Old Fashioned French Dressing (2024)

Old fashioned French dressing is a vintage recipe that still shines. Thick, sweet, tangy and that beautiful orange color! And you get to make onion juice! Read on to find out how to make your favorite new (old!) salad dressing.

Old Fashioned French Dressing:

Old fashioned French dressing is my all time favorite salad dressing. It’s sweet and tangy flavors make it very popular where I grew up in Minnesota, where people often order French and blue cheese dressing together, and then combine them on their salad. Try it some time! When I moved to Arizona it came as a shock to me that not many restaurants carried French dressing. Made me reconsider my move for just a minute.

I came across my Grandma’s handwrittenrecipe for classic French dressing the other day and knew it was time to revisit the past. She was an amazing cook and I’m so happy to have this little cookbook to remember her by and to inspire me!

The Ingredients:

To many people a “French” dressing would mean the classic vinaigrette. This is not that French dressing! This is the thicker, orangish-red French dressing that was created in 1950’s America. The basic idea of an oil and vinegar vinaigrette was married with the ubiquitous ingredient of America – ketchup! Or “catsup” as my Grandma called it (I love seeing that handwritten “catsup” in her recipe). The ketchup provides not only sweetness and tomato flavor, but the red color of the dressing.

A variety of spices were also added to create “American” French dressing. In my Grandma’s case, it was celery seed. You may not have celery seed in your spice rack yet, but you should. They are tiny little seeds that pack a nice punch of celery flavor. Besides using them in this old fashioned French dressing recipe, you can use celery seedsin coleslaw, inpickling, barbecue sauce and bloody mary recipes.

When remaking the dressing, I chose to cut back on the amount of sugar in the original, and to use apple cider vinegar. My Grandma’srecipe had “vinegar” in the directions, but not specifically what kind of vinegar she used. Vague directions are often a problem with handwritten family recipes, but they also give you leeway for creativity! You could also use white or white wine vinegar.

The Preparation:

The most unusual ingredient in the recipe has to be “onion juice”. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of onion juice, which adds great onion flavor while keepingthe dressing smooth. Don’t let the thought of juicing an onion scare you off – it’s easy! You’ll start by takinga peeled whole onion and grating about half of it into a fine mesh strainer set over a small mixing bowl. I left the onion whole for grating because it’s much easier to hold onto. You could also put the whole onion in the food processor, then strain the juice out.

Press the grated onion into the mesh strainer to get all the juice out.

You’ve done it! You made onion juice! Since you’ll only use about 1/2 the onion, you can cut off the grated side of the onion and save the rest for another recipe.

Once the onion juice is made, and the other ingredients are gathered, I like to use a blender to bring the dressing together. My Grandma’s recipe calls for blending the oil and sugar together first. This is a good idea because then the sugar granules will be dissolved into the oil before you add the rest of the ingredients.

Once the oil and sugar are combined, you’ll add the rest of the ingredients and blendagain for 3-4 minutes until the dressing has turneda beautiful orangy red color and emulsified into a thick, but pourable dressing. The best part about blending the dressing this way is that it won’t separate!

The Payoff:

A full jar of old fashioned French dressing is your reward. You’ll be so happy every time you open the refrigerator and see it. And of course I think the best way to store it is in a pint sized mason jar (what isn’t best stored in a mason jar?? I may have a problem).

This dressing is especially goodwith tomatoes. A big bowl of tomatoes, cucumbers and red onions served with this French dressing is a perfect accompaniment to almost any meal. Especially served along side any grilled meats. You’ll be surprised at the lovely sweet and tangy flavors you created with the humble ingredients in this recipe.

Thanks Grandma! Now I need to decide which of her recipes to recreate next…….

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