these three ingredients together until well blended. Add the sugar and spices and whisk again. Add the finely-grated Parmesan cheese and whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Taste the mixture and adjust the salt and pepper, as needed. Refrigerate for two hours before serving. This will allow enough time for the flavors to meld together nicely, and the crisp spices will have a chance to soften.
Frequently Asked Questions About Italian Dressing
Question #1: How long will Italian dressing last in the refrigerator? The Parmesan cheese expiration date will determine how long your salad dressing will last.
Question #2: Why not use fresh garlic and fresh herbs for this Italian dressing recipe? You can most definitely use fresh garlic and herbs to make this salad dressing recipe; however, using these fresh ingredients will greatly shorten the amount of time your dressing will stay fresh. You’ll need to use up the dressing the very same day it’s prepared.
Kitchen Tools for Italian Dressing Recipe
I love that very few kitchen tools are needed to make homemade salad dressing! Below are the simple items I used to make this recipe.
Homemade Italian Dressing
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
Description
This fresh homemade Italian dressing is very simple to make! With just a few basic ingredients you can make this delicious recipe that tastes 100% better than a bottle of store-bought dressing.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly-squeezed
- 1 + 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a wide-top salad dressing pitcher or mason jar, add the virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, and fresh lemon juice. Mix the ingredients together with a small whisk.
- Add the granulated sugar, sea salt, black pepper, and all of the spices. Whisk until well blended. Add the finely-grated Parmesan cheese. Whisk until all ingredients are fully combined.
- Refrigerate the Italian dressing for two hours before serving. This will give the ingredients a chance to meld together beautifully, and the dried spices can soften up a bit. Enjoy!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Category: Lunch, Dinner, Party
- Method: By hand
- Cuisine: Italian, American
Keywords: salad dressing, homemade Italian dressing, Italian salad dressing recipe
ITALIAN DRESSING RECIPE > PIN IT TO PINTEREST!
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OTHER ESSENTIAL SALAD DRESSING RECIPES
JENNIE’S TAHINI SALAD DRESSING is the delicious family recipe my sister-in-law is famous for! Whenever we have family gatherings we know we can count on Jennie to bring a large garden salad along with this timeless salad dressing recipe.
CREAMY CILANTRO-LIME DRESSING is festive, flavorful and super scrumptious! If you love the cilantro dressing from Rio Cafe, then you’re going to go bonkers for this super popular recipe!
ITALIAN DRESSING > JOIN THE CONVERSATION!
Do you enjoy the fresh crisp taste of salad dressing recipes made from scratch? What do you think about this Italian dressing recipe? Join the conversation in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
A homemade italian dressing is sooo worth the 5 minutes it takes to make it! Its so perfect for fresh summer salads! I can’t wait to try out this recipe!
★★★★★
I had to come back and rate this classic Italian dressing 5 Stars! Or six!
★★★★★
I LOVE this classic recipe! The bright, tangy flavor of Italian dressing is a welcome change from the world covered in Ranch. Plus, when you make it at home, you know what goes into it.
I’ve never thought to make my own! Great idea.
LOVE a good home made dressing! It’s always nice to know exactly what’s going into your body. Thanks for sharing this recipe!!
Belle, you are absolutely welcome! It’s always a great feeling to make a delicious salad dressing recipe from scratch.
This dressing looks great! Way better than the storebought stuff for sure!
Thanks so much Amanda! I know you’ll absolutely love the fabulous taste of this flavorful Italian dressing.
I’ve never been that keen on Italian dressing, but this recipe makes me REALLY want to try it! Parmesan IN MY DRESSING??? WHAT?? That sounds sooooo yummy.
xx
Isabella
Parmesan cheese really makes a difference! It provides beautiful taste and texture to this salad dressing recipe. Many good wishes to you Isabella for a wonderful weekend!
Homemade dressing is absolutely the best! And how could you not want to make it when it’s so quick and easy? Love this!
Patricia, I’m so glad you love this yummy salad dressing recipe! It’s packed with beautiful flavors that’ll make you smile.
I love your recipes! Now, I’m making this one!
Awww…thank you Christina! Your sweet comment just made my day! :-)
this is just perfect for all summer salads and is so easy to make!
It is the perfect Italian dressing for all summer salads. Super easy to make and most people will love it.
I bet this is a delicious marinade for chicken! I’ll have to try this soon!
-Jennifer
★★★★★
H iJennifer, this Italian dressing would be perfect for a marinade on chicken.
I absolutely love this recipe!! Can’t wait to try it. With the hot temp these summer salads are a staple in the house and this dressing will be perfect!
★★★★★
Hi Leah, summer salads are the best and this dressing will go perfect with it.
Tihs sounds like a yummy salad dressing! I’ll have to try it sometime!
Hi Diana, I know you will love this recipe for Italian dressing. Its so yummy.
Perfect for salads! Willing to try this for later at dinner time.
Hi Mary, its perfect for salads. You have that right. lol.
I love homemade Italian dressing! You can make so much of it and it’s way better than the store. This one is my new favorite!
★★★★★
Im tickled that you love it so much. It the best and everyone loves it.
You can’t beat homemade salad dressings! This looks really delicious and flavorful.
Hi Amy, you really cant beat homemade dressings. They are the best.
Delicious! Love the red wine vinegar in here. A great all-purpose salad dressing.
★★★★★
Hi Alyssa, Im so glad you enjoy it. It really is wonderful.
I love homemade dressings and have been looking for a good Italian dressing recipe. I think this is exactly what I’ve been looking for, can’t wait to try it!
★★★★★
I’m glad I could help. I think youre really going like this homemade Italian Dressing. Its a nice compliment to any salad.
I absolutely LOVE a good homemade Italian dressing. I love how refreshing and light it is. I will definitely be trying this!
★★★★★
I think you will really like this italian dressing. Its great for any salad.