How to Make the World's Easiest Salad Dressing (No Seeding or Peeling Necessary)

In my family, if a food could be made instead of bought, it was made. It wasn't until I went to college and started eating dorm food that I tasted the store-bought versions of many kitchen staples. I quickly learned that there is an enormous quality difference between homemade dressing and the kind that comes in a bottle at the supermarket.

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Yet as delicious as homemade dressings are, they're not always the quickest or easiest things to make. Which is why I was justifiably giddy when I found out about this hack: delicious dressing that requires just three ingredients and a blender.

Step 1: Combine the Ingredients in a Blender

Add two lemons cut in quarters, a ¾ cup of olive oil, and a hefty pinch of kosher salt in a blender. I recommend either using normal olive oil, or adding a few tablespoons of water if you're using extra virgin olive oil.

If you have a super-powerful blender, like a Vitamix, you can put the lemons in whole. But if you don't, just quarter them. Don't bother seeding or peeling them; that just takes time and decreases flavor. Even an older blender can handle quarters of lemons easily.

If you want to make your life much easier, you could also upend a Mason jar and use it on your blender—that way your dressing will already be inside a storage container, and that means fewer dishes for you to wash.

Step 2: Mix It Up, Baby

Turn the blender on and let it do its work for a few minutes, until you can see that the mixture inside is smooth and devoid of chunks.

Step 3: Strain

The pith of the lemon won't fully break down in the blender, so you'll have to strain the mixture to get a fully smooth product.

Step 4: Taste & Adjust the Seasoning

Because lemons come in many varieties and multiple sizes, each batch of this dressing will taste a little different, and there's no one ratio that will be perfect every time. If it's too tart, just stir in some more oil; too bland, add in an extra squeeze of lemon juice or salt (I always think it needs extra salt, but I love salt).

After you've adjusted the taste, your dressing is ready to enjoy! It's delicious as a salad dressing, but I also mix it with roasted potatoes and veggies, or with a pasta salad. Because the oil emulsifies the dressing, it's a great viscosity to use as a dipping sauce for artichokes or asparagus, too.

Variations

While the best part of this dressing is how easy it is, there are a lot of variations you can make to really enhance the flavor. Garlic goes brilliantly with lemon, for instance, but my favorite addition is a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a pinch of white pepper. I highly recommend playing around with ingredients such as chilies, honey, and fresh herbs.

You can make a large batch of this dressing, and keep it in the fridge for weeks. Couldn't be easier!

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Photos by Brady Klopfer/Food Hacks