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Home Side Salads

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette)

By:Nagi
Published:7 Dec '16Updated:13 Nov '20
26 Comments
Recipe v

A classic French Salad Dressing is a dressing that everyone should know. It’s simple to make and lasts for 2 weeks so it’s a great standby – make a big batch! All you need are some crisp leafy greens, toss it in a French Salad Dressing and you have yourself an instant side salad!

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette) - Made with olive oil, mustard, white wine vinegar and eschalot/shallot. Keeps for up to 2 weeks. recipetineats.com

I think a French Vinaigrette is the very first salad dressing recipe I learned to make properly. When I say “properly”, I mean more than just drizzling a squeeze of lemon juice and olive oil over greens. Which there’s nothing wrong with doing, and I still certainly do that! I mean actually making a real proper salad dressing. I think this was my first. 🙂

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette) - Made with olive oil, mustard, white wine vinegar and eschalot/shallot. Keeps for up to 2 weeks. recipetineats.com

The thing many people may not know about French Salad Dressings is that it keeps really well for up to 2 weeks. Yes it has eschalots (the small onions, also known as French shallots in Australia, or shallots in America). But it continues to flavour the dressing for around 2 weeks, and it doesn’t go bad. Unlike garlic which does. Very important cooking trivia – fresh garlic, once chopped or minced, goes bad after a few days and can cause a nasty form of food poisoning called botulism. I’m referring here to raw garlic. Cooked and dried garlic is ok. Query store bought garlic – I’m not entirely sure but would personally not risk it.

So because a classic French Vinaigrette does not have garlic in it, it’s fine to keep! And unlike garlic, eschalots and onion keep for weeks in oil. 🙂 So this French Vinaigrette will be just as tasty as the day you made it for up to 2 weeks. Beyond this I find the eschalots lose flavour power, but it’s still a tasty dressing.

This French Vinaigrette goes in my bucket of “recipes that everyone should know”. Definitely a classic to keep! – Nagi x

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette) - Made with olive oil, mustard, white wine vinegar and eschalot/shallot. Keeps for up to 2 weeks. recipetineats.com

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French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette) - Made with olive oil, mustard, white wine vinegar and eschalot/shallot. Keeps for up to 2 weeks. www.recipetineats.com

French Salad Dressing (French Vinaigrette)

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 5 mins
Total: 5 mins
Salad
5 from 8 votes
Servings1 cup
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 67
A classic everyone should know! Served the true French way, drizzle it over leafy greens and toss lightly. PS A classic French vinaigrette does not have garlic in it, hence why this can be kept for up to 2 weeks.

Ingredients

Big Batch to keep (1 cup)

  • 1/4 cup eschalots / French shallots , finely chopped (Note 1)
  • 1/4 cup red or white wine vinegar (or sherry or champagne vinegar)
  • 4 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (or more if you want richer)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • Black pepper

Small batch (Side salad for 4 ppl)

  • 1 tbsp eschalots / French shallots , finely chopped (Note 1)
  • 1 tbsp red or white wine vinegar (or sherry or champagne vinegar)
  • 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 2 tbsp olive oil (I use 5 tbsp)
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Place ingredients in a jar and shake well until combined. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Let rest for 5 minutes before using, or keep up to 2 weeks.
  • Small Batch: Use to dress 4 handfuls of leafy greens.

Recipe Notes:

1. Eschalots in Australia are known as shallots in the US and much of the rest of the world. It is also referred to as a French shallot. They are small onions. They taste more mild than onions, slightly sweeter, and the flesh is more tender so it sort of "dissolves" in sauces and dressings better (if finely chopped).
2. This keeps for up to 2 weeks in the fridge in an airtight jar. Beyond this, the flavour of the eschalot starts to noticeably fade.
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Don’t miss all the other Ready To Use Dressings I shared! These all last for 2+ weeks, most for 3 weeks.Find them all here.

Easy Salad Dressing Recipes - Long Shelf Life, Ready To Use recipetineats.com

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Balsamic Vinegar Dressing
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Poppyseed Salad Dressing

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

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26 Comments

  1. Michael Allen says

    January 20, 2023 at 3:55 pm

    5 stars
    This is so simple and so amazing. Very easy to tweak using different mustard or adding some herbs. Never buying store bought again.

    Reply
  2. Jane says

    October 30, 2022 at 7:27 am

    5 stars
    So good. I’ll never buy store bought dressing again.you are wonderful, Nagi.

    Reply
  3. Amy Morgan says

    October 20, 2022 at 1:30 pm

    5 stars
    This is a great quick dressing recipe to have on hand!

    Reply
  4. Connie says

    April 28, 2021 at 8:52 am

    5 stars
    So easy and simple. Love using the shallots and mason jar! No need for garlic

    Reply
  5. Martha says

    December 15, 2020 at 4:20 am

    I hate heavy salad dressings; this one is perfect, light and so delicious. Now I can really enjoy my salad!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      December 15, 2020 at 2:37 pm

      I’m so glad you loved it Martha!! N x

      Reply
  6. Shirley says

    November 30, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    Hi Nagi,
    Thank you for sharing your French salad dressing recipe. I didn’t realise it would be so easy to make and it tastes delicious. No more store bought salad dressing for me.
    I have tried a few of your different recipes of yours and I like how you go through everything step by step so that even someone like me that is average at cooking can’t get it wrong.

    Reply
  7. Mary says

    August 1, 2020 at 1:46 pm

    5 stars
    Thanks so much for this recipe (and many others). I always put garlic into my dressings but gave yours a go with shallots. I blitzed it all in my Thermomix and it is wonderful!!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      August 2, 2020 at 8:39 am

      Perfect Mary! N x

      Reply
  8. Paul McDonough says

    July 28, 2020 at 1:11 pm

    My wife finds the dressing a wee bit acidy..just add brown sugar or sweet soy sauce. I am going to experiment and add some of my home grown Apache chillies chopped..I will give a heads up later..Great work Nagi !!!!

    Reply
  9. Kitty says

    February 5, 2020 at 9:19 am

    5 stars
    This dressing has become my go-to when I want a sharp contrast to a heavy dish. Love it on Greek salad, love it on a salad accompanying breakfast food, love it love it love it! When I don’t use this, I use your honey mustard dressing, also amazing–and so easy!

    Reply
  10. Linda B says

    January 4, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    Always make my own French dressing & love trying different versions….i have yet to make one that tastes exactly like the one served in France as mine is always a bit too acidic – any tips??

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      January 5, 2020 at 6:31 am

      Hi Linda! In France, they use more oil 🙂 And good oil, at that! N x

      Reply
  11. Ana Babesku says

    December 4, 2019 at 9:03 am

    5 stars
    This is the second time i made this French dressings.
    I ‘ll make it again and again.
    Thanks Nagi and Dozer

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      December 4, 2019 at 1:47 pm

      That’s great to hear Ana!!

      Reply
  12. dana says

    May 23, 2019 at 6:05 am

    Thanks for the recipe I am going to make it this evening 🙂 i LOVE the little dressing bottles you have- can you share where those are from? Would love to have a couple on hand. Thanks much.

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 23, 2019 at 9:22 am

      I’ve had these a while, I’m sure you could purchase online ❤️

      Reply
      • dana says

        May 23, 2019 at 10:47 am

        i looked online but I couldn’t fine them, do you know what company makes them? thank you!

        Reply
    • Lori Kauffman says

      August 10, 2020 at 4:55 am

      Dana, I see some on The Container Store website. They’ve got a few different ones. https://www.containerstore.com/s/kitchen/food-storage/Glass/12l

      Reply
  13. KansasKate says

    July 13, 2017 at 12:38 am

    This Italian product (shallot + white balsamic vinegar) is available in the US. It’s lovely.

    http://www.lartedellolivo.com/White-Shallot-Balsamic-250ml-Aged-4-years_p_71.html

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      July 13, 2017 at 3:22 am

      Thanks for the tip! 🙂 N x

      Reply
  14. Cheryl P says

    December 8, 2016 at 7:04 am

    Could I use DRIED shallots in the French Vinaigrette? I don’t have easy access to fresh but have a bunch of dried shallots in my cupboard. I expect they’d soften in liquid and still offer flavour…? If using dried, would I change the amount?

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      December 11, 2016 at 6:38 pm

      Hmmm…. I think you could! I would use the same amount because the flavour is not quite as intense as fresh but I have a feeling that the longer it stays, the more it flavours the dressing. Just reduce the salt you add because dried shallots (at least in Australia) is salty. 🙂

      Reply
    • Robert says

      March 2, 2017 at 8:33 am

      I often use an eschalot infused red wine vinegar from France when making a French dressing and find it an excellent compromise. I just substitute half of my wine vinegar with this one and it does a great job. I am in Canada so I have no idea if this vinegar would be easy to find in Australia but it is a very large company and I would be surprised if it was not available to you.
      I also run out of Dijon mustard on occasion so I sometimes use dry powdered mustard in place of that. It makes a great binder and is milder tasting than Dijon. It is also easy to keep on hand and can be very useful in the kitchen.

      Reply
      • Nagi says

        March 2, 2017 at 9:30 am

        I must admit I’ve never seen an escalot infused vinegar here in Australia but I love the idea and will keep an eye out for it. Thank you for the tip Robert! N xx

        Reply
        • Robert says

          March 2, 2017 at 9:47 am

          5 stars
          The company who makes it is a Canadian firm, Chef LeLarge, but the products are imported from France. They have a number of different flavoured vinegars. You could always send them a message and ask if their products are available in your part of the world.
          You can find more info on their web site here: http://www.lelarge.ca/produits/vinaigres/vinaigre-de-vin-rouge-au-jus-echalote.en.html

          Reply

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I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

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