I was at a loss for words when I started writing about the olive garden salad dressing, because there isn’t much to be said about this dressing that hasn’t been said before.
- “The olive garden salad dressing is a masterclass in balance and savoury.“
- “I go to the Olive Garden just for the salad.“
- “I don’t know what they put in that olive garden dressing, but it’s guud.“
If you’ve had the dressing, you know…
And you might be asking yourself why I don’t just buy it, because they do, in fact, sell the dressing for home use; well, I personally have a rule that I do not buy dressings, because it’s one of the BIGGEST wastes of money and flavour- but I digress.
As a chef my motto is “I don’t buy dressings, I make them 😉”…and then share them with you!
All you need for this dressing is a bowl, a fork for whisking and very regular – you-will-definitely-have-them- ingredients– and voila, transported to a booth in a suburban Olive Garden enjoying the legendary olive garden salad dressing.
A Quick Salad 101
- The basic ratio for a vinaigrette, which is what this dressing is, is 1 PART VINEGAR to 3 PART OIL; some will say it’s 1 part vinegar to 4 part oil, but I don’t find this ratio flavourful enough. That said, when making this homemade olive garden salad dressing- or any dressing for that matter- you do you!
- To emulsify, aka make creamy, a vinaigrette you need to add an emulsifying agent like mustard or mayo; the latter which you’ll find in the olive garden dressing. Without an emulsifying agent you can still combine your dressing but it’s likely to split quickly.