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Skip store-bought salad dressing and blend up your own tangy homemade French Dressing recipe in just 2 minutes. This easy salad dressing is made with all pantry staple ingredients.
Thick and tangy with a sweetness and some spice, this is the French salad dressing of my dreams. It’s what I remember from the Greek restaurants growing up, and it’s exactly what I want on my Dorito Taco Salad today.
The best part is, it comes together in 2 minutes pantry table ingredients you likely already have stocked in your kitchen.
Table of Contents
Recipe ingredients
At a Glance: Here is a quick snapshot of what ingredients are in this recipe.
Please see the recipe card below for specific quantities.
Ingredient notes
- Granulated sugar: The 1 cup sugar in the dressing may sound like a lot, but it tastes just like the ones at Wisconsin supper clubs of my youth (they’d bring a small salad dressing caddy to your table with 4 different kinds of dressing: Ranch, Italian, Thousand Island, and French). If you don’t love sweet dressings, start with 2 tablespoons of sugar, taste, and increase if desired.
- Light olive oil: Light olive oil is milder than extra virgin which allows the other flavor-boosters to shine.
- Paprika: Use regular paprika (often simply labeled “Paprika” on the package) rather than hot or smoked paprika.
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, add sugar, ketchup, olive oil, white vinegar, celery seed, chili powder, dried mustard, onion powder, paprika, and salt to taste (I like 2 teaspoons). Process until smooth and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe tips and variations
- Yield: This French Dressing recipe makes 2 cups of dressing or 16 (2-tablespoon) servings. If you are making this for a Dorito Taco Salad, you’ll probably only need half the recipe.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. And I know what you’re thinking: “Everything in this ingredients list is shelf-stable! Why isn’t this dressing shelf-stable, or why can’t it last for a month?” Ingredients interact when they are combined, and without stabilizers and preservatives, it’s just as perishable as any other “leftover.”
- Make ahead: Feel free to make this homemade up to 3 days in advance. If the dressing begins to separate during this time, give it a shake before drizzling over your salad.
- Bonus salad pairings: In addition to taco salads, this homemade French Dressing tastes incredible tossed with or drizzled over my Easy Garden Salad, Wedge Salad, or Cobb Salad.
Delicious salad ideas
Salad Recipes
Dorito Taco Salad
Salad Recipes
Seven Layer Salad
Salad Recipes
Wedge Salad
Salad Recipes
Cobb Salad
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French Dressing Recipe
Skip store-bought salad dressing and blend up your own tangy homemade French Dressing recipe in just 2 minutes. This easy salad dressing is made with all pantry staple ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar (see note 1)
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 1/2 cup light olive oil (see note 2)
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika (see note 3)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, add sugar, ketchup, olive oil, white vinegar, celery seed, chili powder, dried mustard, onion powder, paprika, and salt to taste (I like 2 teaspoons). Process until smooth and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe Video
Notes
- Granulated sugar: The 1 c. sugar in the dressing may sound like a lot, but it tastes just like the ones at Wisconsin supper clubs of my youth (they’d bring a small salad dressing caddy to your table with 4 different kinds of dressing: Ranch, Italian, Thousand Island, and French). If you don’t love sweet dressings, start with 2 Tbsp. of sugar, taste, and increase if desired. Or, substitute a bottle of store-bought French dressing.
- Light olive oil: Light olive oil is milder than extra virgin which allows the other flavor-boosters to shine.
- Paprika: Use regular paprika (often simply labeled “Paprika” on the package) rather than hot or smoked paprika.
- Yield: This French Dressing recipe makes 2 c. of dressing or 16 (2-Tbsp.) servings. If you are making this for a Dorito Taco Salad, you’ll probably only need half the recipe.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. And I know what you’re thinking: “Everything in this ingredients list is shelf-stable! Why isn’t this dressing shelf-stable, or why can’t it last for a month?” Ingredients interact when they are combined, and without stabilizers and preservatives, it’s just as perishable as any other “leftover.”
- Make ahead: Feel free to make this homemade up to 3 days in advance. If the dressing begins to separate during this time, give it a shake before drizzling over your salad.
- Bonus salad pairings: In addition to taco salads, this homemade French Dressing tastes incredible tossed with or drizzled over my Easy Garden Salad, Wedge Salad, or Cobb Salad.
Nutrition
Serving: 2tbspCalories: 121kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gSodium: 92mgPotassium: 35mgFiber: 1gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 78IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 4mgIron: 1mg
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I used about half the sugar it called for and it was delicious!!!!
I cook it down on the stove so the sugar melts…The dressing lasts me a month that way.
This is good but definitely wish I had added less sugar. Very good though.
Thanks!
Can you sub the sugar with stevia?
Hi Debi, I’m sure you could. I haven’t, but you could definitely try it and see what you think. Thanks! -Meggan
This is the best home made French Dressing I have had! I changed the full carb, full calorie to a low carb, low calorie by substituting a no sugar ketchup and Splenda for the sugar…man is it great and I can eat it now!
I’m thinking of trying this and hoping it’s close to what Ponderosa’s French dressing tasted like. I’m curious as to why you say that it’s only good for 4 days in the fridge. Nothing in the recipe is an ingredient that typically spoils quickly, even without refrigeration.
Hi Mary, I follow the CDC guidelines for refrigeration when I say how long something will last. It’s true, the dressing could quite feasibly last a week or more in the refrigerator, but the CDC says 4 days so that’s what I say. The other thing is, even if you have a bunch of shelf-stable ingredients like ketchup and sugar and vinegar, once you combine them, things change. There is no chemical preservative or stabilizer to keep mixed French dressing ingredients safe, and I just don’t know enough about chemistry to know what would happen. So that’s why I say 4 days. It’s probably longer, but I don’t know how much longer, and I just say what I learned in my food safety program in culinary school (which is what the CDC says). Sorry for the confusion that, I hope this is helpful. Thanks! -Meggan
I asked for a french dressing recipe with no tomato products. The one thst came up specifically said ketchup. Not scceptacle.
Sounds like your issue is with Google, not me. Sorry about that! -Meggan
They make Katsup without sugar…but I used tomato paste and brown mustard. I also I subbed honey for the sugar, it is good.
Hey this is great! Definitely agree with another commenter about the sugar though. Ketchup is already almost all sugar anyway, so I’ll probably not add any extra sugar next time. Regardless, great recipe!