Salad dressings:
In THE BATTLE OF THE SMOOTHIE, bananas won, with strawberries, mangos, pineapple and yogurt coming next in the poll on smoothie ingredients.
Now it's the turn of salad dressings to do battle. I'm only concerned with dressings for savoury salads and not for sweet salads like fruit or jelly/jello salads.
I'm drawing a line at chutneys/relishes, dips and jams/jellies - the poll is only concerned with what is drizzled on or tossed with a salad, though I accept some dressings are served as a side dish to a salad thus making the dip/dressing distinction fuzzy. But sometimes we have to live with fuzziness. Things aren't always easy to be placed in neat and discrete categories.
From my basic research, there are two types of salad dressings, vinaigrettes (ie oil-based dressings) and creamy dressings (eg mayonnaise, ranch dressing, thousand island dressing). I'm including all salad dressings, including those made with a combination of ingredients, in this poll. However, I'm including oils like olive oil in the poll as they are often used to dress a salad.
My most favourite salad dressings are balsamic vinaigrette, blue cheese dressing, French dressing, Italian dressing, Marie Rose sauce, mayonnaise, mustard dressing, pesto and thousand island dressing, with olive oil being the best salad dressing. There are two reasons why I'm voting for olive oil. One, it's healthy; those living on a Mediterranean diet live longer. And two, virgins are needed in making the best olive oil!
Extra virgin olive oil:
My least favourite salad dressings are barbecue sauce, cranberry sauce, miso sauce (disgusting!) and tomato sauce/ketchup, with salad cream being the worst salad dressing. Salad cream, especially Heinz's salad cream, is quite popular in Britain. It's a very synthetic salad dressing and tastes disgusting. Heinz salad cream contains, and I quote from the bottle, "Water, Spirit Vinegar, Rapeseed Oil (22%), Sugar, Cornflour, MUSTARD Powder, Pasteurised EGG yolks (3%), Salt, Colour - Riboflavin", the big letters used for mustard and egg denote the product's allergens!
What are your most and least favourite salad dressings?
Do you regularly make your own salad dressings?
I've never made my own salad dressing. Others, particularly restaurants and even food companies, are much better than me at making a salad dressing. By far the best salad dressing I've ever had was my Granny's (my Mum's mother's) home-made salad dressing. It was a mayonnaise but very sweet to taste; it was the star of the salad, usually a salmon salad. I'm not much of a salad fan but a dressing can make or break a salad, though no dressing can save a salad with celery in it! My other Granny (my Dad's mother) made the best horseradish sauce but that was always served with a roast beef dinner and never with a roast beef salad.
Below is a poll in which you can anonymously select your most favourite salad dressing.
Unfortunately only one pick is allowed in the poll. If you don't like salad dressings, please don't vote but please do comment even just to say you don't like salad dressings.
Because a poll on this site can only have a maximum of 20 answer options, unfortunately there was no room as poll options for: almond oil, avocado lime dressing, avocado ranch dressing, Baja-style dressing, barbecue sauce, boiled dressing, brown sauce, buttermilk dressing, cajun sauce, Catalina dressing, chaat masala sauce, chilli lime dressing, chilli/pepper dressing/sauce, coconut oil/sauce, cranberry sauce, eel sauce, gochujang vinaigrette, Greek dressing/vinaigrette, harissa sauce, honey dressing, horseradish sauce, Japanese carrot ginger dressing, Korean dressing/vinaigrette, lemon poppyseed dressing, lime dressing/juice, Louis dressing, mala sauce, Marie Rose sauce, Mayfair salad dressing, mint sauce, miso sauce, Moroccan vinaigrette, mustard and bacon dressing, peanut dressing/oil/sauce, peri peri sauce, pico de gallo, plum sauce, ponzu sauce, poppyseed dressing, raspberry vinaigrette, redcurrant sauce, romesco sauce, Russian dressing, Russian vinaigrette, salad cream, salbitxada sauce, sesame ginger dressing, sesame oil/sauce (including tahini), sesame soy vinaigrette, soy sauce (including soybean oil), spur salad and French fry dressing (aka pink sauce), srichacha, sweet chilli and lime dressing, sweet chilli sauce, syrup dressing (eg maple syrup dressing), tadka (aka tarka), tamarand lime dressing, teriyaki sauce, Thai dressing/vinaigrette, tomato ketchup/sauce, vinagrete (a Brazilian vinaigrette), vinegar, wafu dressing/vinaigrette (a Japanese dressing/vinaigrette) and Worcestershire sauce (aka Worcester sauce).
Hopefully I've covered all the popular salad dressings as poll options because I never want 'other' to win a poll because it means that the poll was badly designed.
I think this poll will be one big battle between mayonnaise, olive oil and ranch dressing, with olive oil just winning.
I want to thank @EnigmaInitiative for her help in compiling this poll. Obviously, any mistakes with the poll are my mistakes unless 'other' wins then it's the fault of my good friend!
Please see the first comment below to see what has won each battle of the food and drinks so far.
Heinz salad cream:
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28 comments
raspberry vinaigrette
I've never tried raspberry vinaigrette. Sounds good though.
Went with Blue Cheese!!
A good choice.
@sexstarvedme1966 Blue cheese dressing is leading the way so far.
I don't usually eat salad at home, at a restaurant I'll order blue cheese. At home I'll use Miracle Whip because it's usually in the fridge.
Miracle Whip was officially introduced by Kraft Foods at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair ("A Century of Progress" ) as a, more affordable, tangy alternative to mayonnaise during the Great Depression. It was an instant hit, quickly outselling traditional mayonnaise due to its lower price and unique, spiced flavor profile.
Have you tried Heinz salad cream when you've visited Britain?
@spunkycumfun I have not. I looked up the comparison to miracle whip, salad cream is tart and mustardy, miracle whip is sweet and is spooned not poured. Based on your opinion, I don't think I'd much care for it.
@joisygirl Salad cream is disgusting. No wonder America exported it abroad!
I love honey mustard best. I have tried several different recipes and still have not nailed it. Hopefully one day
Least favorite is bleu cheese. Bad experience years ago.
I like a honey mustard dressing too.
I voted balsamic. My favorite is my friend's homemade version. At home, I like a simple olive oil, but blue cheese is quite tasty.
I think home-made salad dressings are the best.
I have to say Ranch for this one and French comes next for me. Another great battle here my friend. And I hope your Friday is a fun start to your weekend..
I've never had ranch dressing as it's not widely sold here.
Russian
I've never had a Russian dressing on my salad.
Thanks for stopping by.
Al-i-Oli, more or less garlic dressing
I forgot about alioli. My apologies.
This has to be one of your toughest as quite often dressing choice, for me at least, depends on what the rest of the meal is. I don’t know if I could pick just one for every time. I’ve been spoiled by the salad bars that give you 10-15 choices allowing variety letting one better tailor their meal
You're right, the choice of dressing depends on the type salad being eaten. But I'm mean only allowing one pick!
@sexstarvedme1966 Most dressings listed go with most salads.
@sexstarvedme1966 Putting it nicely, I dislike blu cheese
@spunkycumfun yeah you are being mean, it’s like having to choose only one position to always fuck in, lol
@Terracamo814 I am mean with my food and drink polls. Fences get uncomforable to sit on after a while.
@spunkycumfun lol!! You are so wise
Unfortunately, I can't eat Salads anymore due to stomach issues. 😏 However, I used to swap around a lot for the variety. My Go-To's were Blue Cheese, Honey Mustard, and Ranch in that order. ☺️
I don't eat many salads; as a farmer's son, I had too many salads when I was a kid.
@spunkycumfun
I LOVE THEM....
They Don't LOVE Me! 😉😂
@YourDickToUse196 That's a pity.
For the record, Brussels sprouts won THE BATTLE OF THE VEGETABLES, bananas won THE BATTLE OF THE FRUITS, basil won THE BATTLE OF THE HERBS, garlic won THE BATTLE OF THE SPICES, cashew nuts won THE BATTLE OF THE NUTS, sunflower seeds won THE BATTLE OF THE SEEDS, roast beef won THE BATTLE OF THE ROAST DINNERS, cheesecake won THE BATTLE OF THE PUDDINGS, pepperoni won THE BATTLE OF THE PIZZA TOPPINGS, Caesar salad won THE BATTLE OF THE SALADS, green beans won THE BATTLE OF THE BEANS, watermelon won THE BATTLE OF THE MELONS, tomato-based pasta sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE HOT SAUCY DIPS, barbecue sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE COOL SAUCY DIPS, vanilla ice cream won THE BATTLE OF THE ICE CREAMS, capellini (aka angel hair) won THE BATTLE OF THE PASTAS, steak won THE BATTLE OF THE BARBECUE, romaine lettuce won THE BATTLE OF THE LETTUCES, honeycrisp apples won THE BATTLE OF THE APPLES, stout won THE BATTLE OF THE BEERS, whisky won THE BATTLE OF THE SPIRITS, clam chowder won THE BATTLE OF THE SOUPS, sourdough bread won THE BATTLE OF THE BREADS, liver won THE BATTLE OF THE OFFAL, roast turkey won THE BATTLE OF CHRISTMAS FOODS, Old Fashioned won THE BATTLE OF THE COCKTAILS, Americano coffee won THE BATTLE OF THE COFFEES, green tea won THE BATTLE OF THE TEAS, maple syrup won THE BATTLE OF THE PANCAKES, barbecue sauce won THE BATTLE OF THE CONDIMENTS, ribeye steak won THE BATTLE OF THE STEAKS, portobello mushrooms won THE BATTLE OF THE MUSHROOMS, beefsteak tomatoes won THE BATTLE OF THE TOMATOES, barbecue crisps won THE BATTLE OF THE CRISPS, strawberries won THE BATTLE OF THE BERRIES, crab won THE BATTLE OF THE SHELLFISH, vanilla yogurt won THE BATTLE OF THE YOGURTS, jasmine rice won THE BATTLE OF THE RICE, chicken wings won THE BATTLE OF HOT FINGER FOODS, cheeses won THE BATTLE OF COLD FINGER FOODS, dry red wine won THE BATTLE OF THE WINES, tap water won THE BATTLE OF WATER, blueberry muffins won THE BATTLE OF THE MUFFINS, cheese won THE BATTLE OF THE CHARCUTERIE, cow milk hard cheese won THE BATTLE OF THE CHEESE, burgers won THE BATTLE OF FAST FOOD, olive oil won THE BATTLE OF THE OILS, beef stew won THE BATTLE OF THE STEW, cow milk won THE BATTLE OF THE MILK, butter won THE BATTLE OF THE BAKED POTATO, salad won THE BATTLE OF THE SIDE DISH, pizza won THE BATTLE OF THE SAVOURY PIE, apple pie won THE BATTLE OF THE SWEET PIE, coffee won THE BATTLE OF THE HOT BEVERAGE, iced tea won THE BATTLE OF THE COLD BEVERAGE, salmon won THE BATTLE OF THE FISHES, rice won THE BATTLE OF THE GRAINS, cheese won THE BATTLE OF THE OMELETTE, cream won THE BATTLE OF THE DOUGHNUTS, chocolate won THE BATTLE OF THE MILKSHAKES, butter won THE BATTLE OF THE TOAST TOPPINGS, salted peanuts won THE BATTLE OF THE PEANUTS, strawberry jam won THE BATTLE OF THE JAM, flaky pastry won THE BATTLE OF THE PASTRY, bacon sandwich won THE BATTLE OF THE SANDWICH, orange juice won THE BATTLE OF THE JUICES, chocolate won THE BATTLE OF THE COOKIES, American Bourbon whiskey won THE BATTLE OF WHISKY, pumpkin pie won THE BATTLE OF THE PUMPKIN, cherry jelly won THE BATTLE OF JELLY, vanilla ice cream won THE BATTLE OF DESSERT ACCOMPANIMENTS, dark chocolate won THE BATTLE OF CHOCOLATE, baked potatoes won THE BATTLE OF THE POTATO, broccoli won THE BATTLE OF THE CABBAGE, cheese won THE BATTLE OF THE DAIRY, lettuce won THE BATTLE OF THE SALAD INGREDIENT, and bananas THE BATTLE OF THE SMOOTHIE.
Dorothy Lynch
We don't get Dorothy Lunch salad dressings here in the UK. It's mainly Heinz!
Thanks for stopping by.
I'm a fan of minimal salad dressings > fresh lemon juice and olive oil will go with anything, from leafy green salads to boiled potatoes to steamed veggies to quinoa or legume salads.
Sometimes I switch the lemon juice for red wine vinegar or pomegranate syrup on green salads,.
I've come across many a salad in which the dressing becomes the inadvertent star of the show.
I normally don't use anything on salads, but sometimes I'll make a balsamic vinaigrette.
I wouldn't know where to start to make a vinaigrette!
I went with Thousand Island. I can have it on a salad and I can have some in a cheeseburger. I like the taste and the multi uses for it.
Thousand island dressing is used here mainly as the sauce for a prawn/shrimp cocktail, though I prefer a slightly more toned-down sauce for my prawn cocktail, a Marie Rose sauce.
@spunkycumfun Sound good to try it that way.
What are your most and least favorite salad dressings? - Really hard to say. The refrigerator generally has about 6 open ones at any one time. But forced to vote I went with Thousand Island.
Do you regularly make your own salad dressings? - Oh HELL no.
I like thousand island dressing in a prawn/shrimp cocktail.