Greek Salad Dressing

This Greek Salad Dressing recipe is the BEST easy Greek dressing. Made with basic ingredients, this Greek-style vinaigrette is easy to make in minutes and it’s perfect on salads, for serving on grilled veggies, and even as a marinade for grilled meats.

 

Estimated reading time: 18 minutes

We love a good salad any time of the year, but especially in the summer when the produce is fresh (and local!) and we’re doing everything we can to avoid turning on the oven. This Greek Salad Dressing is one we make on repeat – it’s SO perfect for Greek-style salads, but it’s also great drizzled over veggies fresh off the grill and used as a marinade for grilled chicken, beef, or pork. It’s a simple vinaigrette that you’ll find yourself making over and over again, we’re sure of it!

Greek Salad dressing is a basic vinaigrette dressing that’s infused with flavours commonly found in Greek food, like lemon, Greek basil and oregano, and red wine vinegar. It’s simple yet SO flavourful and it pairs perfectly with all your favourite Greek-style recipes. There’s no mayonnaise and no yogurt or sour cream – just simple vinaigrette ingredients you probably already have in your fridge and pantry!

When it comes to how to serve it, Greek Dressing is delicious as a salad dressing on a regular garden salad or Greek salad, but here are some other ways we love to enjoy it:

• as a dressing for Greek pasta salad
• as a sandwich sauce on a Mediterranean-style submarine sandwich
• as a sauce to drizzle over grilled veggies or homemade chicken souvlaki
• as a sauce for grilled chicken wraps with feta cheese
• as a dressing for our favourite Mediterranean Chickpea Salad
• as a marinade for our favourite Pork Skewers
• on this delicious Orzo salad

If you’re after the perfect vinaigrette dressing, here’s all our best pro tips and tricks for the best homemade dressing:

Choose a high quality extra virgin olive oil and high quality red wine vinegar, as it makes a huge difference in this recipe. Be sure to choose high-quality ingredients when making salad dressings at home as this will make or break their flavour and texture.

Mustard seems like a weird ingredient to add to salad dressing, but it adds SO much flavour and helps the oil and vinegar emulsify to form a creamy, smooth texture. Be sure to skip the hot dog mustard and add a real, fragrant and strong Dijon mustard for best results.

Citrus adds a ton of flavour and gives this dressing a bright, fresh taste. Lemon is a major player in the Greek Food game and it’s part of what gives this dressing its distinct Greek flavour.

A salad shaker or a good-quality mason jar is the key to making homemade dressings and keeping them fresh and easy to serve. Using a whisk and bowl works too, but shaking the ingredients together to blend is the best way to combine them. Be sure the salad dressing shaker or jar is airtight to maintain freshness.

Dried herbs work great in this dressing, especially if you’re going to store it in the fridge and use it over a week or more. Fresh herbs are far superior to dried ones when it comes to flavour, so feel free to substitute the dry herbs with fresh when making this dressing. Just be sure to chop them super finely and serve the dressing within a few days.

The thing with homemade salad dressings is, they just get better with time. We always make salad dressings 24 hours ahead of time in order to let the flavours develop.

Be sure to follow the measurements in the recipe and taste as you go. If it needs more salt or pepper, or more of another ingredient, adjust it to your tastes.

Because homemade dressing don’t contain added ingredients like preservatives and stabilizers like store-bought dressings you can find at the grocery store do, they’ll separate when left to sit. Be sure to shake well before using or even blend with a hand blender if you’d like.

Sometimes this dressing separates and the oil hardens when left in the fridge for several days. Again, this is because homemade dressings don’t contain preservatives and stabilizers. Simply leave the dressing out at room temperature for 30 minutes before shaking well and serving, or submerge the jar or container in some warm water to loosen up the solids before shaking and serving.

This can be solved by tasting the dressing as you go, so be sure to do so! If you think it’s too acidic, feel free to add more oil. Salad dressings often seem less acidic when enjoyed on salad versus tasted from a spoon, so be sure to give it a chance.

Here’s a short list of the basic equipment you’ll need to make this homemade salad dressing (paid links):

• measuring cups and spoons
• liquid measuring cups
• a Salad Dressing Shaker or a large mason jar

Here’s everything you’ll need to make this delicious Greek Salad Dressing Recipe (paid links):

• 1 1/2 cups olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 lemon juice and zest
• 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 4 cloves fresh garlic finely minced (you can use 1 teaspoon of garlic powder in a pinch)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

If you want to throw together a quick and easy Greek salad, here’s what you’ll need:

• fresh cucumbers
• fresh tomatoes
• red onions
• feta cheese
• Kalamata olives
• green bell pepper (optional)
• romaine lettuce (optional)

We make our easy Greek Salad recipe at least once a week to serve for dinner or lunch and it’s the perfect salad to serve with this Greek dressing!

Want to take this Greek Dressing to the next level? Try one of these delicious variations on the original recipe!

1. Creamy: Add a spoonful or two of Greek yogurt to make this dressing extra creamy.
2. Spicy: Add some chili flakes for a spicy kick.
3. Dill and Feta: Add dried or fresh dill and finely crumbled feta cheese.
4. Olive and Sun-dried Tomato: Chop some Kalamata olives and sun-dried tomatoes and add them to the dressing for added flavour.
5. Roasted Garlic: Instead of adding fresh garlic, add a double amount of roasted garlic for a more mellow flavour.
6. Honey Mustard: Add some honey to the dressing along with extra mustard.
7. Lemon Pepper: Instead of the black pepper, add some lemon pepper seasoning and add extra lemon zest.

We hope you love this delicious Greek Salad Dressing recipe as much as we do! Let us know in the comments below, what’s your favourite salad? We’d love to know!

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• Easy Homemade Blue Cheese Salad Dressing
• Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
• Healthy Avocado Ranch Dressing
• Healthy Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Watch the video below to see exactly how we make this recipe. You can find many more deliciously simple recipe videos on our YouTube channel!