Whereas store-bought salad dressing is an plain comfort, it is also a frequent salad-killer—there’s simply no evaluating a bottled French dressing to a great, fundamental selfmade one. To avoid wasting myself the trouble of getting to whip up dressing after I’m hungry, I all the time preserve a batch of my favourite lemon French dressing available. However I additionally go one step additional and preserve it in a squeeze bottle, able to go.

It’s not simply any squeeze bottle, although: It’s one which I label with a marker to point how a lot oil and acid I ought to add. This protects me from having to tug up a recipe and soiled measuring cups; after I’m able to make a brand new batch every week, all I’ve to do is wash and dry the bottle, use the markings on the it to measure out a brand new batch of French dressing, then shake all of it collectively.

Marking one among these labeled squeeze bottles is a fast and straightforward two-minute trick that can prevent time every week. For a easy French dressing, you’ll need to use three elements oil to 1 half vinegar. To correctly mark the bottle, first measure your vinegar and add it to the squeeze bottle, utilizing a everlasting marker to attract a line on the skin of the bottle on the high of the vinegar stage. Subsequent, with the vinegar nonetheless within the bottle, measure and add the oil, marking the oil stage as nicely. It is useful to do the vinegar first after which the oil, as a result of that is how they settle because of their differing densities.

If wanted, you may scribble salt, pepper, and mustard on the backside as a reminder so as to add them, however since their portions are so small, there is no method to mark their whole quantity on the bottle the best way you’d with vinegar and oil. When you fill the bottle with the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and mustard, simply shake it to mix the whole lot. 

Whereas it is a baseline recipe for French dressing, you may swap a few of the substances to your liking. (Too little mustard, although, could end in a dressing that received’t emulsify as nicely.) Experiment with oils like avocado, olive, or grapeseed, and vinegars like balsamic, sherry, white wine, or apple cider. (For an instance of the right way to riff on the fundamental method, try Kenji’s two-oil, two-vinegar balsamic-soy French dressing.) You’ll be able to add seasonings like dried oregano to present your French dressing Italian aptitude, in addition to aromatics like very finely minced shallots and garlic. (In the event you’re together with these chunkier substances, make sure that the tip of your squeeze bottle is giant sufficient for them to come back out of, snipping off the highest with a pair of scissors to enlarge it.) 

Additionally word that including substances like garlic to the French dressing considerably reduces its shelf life, taking it from kind of shelf-stable even at room temperature right down to only some days within the fridge. That is as a result of garlic can produce botulism toxins when saved in oil, whether or not refrigerated or not.

In the event you’re not a fan of plastic, this can even work on a glass jar, however you’ll need to use an oil-based paint marker as an alternative of a everlasting marker. (Glass is a non-porous floor, making it troublesome for Sharpie ink to stick to.) In my expertise, a everlasting marker stays on plastic bottles however a paint marker adheres higher to the glass jar—however both means, you’ll need to wash every by hand so the markings don’t fade. If fading does happen, you may all the time reapply the markings. 

As soon as assembled within the marked bottle, the French dressing could be refrigerated for weeks and weeks if it solely accommodates vinegar, oil, mustard, salt, and pepper, however only some days if it accommodates garlic and different botulism-prone substances. It makes meal prep a breeze—and can guarantee your salads will not be simply good however spectacular.

January, 2025