Why would you want to thicken salad dressing?
Salad dressing is like an indispensable part of a delicious salad dish. A tasty sauce can even elaborate your simple salad to a restaurant-level so it’s essential for everyone to learn how to make salad dressing properly.
The frustrating thing is if you do something wrong while making salad dressing, the sauce will become so watery and boring.
A perfect version is a combination of the beautiful color, savory flavor and a thick enough texture so that your salad dressing will work more effectively.
Can you thicken salad dressing?
The question is how can you create the thick texture and can you fix the runny salad dressing?
In fact, there are several ways that can help you successfully make salad dressing that does not contain too much liquid.
The instruction will be laid down step-by-step with ease in the article below so don’t worry.
Tips to thicken salad dressing
- Physically shaking the vinaigrette only creates temporary emulsion because the ingredients will separate again but don’t be too worried, it’s still enough time to last while you eat your salad
- Egg-based emulsions are highly perishable, and should be used or refrigerated immediately
- Those who are allergic with eggs might rely on an alternative emulsifier, such as soy lecithin, to make mayonnaise
- Low-fat dressings often add a small quantity of guar gum, xanthan gum or other gelling agents to compensate for their reduced oil content
- If you have a big batch of homemade salad dressing and you really need the emulsion to hold, here’s a little trick: add a bit of store-bought salad dressing to your homemade. The emulsifiers in the commercial dressing will hold yours together
- You should cook the cornstarch to make a cornstarch slurry and maximum thickening ability because cornstarch doesn’t dissolve well in cold liquids
Things you’ll need
- An immersion blender
- A bowl
- Cornstarch
- Some ingredients such as mustard, garlic, honey,…
How to thicken salad dressing
- Shake a vinaigrette or mix with an immersion blender (this will allow to separate the oil into tiny globules that disperse throughout the vinegar and other liquids and create a creamy texture for the salad dressing)
How to thicken salad dressing by adding some common vinaigrette ingredients
- Add honey, fresh/ toasted garlic or prepared mustard, or tahini, sesame paste,…to the runny dressing (these ingredients will act as a mild emulsifier that help bond oil and water molecules together and the result is make the dressing thicker)
- You can also add some bits of vegetable such as tomato or cucumber to add some thickness and stickiness
- If you make low-fat dressing with chicken or vegetable broth replacing part of the oil, you can thickening the broth slightly with a bit of cornstarch before adding it to your vinaigrette
