Salad is a quintessential summer staple, with everyone having their preferred way of enjoying it. Some favour a straightforward garden salad as an accompaniment to their main course, whilst others transform it into a hearty meal by incorporating fats, proteins, and carbohydrates – think chicken Caesar and salad Niçoise.
Most people would agree that a splash of dressing elevates any salad, yet numerous shop-bought varieties deteriorate rapidly before you can polish off the bottle. Luckily, a straightforward blend of just three pantry staples could be the answer. Featured by Simply Recipes, this creamy salad dressing demands only three ingredients and can be rustled up from scratch in just five minutes, reports the Express.
It’s adaptable too, complementing various plain salads brilliantly, especially those featuring chicken, and works marvellously on cabbage for homemade coleslaw.
Rachel Knecht from Simply Recipes reveals she prepares the sweetened dressing recipe “on repeat” to pour over her beloved salad combining grilled chicken, white rice, crisp iceberg lettuce, and shaved carrots.
The basic recipe is straightforward: simply mix rice vinegar, sugar, and mayonnaise.
Rachel explained: “Sometimes you’ll find sesame oil or poppy seeds added. I add salt, but again, you could skip it if you want to.”
As for quantities, Rachel’s formula makes around half a cup of dressing, enough to coat one head of iceberg lettuce (approximately four servings).
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- Two tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 cup full-fat mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
- One teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)
Method
This basic recipe makes it easy to customise to suit your taste, notes Rachel. She suggests that her recipe is “more tangy than sweet”, but you can increase the sugar one teaspoon at a time to change the flavour.
She advises using full-fat mayonnaise for the dressing to prevent curdling when it meets the vinegar, ensuring the mix stays creamy and stable in the fridge for a couple of days without splitting or setting.
To whip up the dressing, start by combining rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl or jug with a spout and give it a good whisk.
Keep whisking until the sugar and salt have fully dissolved. Follow that by blending in the mayonnaise until you achieve a silky dressing.
If you’re going for extra flavour, now’s the time to stir in sesame oil and poppy seeds.
Feel free to season generously with pepper to your liking. Drizzle the dressing over your fresh salad leaves, tossing thoroughly to coat every leaf.