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Want a fast and delicious Italian dressing you can make at home? You’re going to love this! Just shake everything together in a jar. That’s it! Ready in just 1 minute! No cooking, no chopping, no blending, no nothing.
Update: This recipe was originally published in 2017 and has been republished with all new photos.
I’m a huge fan of homemade salad dressings. They’re so easy! Plus a homemade dressing is more flavorful than store-bought dressings but made with far better ingredients. All the ingredients in this easy homemade Italian dressing are clean. No junk. No artificial anything. Just the good stuff.
This is one of my very favorite dressings and it’s been my most popular recipe on this site for years! Everyone loves its big zesty flavor. But the best part? You likely have all the ingredients you need already. Just shake everything together in a jar and you’re done. It’s that simple!
It’s the perfect way to elevate a green salad, it’s an excellent marinade for chicken or pork, and it can transform any pasta salad into something truly special. Talk about a versatile dressing, right?
If you have dietary concerns you’ll be happy to know this dressing is also Whole30 compliant, gluten free, and dairy free.
Easy Homemade Italian Dressing Ingredients
- Olive oil: I recommend extra-virgin olive oil in this dressing.
- Red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar: Both red and white wine vinegar work beautifully. Feel free to go with whichever you have on hand. I tend to select the red more than the white but I couldn’t say that it makes a difference other than creating a dressing that looks (in terms of color) more like what you see in stores.
- Lemon juice: A little fresh lemon juice adds a brightness to this zesty Italian dressing.
- Seasonings: The incredible taste comes from a blend of simple but powerful seasonings. We’re also using a few dried herbs because they pack more flavor than fresh herbs. For this recipe you’ll need dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper.
How to Make Easy Homemade Italian Dressing
Ready to make this homemade italian dressing recipe? Add all ingredients to a jar. Place the lid on the jar. Make sure it’s a tight-fitting lid so we don’t make a mess. Now give it a good shake. That’s it!
This dressing is pretty perfect as is and this is how I enjoy it. If you want to make it more like the dressing you’ll find at Olive Garden, simply add a little grated parmesan cheese and a bit of honey or sugar for a touch of sweetness. Those are optional adjustments you can make based on your own personal preference.
How to Serve this Italian Dressing
Now you’ve made your own salad dressing. What are we going to do with it? The obvious answer is of course to pour it over leafy vegetables. It will add a burst of flavor to a simple side salad or entree salad. But we can get a bit more creative, can’t we? Here are some of my favorite uses for this recipe.
- Drizzle over vegetables like my Easy Roasted Broccoli or Grilled Vegetables.
- Toss in a pasta salad like my Make Ahead Italian Pasta Salad.
- Use it as a marinade for chicken, pork, or turkey. My Italian Marinated Grilled Chicken is a huge hit!
- Spread on sandwiches or in wraps. My son would tell you this is the best way to use this dressing. I add it to his sandwich every morning before school! It’s so much cheaper than buying a sandwich dressing from the grocery store. Those little bottles are pricey!
How to Store Leftover Italian Dressing
Store your leftover dressing in the refrigerator in an airtight container with a lid. I like to use a jar with a tight seal. I like to use a glass bottle or mason jar. This dressing can keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. The oil may solidify in the cold but it will return to normal if you leave it at room temperature for a few minutes. You’ll see some separation so shake before using.
Easy Homemade Italian Dressing
Ingredients
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red or white wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a jar, place the lid on the jar, and give it a good shake!
- Just like with all vinegar based dressing you'll need to shake it up again before pouring to eliminate separation.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I’ve made your Ranch Dressing as well as your Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing and they are both delicious! I’m all in on this one too!
Is there a taste difference between using the red vs white wine vinegar?
Hardly any difference at all. I have used and enjoyed both!
Simply delicious!
Have you ever made this with Rice Vinegar? I just realized I don’t have white wine vinegar.
I haven’t! Let me know if you do!
My husband and I used apple cider vinegar. Used the dressing for po’boys it was delicious.
So happy that worked out for you, Kelly! Thank you!
I am so glad I came across this recipe! I was craving a pasta salad for dinner and this dressing absolutely gave me the flavors that were lacking the last time I had made one. I was out of dried basil, so I had to sub 2tsp of italian seasoning for the basil and oregano. Used red wine vin and evoo. I cannot wait to use the rest of the dressing up tomorrow!
Do you use extra virgin or light tasting olive oil?
You can use either for this one. I tend to use EVOO and reserve my light olive oil for all the creamy dressings.
Hi! Should I store this on the counter, or in the fridge, and, how long will it last? 🙂
Store in the fridge. I’ve never gone longer than a week with mine just because we finish it so fast. Give it a good shake before pouring!
I see that the only ingredient that would need to be stored in the refrigerator is the lemon juice. The rest of the ingredients are fine sitting on the shelf. If I leave the lemon juice out (which I would because I don’t want my Italian dressing to taste like lemon), it’d be safe to store this on the shelf (tightly sealed in a jar or bottle, of course).
I have made the recipe for years but I have to be a little more frugal so I use a premixed shaker container of Italian seasoning and shake in the oil / vinegar mixture. It works just fine.
Christina, thank you very much! I really liked the recipe, I took it to my recipe book)
Christina, this looks tasty! These are absolutely mouth watering! It will quickly disappear in our house, very tasty and flavorful!
I rewrote this on my recipe card as “Best Italian Dressing”. Amazing! Thank you for sharing! I accidentally used a full tsp of onion powder tonight. Didn’t notice a difference. I have decided to use “light” virgin olive oil and the family seems to like it better this round.
I put this dressing on my mixed green salad and it was delish delish delish!! Thank you for sharing!