Creamy Greek Dressing

The day I first made this creamy Greek dressing, I hadn’t set out to make a creamy dressing at all. I was expecting a normal oil and vinegar dressing consistency. But using my blender to make it created such an amazing consistency I was blown away.

The secret to that creaminess is the mustard that stabilizes the oil and vinegar emulsion. And the use of a blender.

The ingredients

Garlic: Don’t be fooled by recipes that use garlic powder. It’s just not the same. A nice pungent fresh clove of garlic is what you need for a bright tasting dressing. Use one clove if you are garlic shy, two if you are like me and like garlic a lot…

Mustard: in this recipe, a classic traditional Dijon mustard works best. I am partial to Maille mustard myself but Grey Poupon is a very nice choice as well.

Oregano: dried oregano works great in this recipe. If you want to use fresh oregano, use 3 times the amount indicated.

Lemon juice: Again, do yourself a favor and don’t buy bottled lemon juice. It will never taste as bright as fresh squeezed lemon juice. My citrus press is probably my most used kitchen gadget. Sometimes, for odd shaped lemons or limes, I use a good old wood citrus juicer.

Red wine vinegar: I recommend buying a vinegar that doesn’t say “diluted with water” on the label, and contains nothing but “red wine vinegar” or “grape musts”. 6% acidity is ideally what you are looking for. You don’t want your vinegar to taste like pain thinner or rose wine… Alessi is one of the brands that meets my approval, but check out your grocery store’s shelves, they may have other good brands that are affordable.

Olive oil: A good first cold pressed extra virgin olive oil should be a staple in your pantry. You can experiment with more or less pungent ones, but I confess I only keep one kind in my pantry, Partanna extra virgin olive oil, made with 100% Sicilian olives. It is versatile and goes from dressings to cooking without a problem.

A word on olive oil

For some guides on how to buy olive oil, check out these articles:

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/how-to-buy-olive-oil-beginners-guide

https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-buy-the-best-olive-oil-article

Also, the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA) conducts the nation’s largest and most complete olive oil testing and certification program. They purchase olive oil from supermarkets in the USA and Canada and test multiple times per year for adherence to the standards set by the International Olive Council (IOC).  For a list of certified olive oils check out this link https://www.aboutoliveoil.org/certified-olive-oil-list. Note that they do not test all brands, so your oil may be perfectly great but not certified.

Putting in together

It takes about 5 minutes to put this dressing together.

• 1: Get your blender out.
• 2: Put everything in it.
• 3: Process until smooth.

Voila. Ready to use immediately or you can keep it in your refrigerator up to a week.

If you are going to store it, use an airtight container with a wide mouth like a mason jar. This dressing is fairly thick and will not pour out easily out of a bottle with a neck.

Other recipes you might like:

Classic French vinaigrette

Honey mustard balsamic dressing

Mint chimichurri sauce