A sweet and tangy salad dressing is the secret to getting my kids (and myself) to eat mounds of greens. This recipe is oil-free, simple and versatile for a variety of uses.
I make this salad dressing with pantry staples so it’s inexpensive and lasts a long time. Did I mention it’s oil-free, gluten-free and vegan? This is a recipe you can feel good about serving and eating.
Easy Tangy Salad Dressing
When I say this dressing is easy, I mean it! Just throw everything in a blender for a few seconds, and it comes out perfect every time. You can’t mess it up.
Of course you can add the sweet and tangy dressing to a traditional green salad, but don’t be afraid to get creative. It is a great addition to wraps, noodles and grain salads too.
Best Tangy Dressing
As the name suggests, the flavors in this dressing are both sweet and tangy. You can adjust the ingredients to suit individual preferences, but my family loves the balance of the original recipe.
Balancing the opposing flavors also makes it easier to accommodate all kinds of dishes from salads to grains to noodles. It truly goes with everything!
How to Make Sweet & Tangy Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/8 tsp dried paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 oz water
- 1/4 tsp xantham gum
Instructions
Add all ingredients and blend in a blender for a few seconds. Allow the dressing to rest before using to give it time to thicken. Told you it was easy!
Serving Suggestions
I love this dressing on a big salad or a wrap. It is also fantastic in noodle or grain salads. My boys (2 and 4) LOVE it. They beg for salad and salad dressing. It also makes a great dip for cut up veggies.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the jar or another airtight container and refrigerate.
The spices settle at the bottom of the jar, so shake before pouring and serving again.
More Plant Based Salad Dressings
If you like this sweet and tangy salad dressing, you’ll love these recipes too:
- Homemade Vegan Ranch
- Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
- Oil-Free Blueberry Vinaigrette
- Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
Sweet & Tangy Salad Dressing
This plant based, sweet and tangy salad dressing will have everyone eating their veggies.
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/8 tsp dried paprika
- 1/4 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 oz water
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
Instructions
- Add all ingredients and blend in a blender for a few seconds.
- Allow the dressing to rest before using to give it time to thicken.
Notes
- Serve on a bed of greens, wrap, noodle or grain salad.
- Refrigerate any leftovers in an airtight container.
I can’t wait to try this! I have not yet found a completely oil-free dressing that I love – they usually end up being too sweet or too acidic tasting to me, so I’m looking forward to experimenting with yours 🙂
I hope you like it Clara. It is both a little too sweet and a little to tangy for my taste but it pairs really well with the bitter greens and salads that incorporate bits of fruit.
So many people love it that I stopped trying to tweak it for my preference. 🙂
Wow – this sounds great! I can’t wait to try it…and the real test will be if my 3 kids will try it too ; ) I’ll keep you posted!
Please do! I hope it’s a keeper for your family.
I love making homemade dressing too Holly! Especially since I don’t use oil anymore. One of my favorite “dressings” is to throw avocado, lime juice, garlic and salt and pepper in a food processor til creamy….add water or veggie broth to thin out…it’s sooo good! Your dressing sounds delicious…I need to try it!
I’ve made an avocado dressing too. Truly my favorite! Avocado, cilantro, lime are the three little words I love to hear!
It really hard for me to be patient with avocado, I want to eat it as quickly as possible and rarely leave time too “prepare” it.
I am loving these ideas, we are new to oil-free dressing and I can’t imagine bying bottled ever again.
Cris, I have a new dressing coming next week! It’s going to be a seasonal favorite!
I’m nThank you! otal plant based diet and was looking for an oil free, sugar free dressing for lunch today. I came upon this. I made it but I subbed the agave for 3/4 C. frozen blueberries!! It was DEEEELICIOUS. The herb combo is spot on!
So for dinner I was having salmon with a side salad. With the leftover Sweet and Tangy I added 1/2 avocado and blended it all together! It made a great Creamy Sweet and Tangy!
Looking forward to learning and trying more of your plant based recipes. Thank you!!
I give it 5 stars 🌟 (I wasn’t able to tap on 5 stars)
I will give this a try. Usually I just use a few shakes of balsamic vinegar and call it a day. Thanks for the recipe.
It is really easy to make and just “different” enough. 🙂
Hi Holly, I’ve nominated you for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award;
http://bunnykitchen.com/2013/05/02/sisterhood-of-the-world-bloggers-award/
Poppy 🙂
Thank you Poppy! That is so kind. I can’t wait to check out the other nominees.
Oh, I have most of these things now! YUM 🙂 Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂
Hope that your week is fantastic!
Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com
Can’t wait to try it. All dressings always have too much oil. Thx.
I tried this and it was very good. It satisfied my craving for Italian dressing. I like my dressing to be just slightly thick so I added about 3 teaspoons of chia seeds (adds fat though).
I’ve thought about adding the chia seeds to thicken it up. I didn’t know if it would last as long with those though! I’m glad you likes it!
What about arrowroot to thicken? Would that work for an uncooked dressing?
I LOVE this dressing. Make it several times a week. My co-workers are always asking me what brand of dressing I use because it smells and looks so good.
Mary Ellen that makes my heart happy! I’m curious, do you thicken it with can’t him gum or anything or make it without thickener?
Could you replace the agave with Stevia ??
Hi Debby,
While you could sweeten it with stevia the proportions would be all wrong since stevia is so concentrated.
I highly recommend some of my other salad dressing though. The blueberry and raspberry vinaigrette’s could be adapted more easily and the Creamy Italian would work as is.
I hope that helps!
My husband, who just started a diet and needs to loose 50 pounds, is in the cranky stage. He loves raw veggies so that is not a problem but with out a flavorful dressing, well let’s just say, it’s not helping his mood. We have never liked the taste of any fat free dressing we have purchased. I found your dressing on line yesterday afternoon and when I put it in front of him and his boring salad he was willing to give it a try. Tada! Now we both have a new salad dressing! I made it exactly to your recipe and now I am thinking of switching up the vinegars so we have some variety. Thank you! Great recipe!
I’m thinking that salt and pepper will help balance the sweet and tangy. I’m also trying it with molasses to sweeten instead of agave. Haven’t tasted it yet.
Good luck Lisa, molasses isn’t a flavor everyone can get used to.
This is the best oil-free Italian dressing recipe I’ve ever found. I added a bit more vinegar for a more tangy flavor and some salt and pepper. I love it and don’t miss the oil!
I’m thrilled to hear that! We love this salad dressing too!You could adapt it with other flavors like citrus or fruit juice.
This was my first time making homemade salad dressing. I doubled the recipe for meal prep and substituted the agave nectar for 2 packets of Splenda plus added some black pepper for extra spice. I was SO pleasantly surprised on how it turned out! It was delicious! I’ll definitely make this wonderful, healthy salad dressing again in the future! Thanks SO much for posting this great recipe! I absolutely love that it’s oil-free.
I honestly don’t think oil is necessary for salad dressings at all (maybe unless you NEED to consume more healthy fats) since oil feels really icky to me. I especially dislike the oily feeling I get in my throat whenever I consume any sort of pure oil.
The only little gripes I have with this recipe is that it’s just a teensy-weensy bit inconvenient to measure all the spices individually (at least at first) plus having to mix the dressing (I didn’t use a blender) every time I want to use it but the result is SO worth it!
You have just created a salad monster in me with this dressing. I eat 1.5-2 lbs of salad everyday and this dressing is absolutely perfect. From the first bite to the last is an absolutely amazing flavor explosion
Michael, This may be my favorite comment ever! We love this dressing too and it was such a life saver when giving up those unhealthy self stable dressings. I’m so glad you love it!
How long does this keep in the refrigerator?
I’m nThank you! otal plant based diet and was looking for an oil free, sugar free dressing for lunch today. I came upon this. I made it but I subbed the agave for 3/4 C. frozen blueberries!! It was DEEEELICIOUS. The herb combo is spot on!
So for dinner I was having salmon with a side salad. With the leftover Sweet and Tangy I added 1/2 avocado and blended it all together! It made a great Creamy Sweet and Tangy!
Looking forward to learning and trying more of your plant based recipes. Thank you!!
I give it 5 stars 🌟 (I wasn’t able to tap on 5 stars)
Sharon,
Thank you so much! I’m so excited to read about your version! I do have a blueberry and raspberry dressings that I bet you would love too!
I will definitely be trying your version. The downside of this original recipe is that it needs a thickener but the berries and avocado would take care of that.
This was okay, but I do wish it were thicker. Also, it was a bit too vinegary for us, so if I made it again, I’d use less. I do appreciate that it’s a no oil recipe. 🙂
The xanthan gum is the best way we’ve found to thicken it. My family loves vinegar but you can definitely decrease it.