Tightwad Wednesday – Six Cheap Salad Dressings

3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp sweet pickle relish or finely chopped sweet pickle
2 Tbsp chili sauce or ketchup
2 Tbsp finely chopped green bell pepper
2 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl except egg. Stir in chopped egg last. Refrigerate. Makes 1 1/2 cups

This was my personal favorite but then again I already have a preference for Thousand Island. Eric really enjoyed it, too, but said it smelled a bit “eggy”. I asked him to clarify and he said the aroma when he opened the container was a bit “off-putting” but that he enjoyed the flavor.

I think this recipe turned out very well and it was very simple to make. The only thing that really took time was boiling up the egg and that wasn’t difficult. This would be a good way to use up any leftover hard boiled eggs. I left out the bell pepper since I didn’t have one on hand. This one will definitely be going in my recipe file.

Total Cost: $0.75 for about 11oz or about $0.07 per oz.

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp finely chopped green onions, tops only
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 tsp minced parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1/2 to 1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate. Makes 2 cups.

This one was just “ok” for me. It didn’t really resemble the “Hidden Valley” version I’m accustomed to so calling it “ranch” was a bit of a stretch for me. Eric, on the other hand, voted this one his favorite overall. He thought it was creamy but “not too creamy”. He liked that it had a little heat and felt it had a great flavor.

This one was again simple to make but did require some chopping of herbs. No big deal though. I was surprised by the paprika and cayenne in this recipe. Very interesting!

2/3 cup ketchup
1/2 cup sugar (or to taste)
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
salt, to taste
1 or 2 cloves garlic (or 1 to 2 tsp)
2 Tbsp finely minced onion

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake. You can blend in a blender if you’d like. Makes 2 cups.

This one was good AND very easy. Eric liked the flavor but said that the first bite was strange. He said that once you get beyond that first bite it gets better as you eat it. I thought the flavor was good but not quite as sweet as Catalina. This is a more savory version. If you prefer it sweeter just add more sugar.

My price is a little high but I was using a “better than average” red wine vinegar. I also didn’t get the canola oil or ketchup in bulk so the price suffered a bit there. This could definitely be made cheaper than how I made it.

Total cost: $1.23 for 16oz or about $0.08 per oz.

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup grated cucumber
2 Tbsp minced green onions, white and green parts
1 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard
2 tsp minced fresh parsely
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with a tight lid. Stir or shake well. Makes 1 1/4 cups.

I didn’t like this as much as the other recipes. This dressing reminds me a lot of a really thin tzatziki. I would think this would be good for light salads or even sliced tomatoes. It is very tangy and has strong flavors of cucumber and dill. Eric thought it was good but a little too light for him. He complained there wasn’t enough “stick” for him.

I had to get out my grater to grate the cucumber but really it wasn’t hard to make. I don’t know if I would make this one again unless I had the perfect style salad for it and didn’t have yogurt.

Total cost: $0.80 for 10oz or $0.08 per oz.

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 1/2 cups olive oil or vegetable oil or a combination
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
3/4 tsp of salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp minced parsley
1 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil or oregano

Combine in a large jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake well. (The frugal zealot says it makes one quart, but it sure doesn’t seem that way).

This one got a thumbs down from both of us. We felt it was oily, and a bit bland, and didn’t hit our palate the way we expect. I have to recommend our version of the vinaigrette because I think it blows this one away. Not even the same ballpark. It just seemed a bit 1 dimensional in flavor and when you are spending more on a dressing because of the amount of oil needed you need it to be great.

Of course it is easy to make but still not worth it in my opinion. Maybe it just needs more tweaking but this one was definitely the loser of the bunch for us. The two costs take in account if you use olive oil or canola oil.

Total cost (olive oil): $2.48 for 16oz or about $0.15 per oz.
Total cost (canola oil): $1.52 for 16oz or about $0.09 per oz.

1 qt (4 cups) mayonnaise
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup small-curd cottage cheese
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp salt
4 oz. Roquefort or blue cheese, crumbled

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except blue cheese. Blend those ingredients, then add the blue cheese to the blended mixture. Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

This recipe turned out pretty good, too. The cottage cheese gave body to the dressing and helped stretch the pricey blue cheese. Eric thought this recipe was a winner although he said he wished it had more blue cheese. I suspect that wouldn’t be an issue if I got good quality blue cheese but this time I used a coupon and got a cheaper (and less tasty) version.

Although the recipe was easy because there was no chopping it was a pain to use a mixer to blend it all. I think it would be fine to skip the mixer and just blend it by hand as long as you don’t mind your dressings chunky. My one word of caution is to watch how much garlic goes into this dressing. I was a little heavy handed and it started to resemble a Caesar after a few days in the fridge.

Total cost: $4.66 for 48oz or just under $0.10 per oz.