Poppy Seed Dressing is the best salad dressing! It’s sweet, creamy, easy to make, and tastes amazing on so many salads. You’ll be wanting to eat salads everyday with this dressing in your fridge.
It’s salad season and you NEED this Poppy Seed Dressing. This is my absolute favorite and I ALWAYS have a jar of it in my fridge. A side spinach salad with this dressing is my go-to. For more yummy sides, try Buttermilk Cornbread, Easy Twice Baked Potatoes and 3-Ingredient Roasted Green Beans.
Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing
I have a sweet tooth so naturally I prefer sweet salads. Every week I buy a big 1 pound container of organic baby spinach at Costco and I eat a salad almost everyday with this yummy dressing. My current favorite salad ingredients with this dressing are grilled chicken, fresh berries, pepitas or toasted nuts, avocado, and goat cheese. So so good! Even my husband who isn’t a big salad eater loves it.
In the fall and winter I switch up the salad toppings and use more budget friendly fruits at that time of year like apple, pears, pomegranate, dried cranberries… This Autumn Poppy Seed Spinach Salad is a staple from October to March! If you don’t care for spinach, this dressing is also great with Romaine lettuce and kale.
Reasons this Poppy Seed Dressing the Best:
- SWEET– I have a sweet tooth and this definitely satisfies it and helps me eat my greens! I love that the sweetness is balanced by the red onion and vinegar.
- PINK! This has to be the prettiest color dressing out there. It gets this gorgeous pink color from the red onion… which actually looks purple. I think the person who originally named the onion was color blind.
- EASY TO MAKE– All you need is 7 simple ingredients that you probably already have on hand- vinegar, oil, sugar, ground mustard, salt, poppy seeds, red onion.
How to make Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing?
- Place the sugar, red onion, salt, ground mustard, and vinegar in a blender. Blend until the onion is pureed.
- While mixing on low, slowly drizzle in the oil. This will allow it to emulsify and become thick and creamy. Turn up the speed to medium and blend for 30-60 seconds.
- Mix in the poppy seeds on low just until mixed in.
- Pour the dressing into a 16 ounce jar and store in the fridge.
- Drizzle over the top of your salad and toss.
How long does vinaigrette last?
A simple vinaigrette can last for up to 2 weeks in the fridge. If the dressing is made with dairy (buttermilk, yogurt, cheese…) or fresh ingredients (onions, herbs,…) then the recommendation is 1 week. Since this dressing uses fresh red onion, it is recommend to eat up within 1 week. Honestly, I have kept mine for up to a month and haven’t gotten sick… but eat at your own risk!
MORE DELICIOUS SALADS AND DRESSINGS RECIPES TO TRY:
- Autumn Poppy Seed Spinach Salad– My favorite fall salad!
- Cilantro Lime Dressing {Cafe Rio Copycat}– I love this for Mexican salads and even dipping Baked Chicken Taquitos.
- Peach & Apple Quinoa Salad with Cinnamon Honey Vinaigrette– This salad is a great way to welcome the fall season!
- Honey Lime Shrimp Quinoa Bowls– These are A-mazing! Such a great summer meal.
- Grilled Peach Salad– Grilled peaches taste like heaven!
- Avocado Chicken Salad– Avocado should be in every salad. Just sayin!
TOOLS USED TO MAKE THIS HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING:
Mason Jar– I use these jars all the time for storing dressings, jam, sauces…
Blender– This blender is amazing! I use it all the time for smoothies, sauces, and soups.
Liquid Measuring Cup– Liquid ingredients such as water, vinegar, oil, milk, honey… should all be measured in a liquid measuring cup to insure accuracy. I love these glass ones and have lasted me almost 10 years now with almost daily use.
5-Minute Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons red onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dry ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup canola oil, (or extra virgin extra light olive oil)
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- In a blender, combine sugar, vinegar, onion juice, mustard, and salt,.
- While mixing on the lowest speed, slowly pour in oil. Turn the speed up to medium and mix until thick and creamy. Mix in the seeds.
- Store in a 1 pint jar in the fridge for up to 1 week. Always mix well before serving.
I used a sugar substitute but the dressing was amazing! I have eaten a spinach/strawberry salad with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles for the last three days, adding this dressing. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
If we don’t have this dressing on hand, we don’t eat salad. I have to make a batch at least once a month for the family. Our three year old will actually eat salad with this dressing. It’s so good!
That is awesome! It’s so hard to get 3 year olds to eat vegetables so that is serious WIN!
Made it again and aimed for the most purple parts of my “red” onion. Turned out so well that I shared your recipe and posted a picture of my own jar, too! Thanks for posting such a winner!
Thank you for sharing such a great idea of ‘poppy-seed-dressing-recipe’. I love it.
You are right – I’ve never had a “pretty” salad dressing before! This one is SO tasty, and makes me gobble up my salads, which is what I WANT to fill up on vs. other stuff. Thanks for posting, and I hope to see more tasty treats here.
Lori, I’m so glad you enjoy it as much as I do! 🙂 Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
Funny enough, the first time I made it, it was pink and lovely. The second time, I subbed in coconut sugar instead of white, and it was an unlovely beige color, with a slightly bitter taste. I do NOT recommend replacing the white sugar. But the NEXT time I made it (yes, your recipe is a keeper here!), I did as written, and it hardly turned pink at all, and was beige by the next day. It tasted fine, but the fun was the pink part. I’ll try to pick out the most purpley onion pieces next time to see if that helps. 🙂
Hi again. The THIRD time I made this, I didn’t change anything, but must have had more white than purple in my red onion, as it was only a dull beige color again. No! I want the pink! :O Hast this happened to you? I’ll now aim for the reddest/purpliest parts for next time, for believe me, there will be a next, and many MORE times of making this tasty treat! 🙂
Yes! For a more vibrant dressing I try to use more dark purple pieces.
I have made this dressing several times and it never turns out to be the pretty pink. I am always hopeful as it starts out looking pink but then once I mix in the oil it turns more of a salmon color. It still tastes great but the appeal of the “pretty pink” is lost. Does the type of oil matter? I have tried extra virgin oil and canola oil with the same outcomes.
This recipe is exactly from Helen Corbitt. I have made this many times and it really has never separated on me. This time it has, and it has settled into 3 layers, with some strange things floating in the middle! Everything I used is fresh (oil, vinegar, etc.) When I put it in the blender it is fine, although maybe a little less thick than I’d like it. Anybody know why?
When you add the oil when mixing or blending the dressing, make sure you are slowly streaming it in as it is mixing. It will separate between oil and vinegar in the fridge but just stir before adding to salad.
Melanie,
Regarding the poppy seed dressing recipe, I have made this for years, and usually always keep the onion juice by McCormick on hand, but then it gets old and I question the taste, and lately I have not been able to find the onion juice for sale at several of my local grocery stores. so instead of micro planing or grating an onion, this time around, I am going to use my juicer and use a Vidalia onion and put the contents in a jar. Then use the left over fiber for some other recipe. I am sure any white or red onion would be good, But I am choosing the Vidalia because it is a sweeter onion.
I have not heard of foodgawker. What is it? Who chooses? Does it have to do with how many hits your site gets?
We love poppy seed dressing too. I use a similar recipe out of the Joy of Cooking. What is onion juice? Do you actually juice an onion? Just curious!
Judi
http://www.browneggsandjam.blogspot.com
Judi-
Onion juice can be found in the baking aisle near all the extracts. You can just put in 3 tablespoons of red onion but it does dye the dressing a light pink.
Foodgawker is kind of like pinterest but just for food. Anyone can sign up for an account but you submit an original photo with the website link and then the agents/workers at foodgawker judge the photo based on appealing food, composition, lighting, and sharpness. They are pretty picky but that is good because it keeps up the quality of their site. It doesn’t have anything to do with how many hits your site gets but it sure gives you a lot (I got over 700 hits in one day when they accepted my raspberry coffee cake).
Very cool Melanie! 700 hits that is a lot! Good work!
🙂 Thanks Judi!
I love this dressing! Haven’t had it since the good old St Louis days. Silly question? Best way to get juice from an onion?
Rachel-
Not a silly question at all! I should just add a note to the recipe because it is a common question. It comes in the same kind of container as other extracts so it is found by them in the baking aisle of the store. Or you can just cut up 3 tablespoons of red onion.