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This Spicy Sweet Salad Dressing Recipe is a simple vinaigrette made with just 5 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes to make and is perfect to dress a variety of salads.
I’m always looking for new ways to dress my salads and this is my go to vinaigrette right now! It’s so perfectly sweet and spicy and is an easy way to brighten up your everyday salad!
Table of Contents
What is in this sweet and spicy salad dressing?
This vinaigrette is made with just 5 pantry staple ingredients:
Hot sauce
Red wine vinegar
Molasses
Sugar
Vegetable or canola oil
These ingredients create a perfectly sweet and spicy dressing that is so versatile! You’ll be eating more salads in no time!
How to Make This Spicy Sweet Salad Dressing Recipe
Whisk hot sauce, vinegar, molasses and sugar together until sugar dissolves.
While rapidly whisking, slowly add the oil.
Pour into an airtight glass jar and keep refrigerated.
Vigorously shake the vinaigrette before using.
How long does this vinaigrette keep?
Once you have made the dressing, place it in a sterilized air tight jar in the fridge. It will keep for a month, you just need to shake it each time before you use it. This recipe makes a cup of dressing, and it is easily doubled or tripled if you want to make a bigger batch.
What does this salad dressing work with?
You can use this on pretty much any salad, it will transform even the most basic of ingredients. It would especially work with Asian based salads. Try it with:
You can use your favorite hot sauce in this recipe, whether it’s Franks, tabasco or sriracha. The dressing isn’t overly spicy, it just adds a gentle heat and it balances so well with the sweet molasses, while the red wine vinegar cuts straight through it.
Top tips to make this Spicy Sweet Salad Dressing Recipe
Slowly add the oil so it combines well.
It will separate in the fridge, so be sure to shake it before each use.
If you like things spicy, use more hot sauce, or less for a milder flavor.
Be sure to check out these other dressings and sauces!
Italian Dressing Recipe (Olive Garden Dressing Copycat)
This Spicy Sweet Salad Dressing Recipe is a simple vinaigrette made with just 5 ingredients. It takes 5 minutes to make and is perfect to dress a variety of salads.
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The French have decided that the perfect ratio for a vinaigrette is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. For my personal taste, that's a little too oily — but it's totally up to you. My simple system is: In a small screw-top jar, place vinegar and a pinch of salt; cover and shake (this helps to dissolve the salt).
For a traditional vinaigrette, you'll need to mix about 3 tablespoons of oil to 1 tablespoon of vinegar. You'll also want to add some salt and pepper to taste. Of course, for all four ingredients, the better the quality you use, the better your vinaigrette will taste.
This vinegar has a much mellower flavor than red wine vinegar and lacks the sharp tang of its sister vinegar. White wine vinegar is best used with more delicate salads and any situation where you want to add a hint of vinegar, but do not want that flavor to overwhelm the dish.
In general, vinaigrette consists of 3 parts of oil to 1 part of vinegar whisked into an emulsion. Salt and pepper are often added. Herbs and shallots, too, are often added, especially when it is used for cooked vegetables or grains. Sometimes mustard is used as an emulsifier and to add flavour.
Culinary Tips for a Basic Vinaigrette Dressing (with Variations) This is a standard vinaigrette recipe, so we use the traditional oil to vinegar ratio: three parts oil to one part vinegar/acid, but this ratio can vary depending on your choice of vinegar/acid and personal taste.
In Western culture, there are three basic types of salad dressing: Vinaigrette; Creamy dressings, usually based on mayonnaise or fermented milk products, such as yogurt, sour cream (crème fraîche, smetana), buttermilk; Cooked dressings, which resemble creamy dressings, but are usually thickened by adding egg yolks and ...
Change up the base ingredients to give your dressing a different flavor. For example, try using rice vinegar, a shot of soy sauce, cilantro instead of parsley, and a slice of fresh ginger; blend in a neutral oil like canola or avocado.
If your dressing is too sweet, add something savory. Salt, of course, will work, but if you want something a little more interesting, opt for anchovies, capers, soy sauce, or miso, instead. Just make sure you're matching your salty component with the flavor profile of your dish.
First Oil, Then Vinegar. It's somewhat akin to the old Far Side adage, "First Pants, Then Shoes." If you add the vinegar first, the oil slides off and ends up in a puddle at the bottom of the bowl, instead of coating every leaf. 3 to 1. This is the standard ratio of oil to vinegar: three parts oil to one part vinegar.
An emulsifier is used in a vinaigrette to stabilize the oil and vinegar. Common emulsifiers include egg yolks, soy lecithin, and mustard. These ingredients all include lecithin--the stabilizing compound. In many vinaigrettes, mustard is the go-to stabilizer.
It may be obvious to store creamy ranch dressing on your refrigerator's shelf, but oily dressings such as Italian or a vinaigrette should be kept cold after opening too. That's because their key ingredients—think things such as shallots and citrus juice—will go rancid without refrigeration.
The rule of thumb for a vinaigrette is 1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil. French culinary school taught me this general rule which creates a slightly acidic dressing that works well on salads. This means if you start with 1/3 cup of vinegar, you would use 1 cup of oil.
However, classic vinaigrette dressings are based on a ratio of three parts oil to one part white wine vinegar, with added flavorings to complement the salads or dishes in which they are being used.
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