Salad is not exactly my love language, so you know when I say love a salad with this beautiful sweet onion dressing, it’s something to get excited about! Sweet with a little vinegary kick and a mellow onion taste, it’s perfect for drizzling on tender greens or crisp lettuce. It adds a ton of flavor without being heavy, and is a fresh, fun change of pace if you’re in a salad rut. I especially love it paired with savory toppings, like grilled chicken, toasted nuts, cheese, bacon (duh), or crispy fried onion strings (or…all of the above?)!
(Y’all. I wish you could have seen me juggling the camera and the spoon while trying to show the consistency of this dressing – I’m a mess. Send help. Or, I mean, I meant to dump dressing down the side of the jar. #artsy)
It’s amazingly easy to make – everything goes into the blender and gets whirled into a smooth, light dressing (the consistency is closer to a creamy vinaigrette than something thicker, like ranch). I put it in a mason jar or wash and reuse an old dressing bottle, and it keeps forever in the fridge!
The sweet onion dressing recipe came to me from my mom, who got it from my sister, who got it from a friend at church who always brought a very popular big salad with this dressing to church potlucks! So yes, this is famous salad you’re about to eat. The dressing is great on a simple green salad as a side to any dinner meal, and it’s so good as the finishing touch on a big salad with lots of savory toppings for that sweet/salty combination. I hope you love it!
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PinIngredients
- 3/4 cup canola oil (or other neutral oil such as avocado oil)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 heaping Tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a powerful blender, such as a Ninja or Vitamix. Mix on high speed for 30 seconds, making sure that the sugar gets completely dissolved and the onions pieces are smoothly blended. Transfer the dressing to a jar (or wash and reuse an old dressing bottle for easy pouring!), and shake or stir before using.
Notes
The finished dressing fits perfectly in a pint Mason jar! It keeps for weeks in the fridge.
My mouth is watering just thinking about this dressing! I love it so!
You know if salad dressing can do that, it’s worth at least trying!! 😉
I seriously cannot wait to make this!!!! I have been wanting to find a recipe like this but haven’t taken the time to look for one! So excited. Making this next week for sure. What types of onions do you use?
Oh, yay! I’ve used a yellow onion and a white onion and I couldn’t tell a difference! I hope y’all love it!
I’m kinda bored with salads this far into summer . This salad dressing sounds like it could perk up som ho-hum greens in a jiffy.
Bettie! It’s so true – I need salad to be exciting or I just ignore the greens in my fridge until they turn to slime! 😉 Please let me know if you give this a try!
I’m dying to try this (after my homemade healthy honey mustard dressing). I have used a famous Vidalia Onion dressing before, so this has piqued my interest. I’m not much of a mayo fan, so I’ve subbed greek yogurt in some recipes & will probably do the same with this.
could i use a hand blender on this?
Hi Vicki, that’s a great question. I haven’t tried that, but I’m guessing it would be fine!
This was amazing. I didn’t have celery seed, so I omitted the salt and used 1 tsp of celery salt instead. I also added 1 tsp poppy seeds at the very end after blending. Thanks!
★★★★
What is the serving size and calorie content? I just made it and so excited to try.
★★★★★
Family favorite! Added a little less sugar, excellent recipe! I’ve made it twice already this week! I love that I can make a dressing rather than buying it! Thank you!!
★★★★★
Just curious…that’s regular white vinegar, not white wine vinegar, right?
I made this a couple of days ago and my husband and I both love it. I only added 1/4 cup of sugar and I thought it was sweet enough. Next time I will not add water. It was a little too runny. I used an immersion blender to mix it and it worked perfectly. I will definitely make it again with those 2 changes. Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this salad dressing, but reduced the sugar to 1/4 cup. It was sweet enough with that amount. The first time I made it, I included the water, but thought it was too runny. When I made it a second time, I did not add water and it was perfect! I will make this over and over. Love it!
★★★★★
This is our main salad dressing these days. I made a couple of small changes. 1/4 cup of sugar instead of 3/4. After making it the first time with water, I decided I wanted it to be a little thicker, so I left out the water after that. For me, it is perfect with those changes.
★★★★★