Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Olive Garden Salad Dressing

I think one of my favorite things to do is to recreate my favorite restaurant meals at home.
Sometimes I get a really good end result, sometimes it is total crap. 

Ok, lots of times, it is total crap.

But the process itself is enjoyable for me. 

Now, if you follow my blog, then you know I always say that even though recipes can sometimes come close to those restaurant favorites, I will never say it tastes exactly like what you get in the restaurant.
Because many times, we just don't have access to certain ingredients that the restaurants do but we can sometimes
 get the taste pretty darn close.
And also, there is just something about eating out that makes food taste better sometimes.
First of all, you didn't have to cook it.
Second of all, you won't have any dishes to wash.
Thirdly, you're out on the town having a really great time with good folks.
All that adds up to a very tasty and enjoyable meal. So even if you can recreate the taste at home, you can't exactly recreate the experience because those dishes ain't gonna wash themselves.
Having said all that, it's still fun to try.

And one of those recipes that I had to try is the good ole Olive Garden Salad Dressing. 
It's kinda like the holy grail of salad dressings.
If you've never eaten at an Olive Garden, be sure to put it on your bucket list. 
Most folks like to go there for the salad and breadsticks alone.

So I'm gonna say that even if you don't think this dressing tastes exactly like the one at Olive Garden,
 I think you're still gonna really like the way it tastes.
Ingredients:
1 packet Good Seasonings Italian Dressing
(Ingredients needed to make dressing; oil, water, vinegar)
½ tsp. dried Italian Seasoning
½ tsp. table salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. garlic powder
½ tbsp. mayonnaise (no Miracle Whip, please)
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbs. white vinegar
1 ½ tbsp. water
If you've never seen Good Seasons Italian Dressing before, you can usually find it down the aisle in your grocery store where all the other salad dressings are.  The packets are usually near where they keep the packets of ranch dressing. Most stores carry the boxed sets that also come with the salad dressing cruet like the one I have above.
Directions:
Prepare Good Seasonings Italian Seasonings Dressing as it states on back of packet.
The packet makes just a small bit of dressing.
Once prepared, pour dressing in a medium bowl, then add additional ingredients
listed above (starting with the dried Italian Seasoning).
Using a whisk, mix all ingredients until mixed thoroughly combined and pour it into a container with a lid.
Mason jars also work well for this.
Serve with your favorite salad fixings.
Store unused dressing in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks. 
Be sure to give the bottle a good shake before using.
Enjoy!

If you like this recipe, be sure to check out these ones!
Olive Garden Breadsticks
Pasta E Fagioli Soup

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recipe slightly adapted from Barenaked Chef

52 comments:

Kiri W. said...

Looks fantastic! I always have to force myself to go light on the dressing because I juts drown my salads otherwise. ;)

The Country Cook said...

Kiri - I know exactly what you mean! I have a heavy hand when it comes to dressing so I always have to be conscious of how much I'm putting on or then it just becomes gross. LOL

Carrie's Experimental Kitchen said...

I can't wait to try this one and I have all of the ingredients already! Thanks for the post! :)

RavieNomNoms said...

I love the salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden. One of my favorite things!

I am sure this dressing is excellent even if it isn't a clone of the dressing at the restaurant.

Aarthi said...

YUMMO..Thanks for the recipe..This looks mouthwatering..I have bookmarked it..

Aarthi
http://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/

Michaela said...

This is one of my favorites!! We love to have Olive Night at home!! I have a great recipe on my blog for their Zuppa Toscana soup, it's SO GOOD, one of our favorites!! If you haven't tried it, maybe you can do that one your next Olive Garden nights? :)
Thanks for sharing this!! <3

Michaela anaffairfromtheheart.blogspot.com

Katrina {In Katrina's Kitchen} said...

Making this!!!! Wow!

Elisha said...

So glad I came across your site! Can't wait to try this!

Veronica Gantley said...

I think you and I should open a restarant. Ok, I think you should open a restauant and I will visit you frequently.

carolinaheartstrings said...

That looks so delicious. I love love that dressing. Thanks for sharing your recipe. Come visit us. We have a great low fat crockpot recipe this week and tomorrow roasted veges with grape seed oil. Wonderful.

Christina said...

I love your jar!
Im assuming too, that the brand "good seasons" matters in the recipe. Other brands probably vary a bit on thier spices dont they? I will look for it in the store.

The Country Cook said...

Hi Christina! Yes, I would definitely go with the Good Seasons brand on this. You could certainly try it with another brand and let me know how it turns out if you can't find the Good Seasons one. The jar came as part of a Good Seasons package but a mason jar with a lid will work just fine for this too (or any other lidded jar you have hanging around :)

Maureen said...

I've lived in Australia for so long now that I haven't given the Olive Garden breadsticks and salad a thought for ages. I can taste it now.

No good seasons here but I think I'll have a try at making it anyway.

Kristi @ My San Francisco Kitchen said...

MMMM I love olive garden salad dressing as much as the bread sticks!! Can't wait to make this :)

Would love to have you link up @ my link party, Tasty Thursday #1: http://mysanfranciscokitchen.com/tasty-thursday-1/

:o)

Erin said...

Yum! I cant wait to try this with the breadsticks and the amazing zuppa toscana soup recipe I have, that really does taste as good as Olive Garden... And maybe some alfredo sauce for breadsticks? Hmm.. Its getting chilly just in time :) Thanks!

Becky said...

The salad looks so tasty, and I'm sure that it tastes like Olive Garden's salad, too. Thanks for sharing the recipe. Now we can have Olive Garden at home, too.

Andrea said...

I found this on pinterest. Thanks for sharing. I love their salad dressing and have tried to duplicate it but never quite the same. I will try this.

scratch-made wife said...

I like making homemade salad dressings, but I don't do it nearly as often as I should. I should work on that. I know one dressing the husband would like me to work on is the honey-lime dressing from Cheddar's. He's addicted!

Anonymous said...

I made this tonight and loved it!! I personally never have ate at Olive Garden the first one s opening here in Alaska next week so i will try it out. My hubby though has and said this was pretty darn ls and loved it!!

The Country Cook said...

That is SO awesome to hear!! Yay!! (Is it still okay to say awesome, or does that make me sound old & out of date?? LOL). So happy you liked it! Glad to hear you are getting Olive Garden. We don't eat there very often because it's on the expensive side for our budget but when we do it's a real treat. So it's nice to be able to make these meals at home (for a quarter of the price!)

Shawna said...

Can I ask, did you double this recipe for the 'finished product' photo? I don't understand how it went from the bottom bit of the jar filled from the seasoning packet mix to almost FULL after just adding a few tsps of spices and 1/4 cup of oil. Did I miss something?

The Country Cook said...

Shawna, the first picture is after you make the packet of good seasonings dressing. Then, you are going to add additional ingredients to that. Which will give you a full jar. Hope that makes sense! :)

4peatssake said...

This looks great, defiantly going to give it a try. If you are looking for another Olive Garden Copycat recipe you must try the Zuppa Toscano Soup. http://4peatssake.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/olive-garden-copycat-zuppa-toscana-soup/

MommaMary (Mary Cochrane) said...

OK, had our Olive Garden supper tonight and it was fan-tabulous! They all agreed the salad dressing tasted just like OG and they really liked the eazy way garlic breadsticks. # 1 son said to cut back on the sausage and I would have had it perfect. Thanks again for your recipes and all the hard work you do to get the blog out every day.

The Country Cook said...

Mary - you made my day!! yay! So happy your family (and you!) are enjoying the recipes. Your comment meant so much to me and I'm so thrilled you are happy with how all the food is turning out!! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to let me know!

Andrea said...

I made this dressing tonight and I LOVED it. thanks for sharing.

The Country Cook said...

Hi Andrea!! Woo hoo!! So happy to hear you loved this one! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how it turned out for you!!

Andrea said...

No thank you for taking the time to figure out my new favorite dressing to make. I just blogged about it and gave a big thank you to you. check it out when you have time. www.questfordelish.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I just made this with a brand new Good Seasons cruet, followed the directions exactly and my cruet is nearly full - looks just like the picture.

And even better - tastes sooooo good!! I am serving it at a party tomorrow and I anticipate lots of compliments on this!

Thank you!!

tassalashelle said...

My husband will only eat salad and dressing from olive garden! i cant wait for him to try this! <3 thanks for sharing!

Linda said...

This is my new favorite dressing! I have made it twice already in just three days!

The Country Cook said...

Hi Linda!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! I really appreciate it!! So happy this turned out good for ya!

Joan said...

Great recipe and so easy to make! I read a previous post we can buy the dressing at Olive Garden, but it is probably very expensive. I will have to check next time I get to an Olive Garden.

Christina said...

Found the brand at the store. Its so much better the day after its mixed. Its pretty stinkin close to Olive Garden. Im sad that I ran out of salad fixins! Very good and totally takes care of that craving I get for thier salad. Thank you!!

The Country Cook said...

Thank you so much for taking the time to come back & let me know how this recipe turned out for ya!! I'm thrilled to hear you liked it! Yay!

Anonymous said...

So my question is the oil, vinegar & water that you add at the bottom in the recipe in addition to the oil, vinegar & water you use to make the Italian dressing? Thanks

The Country Cook said...

Anonymous, yes it is. :)

MommaMary said...

I've made this and it is really good. Tastes like the real thing. PS one packet of real mayo from any of the fast food places is the exact amount for the recipe.

Amber Smith said...

When making the good seasons dressing, BEFORE adding the other ingredients, I assume you use olive oil, but what kind of vinegar do you use? White wine, red wine, regular white,...? Thanks!

The Country Cook said...

Amber, I use white vinegar when making the Good Seasons dressing as well. Hope that helps! :)

Kristi said...

You list olive oil, white vinegar and water in recipe but then it calls for those to make the good seasonings dressing...so do you add more later or where those amount listed for what you need for the Good seasonings dressing? Just want to make sure I'm using them twice?

The Country Cook said...

Kristi, yes, you make the packet of good seasonings italian dressing first. Then you add in all the other ingredients I have listed. :)

Jennifer Sonja said...

Made this and it was deeeelicious! Thanks so much for sharing!

Sahara said...

I made this tonight it was awesome! So close to olive gardens too! Thank you!!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Love both of these at Olive Garden. Have tried recreating the dressing at home, but am always just a little off....but now I've got a "keeper". Of course, if these taste like the restaraunt, I'll never get my husband out for dinner anymore! Thanks for sharing.

Snowmanlover said...

This was very good. How long does it last please? Thanks!

Anonymous said...

That was about good enough to drink!! :) Thank you!

Lesa Ishee said...

I have made the ranch dressing recipe using fresh, pressed (minced) garlic. How much fresh garlic would you substitute for the garlic powder in this OG recipe? Also, thank you so much for all your great recipes. I just discovered this site a few weeks ago & love it. Lesa

The Country Cook said...

Hi Lesa, So glad you are enjoying all the recipes you've tried so far! Normally I love to use fresh garlic where I can. It's inexpensive and it adds a ton of flavor! But in this recipe, the garlic powder really is best since the garlic flavor is not a big star in the show here like in the ranch dressing. It's just a subtle background flavor and if you use fresh garlic, it really won't give you that "copycat" olive garden flavor. Hope that helps.
Also, to answer Snowmanlover's question, this dressing keeps in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. :)

Anonymous said...

This may be a stupid question but what is the nutritional value on this like calories serving size etc..?

Anonymous said...

FYI, I was told by the wait staff at OG that the dressing has parmesan in it (I have a dairy allergy so I asked) perhaps adding some would make it even more authentic. But if this tastes like it then i'm going to have to try the dairy free version!

The Country Cook said...

Anonymous 1 - I'm sorry, I can't really help you out with the nutritional information. I'm sorry!
Anonymous 2 - I always sprinkle a bit of parmesan on my salad when I make it but I don't put it in the actual dressing. :)