Greek Salad Dressing

Make this easy Greek salad dressing in less than 5 minutes! Simple ingredients you already have in your kitchen make this a healthy, frugal choice over store-bought. And swap one ingredient for a CREAMY Greek dressing recipe!

I think it might be a guy thing, but when my husband finds a food he likes, he wants it on repeat.

For example, the first time I made Greek Couscous, he asked for it every week.

The same thing happened when I made our favorite Hummus Recipe and again when I made Greek Quinoa Salad.

Obviously, the man likes Greek food!

It didn’t take me long to realize that if I made just one thing, I could pretty much turn any meal into a Greek meal. What’s that thing? Greek salad dressing!

HEALTHIER GREEK SALAD DRESSING RECIPE

We stopped buying salad dressing YEARS ago when I went through every cabinet in our kitchen and threw away anything and EVERYTHING that had either high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils.

That was a big deal at the time because most of our condiments contained one or both of these harmful ingredients, and I don’t think we had a single bottle of salad dressing left!

Thankfully, though, we quickly learned that making your own salad dressing isn’t that hard or time-consuming, and it’s also one of the quickest ways to see immediate savings on your grocery budget!

THE BEST GREEK DRESSING RECIPE

I’m going to be honest here – I haven’t tried tons and tons of Greek salad dressing recipes. I made this one ages ago and we loved it so much that I never bothered trying another one.

I have, however, had a Greek vinaigrette at restaurants and often the “house” dressing is some sort of Greek dressing recipe.

My homemade version is just as good, if not better than any restaurant version. It has the perfect balance between authentic Greek flavors and the tang of red wine vinaigrette. Honestly, we could eat this dressing every night!

HOMEMADE GREEK DRESSING RECIPE INGREDIENTS

A few things make this dressing recipe for Greek salad taste authentic, namely the vinegar and the spices.

Vinegar.

• Red wine vinegar will give the signature tang you’re looking for.
• I’ve substituted apple cider vinegar before in a pinch.
• I don’t recommend rice wine vinegar for Greek salad dressing because it’s too mild and it doesn’t have enough bite.
• You can substitute up to half of the red wine vinegar with white vinegar and still make a yummy Greek salad dressing, but white vinegar is too mild to use on its own.
• I also don’t recommend balsamic vinegar because it’s naturally sweet, and it will take away from the Greek flavors.

Oil. The base of this Greek dressing recipe is oil and vinegar, and while I recommend extra virgin olive oil, you can use a different liquid oil, like grapeseed or avocado oil, if you prefer.

Spices: As for the spices, we’re using only dried spices, and you probably already have them in your pantry! You’ll need:

• Garlic powder + dried oregano + dried basil. The traditional trio of spices when you’re making a dressing recipe for Greek salad.
• Sea salt + ground black pepper + onion powder. You can’t forget the basics!

Mustard: There’s lots of flexibility here. I prefer brown mustard, but I’ve used Dijon mustard, spicy brown, horseradish (YUM!), and plain yellow mustard – they’re all good!

HOW TO MAKE GREEK SALAD DRESSING

Step 1. Combine all the ingredients in a glass jar.

Step 2. Secure the lid and shake vigorously.

That’s it! You could also whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl and pour into a jar, but that dirties more dishes.

Greek salad dressing can be stored at room temperature initially for up to a day but keep it in the refrigerator for longer-term storage. Since homemade salad dressings don’t have any preservatives, they won’t last for months on end, but the vinegar and oil help keep the salad dressing good in the fridge for a few weeks.

RECIPE FOR DRESSING GREEK SALAD TIPS

Most times, I add everything to a wide-mouth mason jar and hand it over to the kids to shake it up like crazy. The mustard helps emulsify the dressing, which means the oil and vinegar don’t separate as easily as they would in other dressings.

P.S. These lids make it super easy to shake and pour!

In my home, we make this recipe for dressing Greek salad so often that I keep a jar of just the dried spices in my spice cabinet, and then I measure what I need for this recipe. As written, this makes two tablespoons of spices, exactly enough for one batch of dressing. I triple or quadruple the spices and then measure out the two tablespoons to make the dressing.

Doing it this way also means I have a Greek spice blend ready to go for roasting vegetables or seasoning our meat!

CREAMY GREEK SALAD DRESSING

Turn the tables on the typical Greek salad dressing and use YOGURT instead of oil! You’ll get a completely different recipe, and it will still have a great punch of Greek flavors.

To make a creamy Greek salad dressing, mix the red wine vinegar and spices in the jar first and then add yogurt one scoop at a time until you have half of the amount of oil called for in the recipe (half would be about 3 Tablespoons). This allows you to control how thick and creamy you want your Greek salad dressing to be.

At this point, you can finish with additional yogurt, or you can add oil if the dressing is thick enough, up to 3 additional Tablespoons. Remember that the beauty of NOT buying Greek salad dressing is that you can make it just how you want!

HOW TO USE THIS DRESSING RECIPE FOR GREEK SALAD

Obviously, using this dressing in Greek salad is the first thing that comes to mind here. However, there are plenty of other ways you can use Greek salad dressing to give some serious flavor to your foods!

• Use it to marinate chicken (this is especially delicious!)
• Or a beef marinade!
• Quickly marinate (30-60 min) fish or seafood
• Use it as a dressing on Greek Couscous or Greek Quinoa Salad or a simple traditional Greek salad full of romaine lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, and bell pepper!
• Toss your vegetables in a few tablespoons before roasting or grilling
• As a Baked Potato topping, instead of butter and sour cream
• Use Mediterranean salad dressing for Pasta Salad (which is PERFECT for summer BBQs!)
• Replace the mayo in egg salad or chicken salad
• Toss the salad dressing with kalamata olives, red onion, and feta cheese for a scoopable appetizer

No matter how you use it, you really can’t go wrong with a delicious batch of homemade Greek salad dressing!

DRESSING IN GREEK SALAD FAQS

OUR FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING RECIPES

Aside from Greek salad dressing, we make these homemade salad dressings most often:

• Caesar Salad Dressing
• Italian Salad Dressing
• Dairy Free Ranch Dressing
• Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Thai Peanut Sauce
• Sweet Lemon Vinaigrette