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I love the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes.
They add an instant burst of Italian flare to almost any dish!
Since sun-dried tomatoes tend to have a chewy texture and a concentrated flavor, I’ve been meaning to blend them into a dressing for quite a while. It’s such an easy and delicious way to distribute the flavor throughout your favorite salads, without any overpowering bites!
The first time I tried preparing this dressing, I used WAY too many tomatoes. By the time I diluted it down, I ended up with more dressing than I could possibly use in a month! Luckily, the second time around, I got it just right. The resulting dressing is reminiscent of the dipping oil served at my favorite Italian restaurant.
I’ve always had the urge to pour it over my salads, and now I can!
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Sun-Dried Tomato Dressing
makes about 1 1/2 cups
Adapted from this recipe
Ingredients:
9 sun-dried tomato halves*, about a 1/3 cup
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon minced shallot
2 small garlic cloves
2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 cup water, or more for desired texture
*I used this brand of organic sun-dried tomatoes, which are free of sulfites and preservatives, and are not packed in oil. I’m not sure how other brands, or oil-packed tomatoes, may affect the flavor of this recipe.
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Directions:
If you’re using a standard blender, you may want to soak your sun-dried tomatoes in warm water for 20 minutes, to soften them up. (Measure before soaking.) If you’re using a high-speed blender, like the Vitamix, soaking isn’t necessary!
Combine all of the ingredients in the blender container, and blend until well emulsified.
This dressing will thicken a bit when chilled, so I recommend chilling for at least 4 hours before serving. The flavor actually gets better when chilled overnight! Store in an air-tight container for up to a week, and serve over your favorite veggies as desired!
I think this dressing is especially delicious when served over a salad with sweet and crunchy vegetables, like shredded carrots and romaine.
Ingredients
- 9 sun-dried tomato halves* , about a 1/3 cup
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 tablespoon minced shallot
- 2 small garlic cloves
- 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup water , or more for desired texture
Instructions
- If you're using a standard blender, you may want to soak your sun-dried tomatoes in warm water for 20 minutes, to soften them up. (Measure before soaking.) If you're using a high-speed blender, like the Vitamix, soaking isn't necessary!
- Combine all of the ingredients in the blender container, and blend until well emulsified.
- This dressing will thicken a bit when chilled, so I recommend chilling for at least 4 hours before serving. The flavor actually gets better when chilled overnight! Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.
Notes
Nutrition
Calories Per Serving: 98, Fat: 9g, Carbohydrates: 4g
Substitution Notes:
- For those of you avoiding vinegar, lemon juice may be substituted, though it may affect the flavor. Start with a small amount, and add more to your personal taste.
- For those of you avoiding added oils, feel free to omit the olive oil and add extra water. However, I do recommend eating a bit of healthy fat with your vegetables for best nutrient absorption.
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Enjoy!
Reader Feedback: Do you love Italian flavors? I think I could eat them every single day! (And thanks to this dressing, I do!)
This dressing is absolutely delicious! A new favorite! I think it would be perfect over a pasta salad, too.
Love this!! Thanks so much for the recipe. I had some sundried tomatoes from a farmers market in Venice and I feel like this recipe is doing them justice! I also opted for basil infused olive oil, but I would even suggest adding some more basil…I’m an addict 🙂
I just made this dressing, but cut the olive oil in half. Unfortunately it came out too sharp, and bland at the same time. I’m sure it tastes better with all of the oil, but I have no sundried tomatoes left. Oh well. I’ll try another one of your recipes and follow it precisely next time! :-))
Why would you bother to leave a (bad) review if you didn’t even make the recipe as written? That’s disrespectful to the author and unhelpful for other readers.
Megan, would you say this is a ‘vinaigrette’? Mine was pretty vinegar-y after using 3 T of Trader Joe’s organic apple cider vinegar. Which is fine, still very yummy; it just had more of a vinegar-kick than I was expecting.
I didn’t think mine tasted too vinegar-y, but I think the flavor is diluted once you pour it over veggies. It also mellows overnight as the flavors develop. Feel free to adjust the vinegar amount to your taste! You can always add other ingredients to balance it out, so you don’t waste a batch. 🙂
yum!! im definitely making this
How long can this dressing be kept and used for in the fridge?
It should last up to a week in the fridge.
Megan,
Do you think with any of your dressing recipes I could freeze it in ice cube trays and put one cube in the fridge in a container the night before I want a salad? I would never be able to finish 1.5 cups of dressing in 1 week, but I want to make them and freezing would make it easy when I’m tempted to use the bottled stuff!
Yes, I think that would be a brilliant idea! And definitely better than the bottled stuff! 😉
Was wondering if you have any ideas on how to make a pumpkin ice cream, or just something simple with pumpkin that is sweet and not a pie/cookies/muffins/bread..I was going to experiment and mix pumpkin, banana and honey together and freeze it for awhile..
I had some bad luck making pumpkin ice cream using coconut milk last year, so I think your frozen banana idea sounds like a great alternative! Please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
So it had an ice cream-like texture, but not quite the flavor I was hoping for. I didn’t do exact measurements, just threw stuff together, but about 1 1/2 cups pumpkin puree(fresh), 1 ripe banana, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, coconut oil (2 tbs), and 2 big squirts of honey. Mixed it all up in my blender, looked like cake batter! Then stuck it in the freezer for a few hours. Could really taste the banana in it and not so much the pumpkin..but I will have to keep trying!
I avoid oil but like to keep the fat and I discovered that another way to avoid oil but keep the fat is to use pitted olives– especially for recipes calling for olive oil. Add water to thin out as desired. I made a harissa tapenade this way– replacing olive oil with soaked (to remove excess sodium) pitted olives.
How interesting! I’ve never heard of that before. I actually hate(!) the taste of olives, but I’m trying to teach myself to love them, since they’re such a healthy source of fat! My family all loves them, so I’m hoping they’ll eventually grow on me. 😉
I used these olives http://www.graberolives.com/. They’re a bit pricier but they are like little globs of fat! I think you live in the S CA area and if you go there, they sell tins of orchard run olives (i.e. not the larger size olives) which are presumably less expensive (I received my tin as a gift).
Also, if you do live in the S CA area, look for Joe Avitua-Walker Farms at local Farmer’s Markets. I know they’re at the Alhambra FM (on Sundays) and may be at the Long Beach and/or Pasadena Farmer’s Market. They sell raw macadamia nuts– they’re smaller than what you’d buy at a regular grocery store but I find them sweeter and tastier. They make excellent macadamia nut butter– I add cocoa powder to make a mac-nutella. I don’t add sweetener but I’m sure honey and/or dates would work.
I felt the same way a few years ago and now love them. Certain flavors are better than others and the fresh ones are great though rarely seen.
PS loved this recipe.
This looks delicious. I love sun dried tomatoes- I add them to my salads all the time! Can’t wait to try this.