If you have a bottle of store-bought creamy Italian dressing in your fridge or pantry, go take a look at the ingredients. In fact, just grab the bottle and bring it back to the computer. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Now, here’s how to tell if you’ve got a good brand. What’s the first ingredient? Is it hydrogenated vegetable oil? (Corn and soy are both vegetables, so they both count.) Minus 50 points. Or maybe it’s corn syrup? Also minus 50. Is either one of these ingredients in the top three? Minus 25 points. There’s a really good chance you’re at minus 75 already.
Now, look for any dairy product, such as cream, or sour cream. You know, like in “creamy Italian”. Is there any at all? Plus 10. Is it the top ingredient? Plus 50.
I hope you haven’t been writing down your score, because I’m just making a point here: The #1 ingredient in a prepared food ought to be something in the name of the product. That’s why my buttermilk ranch dressing is buttermilk. And creamy Italian dressing should have cream. In this case, it’s sour cream. And buttermilk. You’ll see both of these a lot in creamy salad dressings. Good ones anyway.
And you won’t see hydrogenated vegetable oil or corn syrup. Those aren’t even food.
Ingredients
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons shredded fresh Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon crushed dried basil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper, coarsely ground
Directions
This one’s really simple. Put the sour cream and buttermilk in a bowl.
Mince the garlic and add that.
Grate the cheese. Use a really good one. It’s a bit more expensive, but the flavor will be much stronger so you don’t need as much.
Add the salt, pepper and basil.
Mix well …
… and pour into an air-tight container and store in the fridge for at least an hour to let the flavors combine.
And that can be it … if you want it to. But here’s the thing about this recipe: You can extend it however you want. Do you like oregano? Add some. Parsley, onion, chive? Go for it. Or go with some wine vinegar — red or white — or lemon if you like some bite. Double (or triple) the garlic.
You could keep adding things bit by bit until you’ve got nearly the same ingredients as the buttermilk ranch. That’s okay. What’s more important, how it tastes or what you call it? I vote taste. How about you?
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15 Comments
Creamy Italian dressing sounds delicious! I could never get why people are willing to spend 3-5 bucks for a bottle of salad dressing. Bottled salad dressings always tastes weird to me, either from the preservatives or from the high fructose corn syrup, or a combination of both.
I try not to focus on the price, because that’s not (primarily) why I cook this way. But yes, it’s frequently cheaper, too.
I have never made any kind of creamy salad dressing–my repertoire pretty much begins and ends with variations on the vinaigrette theme. This looks good, but man, do I ever hate to grate hard cheeses. I need a sous chef for that kind of thing.
That’s what those little rotary graters are for. What’s the matter, can’t find one old enough to match your decor?
I cant tell the difference between “Hidden Valley” and your dressing! And it seems so simple to make! Awesome
Well, I’d say the difference is you can pronounce all the ingredients in mine.
My husband LOVED this! Thakns.
And are you “another day older and deeper in debt” (from the classic song “16 tons”) today?
Day … year … who’s counting? But yes, I am now officially old.
That’s the most beautiful sour cream I’ve ever seen.
THis is a great sounding recipe! I will definitely give it a try. Maybe with a dash of cayenne…
BTW… you said buttmilk. heh-heh-heh (Beavis mod)
“That’s why my buttmilk ranch dressing is buttermilk.”
I didn’t say that, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
Okay, I fixed it, thanks. But what I want to know is, why on Earthy did Firefox not flag the typo?
Okay. This dressing is OUT OF THIS WORLD. There are no other words. Even using lesser quality parmesan cheese (I already ran out to get the Buttermilk and the Sour Cream so I was NOT going back out for cheese, sorry!) this is fantastic. I was finding reasons to eat this today – the end of the bread, a few left-over tomatoes… yummy! Thanks, Drew!
I’m glad you like it. And I’m even more glad you reminded me … I haven’t made this in a while. And I’ve got some leftover buttermilk in the fridge. And I think I’ve got the sour cream. Whee!
What’s the fridge life on this? A couple of weeks? Is it dependent upon the “Sell By” date or expiration date of the buttermilk or sour cream?
Mike, I kept this tightly sealed for a couple of weeks before I used it up.
Rather than worry about maximum shelf-life, though, I prefer to use the restaurant method. Whatever I have that’s getting close to the end of it’s use-by date goes on tonight’s menu. Lots of times the “special” — unless it’s seafood, which is bought daily — is their way of unloading something that they’ve had in the fridge too long. No, it hadn’t gone bad, but it will if they don’t move it.
In computer programming terms, your fridge and pantry should operate as a queue instead of a stack. So instead of last-in-first-out, you should always be preparing the oldest thing you have on hand. That’s just good kitchen management.