Jamie Oliver's 1-Minute Salad Dressing Is the Only One I Need

I learned to make a proper salad dressing while working in kitchens and attending culinary school. It’s a method that typically entails steadily whisking a stream of olive oil into a bowl with vinegar, Dijon mustard, and other ingredients, watching the mixture transform into a cohesive emulsion. But it was never something I stuck with because I always found it significantly more efficient to make my dressing in a jar.

I'm not lazy (OK, maybe a little), it's just genuinely easier, faster, can be made in any jar with a tight-fitting lid, and doesn’t require a special technique. Jamie Oliver champions this approach, too, and for good reason: if you can shake a jar, you can make a versatile, delicious dressing in under a minute.

How To Make Salad Dressing in a Jar

The technique is almost embarrassingly simple. Instead of fussing with whisks and slow, steady streams of oil, I put everything directly into a clean jar, screw the lid on tight, and shake. That's it. The vigorous shaking does the work of combining the oil and acid, creating a perfectly blended dressing.

Jamie's classic French dressing, for example, uses a quarter of a clove of garlic (finely chopped), a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, two tablespoons of red or white wine vinegar, six tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Drop everything into your jar, seal it up, and shake hard for about 10 to 15 seconds. When I'm done, the oil and vinegar will have come together into a smooth, cohesive dressing.

The key to making most dressings work is to use a ratio of three parts oil to one part acid. This is the benchmark for almost any dressing. Once you have that down, you can branch out into endless variations. For example, he also shares simple lemon, balsamic, and yogurt dressings (the latter being the only one that doesn’t follow this ratio).

One thing Jamie mentions is that if your seasoning is on point but the dressing still tastes a bit too acidic straight from the jar, “you’ve cracked it.” Once it hits the salad leaves, it will mellow out. Either way, it’s a good reminder to always give it a taste before attempting to dress anything.

Why It Works So Well

From a practical standpoint, the jar method is a winner because there's almost nothing to clean up. I'm making the dressing in what becomes the storage container, so when I'm done using it, I just pop the lid back on and stick it in the fridge.

The shaking itself creates enough agitation to temporarily emulsify the oil and vinegar, especially when you include a little Dijon mustard, which acts as a stabilizer. The only drawback is that, unlike store-bought versions filled with additives, a shaken dressing will eventually separate once it sits.

But since it’s already in the jar, I just give it a five-second "re-shake" before I want to use it, and I'm back in business.

​If I have a nearly-empty jam jar with just a little fruit preserve stuck at the bottom, I don't wash it out. Instead, I make my dressing right in it. Those leftover bits will act as a natural sweetener and help the emulsion along. It’s also a fantastic way to get kids involved in the kitchen. They can measure ingredients, screw on the lid, and shake away.

​Making your own dressing costs pennies compared to store-bought bottles, and you're in complete control of the quality. Once you realize how easy it is, you'll wonder why you ever bought dressing in the first place. Next time you finish a jar (of anything), clean it out and keep it by the stove. Your salads are about to get a whole lot better.