French Dressing

French Dressing

Try this recipe for an "American" French dressing – a creamy red-orange, English-style dressing that mixes sweet with tangy with savory. This dressing has so many more layers of flavor compared to the store bought version, and is almost as easy to make as pouring from a bottle.

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Dressing

Cuisine American

Equipment

• Blender
• Normal Cooking Utensils

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 Small Onion Roughly chopped
• 1/2 C Mayonnaise
• 1/2 C Ketchup
• 1/2 C Vegetable Oil
• 1/3 C Vinegar
• 1/3 C Sugar
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Instructions

 

• Add all the ingredients except for the ketchup and mayo to a blander and blend until the salt and sugar are dissolved and the onion is completely disintegrated.
  1/2 Small Onion, 1/2 C Vegetable Oil, 1/3 C Vinegar, 1/3 C Sugar, 1 Clove Garlic, 1 tsp Paprika, 1/2 tsp Salt
• Mix in the ketchup and mayo.
  1/2 C Ketchup, 1/2 C Mayonnaise
• You can serve immediately, but the flavors improve if you chill the dressing for at least a half hour before serving.

Notes

You can use olive oil in place of vegetable oil, but make sure it is on the lighter side. You do not want flavor from the oil. 

Keyword Creamy, Dressing, Easy, French, Simple, Tangy

Believe it or not, the French Dressing we know in America does not have much in common with the quintessential vinaigrette served in France. You are more likely used to the store-bought version – a bright orange onslaught of sweetness often noted as a creamier version of Catalina Dressing. This version has roots all the way back to 1890, when it was sold by Milani, a future acquisition target of Kraft. I cannot be certain how the flavor profile came to be, but the dressing was made creamy to cater to the customer in a time when creamy “English-style” dressings were the rage. As a side note, sources are unsure whether ketchup was included in the original recipe; but it definitely works in this one.

French Dressing will always have a special place in my heart because my Grandpa loved it. To be honest, it was always difficult for me to eat because the bottled version is just so. sweet. But my Grandpa loved it, so I always found myself coming back to it on the occasional blue moon. No kidding, when he ordered a meal that came with a salad, his dressing was “French”. If the restaurant didn’t have French, he might settle for Catalina. If they didn’t have Catalina, he simply went without the salad.

All the sweet talk aside, this recipe is different. You will still recognize it as “French” dressing, but with much more balance. It is still sweet, don’t get me wrong, but not more so than, say, honey mustard. And it has hidden levels of flavor that reveal themselves bite by bite. Like a movie that gets better each time you watch it.

I hope you enjoy it.