Creamy French Dressing

This is JB’s Creamy French Dressing. It’s the sort of thing that reminds you how good homemade salad dressing can be – bright and tangy like a vinaigrette, but with a spoonful of mayo to make it creamy enough to cling to the leaves. Not heavy, not greasy – just really great!

Creamy French Dressing

I don’t know about you, but when someone tells me something is “French”, it instantly has that extra air of sophistication. So this is a creamy FRENCH dressing. And it’s JB’s recipe.

Have I caught your attention? 😂

In actual fact, it is a classic French Vinaigrette with a little mayonnaise added for extra creaminess, plus chives for a little freshness. I like how the creamy white dressing with little green chive specks stands out against leafy greens, like in the French Bistro Baby Gem Lettuce Salad below. It just looks so good in the bowl! 🥬

Ingredients for Creamy French Dressing

Here’s what you need to make JB’s Creamy French Dressing. Just put everything in a jar and shake, or use a small whisk in a bowl or jug.

• White wine vinegar – The classic vinegar of choice for French dressing. Substitute with other clear vinegars such as champagne or sherry vinegar, or apple cider vinegar. You could also use red wine vinegar. I don’t recommend using regular white vinegar, it’s too sharp for this dressing.

• Dijon mustard – This French mustard adds tang and a little flavour into the dressing, as well as helping to make it a lovely creamy consistency.

• Whole egg mayonnaise – This is creamier and less tangy than normal mayonnaise. My recommended is S&W (Australia), followed by Hellman’s and Kewpie (equal second).

• Oil combination – JB likes to use a combination of extra virgin olive oil with a neutral one otherwise the olive oil dominates too much and you can’t taste the other flavours. Use any plain flavoured oil – my go-to neutral oil for dressings is grapeseed oil. You can use canola oil, vegetable, sunflower or any other oil that is not flavoured.

• Chives – You can substitute the chives with parsley, or even some dried herbs, but I really recommend using chives if you can because they add a touch of freshness to the flavour. Plus, I like the look of the little green specks in the white dressing! If substituting with dried herbs, reduce to 1/2 teaspoon.

• Water – Just 2 teaspoons, to loosen the consistency so the dressing coats delicate leafy greens nicely rather than weighing them down.

• Salt and pepper – For seasoning. I use cooking salt (kosher salt is the equivalent in the States). If you only have table salt, halve the quantity. For salt flakes, increase the amount by 50%.

JB’s Creamy French Dressing will keep for 3 days in the fridge. After this time, it’s still safe to consume though the freshness of the chives will start to fade.

Use this dressing to coat leafy greens or a Garden Salad to make an instant side with a touch of France. It’s pictured throughout this post on JB’s French Bistro Baby Gem Salad which we also published today. It’s also brilliant drizzled over steamed greens (I especially love how broccoli florets act like a sponge for this dressing!) and it’s thick enough to use as a dipping sauce too. I’m thinking – Chicken Tenders, Fish Fingers, Popcorn Chicken or even Roasted Cauliflower florets!

Hope you enjoy! – Nagi x