Tangy Apple Cider French dressing Dressing

July 19, 2025

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This apple cider French dressing is an ideal choice for many who choose their dressings to be tangy and zesty. It includes a lower-than-usual ratio of oil to vinegar, plus a kick of garlic and mustard, so it’s pleasantly assertive. Use it to decorate bitter greens, corresponding to uncooked kale, or chicories. The dressing can also be an awesome counterpoint to candy flavors, so it’s excellent for salads that function dried or contemporary fruit!

An image of a glass bottle, which is filled with a pale-yellow apple cider vinaigrette dressing. It rests on a white surface.

There can by no means been too many do-it-yourself French dressing recipes, and this one packs a punch.

For those who’re the kind of one who provides an additional sprint of vinegar or lemon to almost each salad after you’ve dressed it (me!), then apple cider French dressing might be proper up your alley.

Along with its daring, tangy taste, the French dressing is straightforward to make. There are solely 5 elements right here, minus salt and pepper, and preparation is only a matter of whisking or shaking.

Preserve this recipe available for your whole salads that function bitter or boldly flavored greens, like kale or chicories.

Permit its punchy acidity to brighten up roasted root greens or nutty cooked entire grains.

The tangy dressing may also carry candy flavors into stability. I really like drizzling it over salads that embrace sliced apple, dried raisins or dates, or candied nuts.

A fast primer on apple cider vinegar

For an individual with a small kitchen, I’ve an expansive assortment of vinegars. I take advantage of all of them in my do-it-yourself dressings: champagne French dressing, crimson wine French dressing, balsamic French dressing, and so forth.

Apple cider vinegar, often known as ACV, is among the kinds of vinegars that I depend on most frequently. It’s not solely good in apple cider French dressing, but additionally for marinades and creamy dressings.

Apple cider vinegar has a robust, bitter style, and also you might be able to decide up on very faint apple notes whenever you strive it.

That’s as a result of the vinegar is made, simply because the title suggests, from the juice of crushed apples. This juice is fermented with yeasts to transform its sugar into alcohol, after which finally into acetic acid.

This fermentation course of results in the formation of spent yeast and micro organism. They typically coagulate right into a gelatinous mass referred to as “the mom,” or they may appear to be strands of cloudiness in your bottle.

The micro organism in apple cider vinegar are probiotics, or the “good” micro organism which can be present in most fermented meals.

Reality vs. fiction

Due to the presence of those probiotics, and in addition because of a number of wellness hype, apple cider vinegar is regularly touted as a weight reduction help.

There’s restricted analysis to help such claims. Ingesting ACV earlier than or after meals would possibly lower urge for food a bit, due to its acidity.

Restricted research additionally counsel that it could assist to barely decrease post-prandial blood glucose.

However these results are modest, at greatest, and the analysis on them isn’t strong. ACV isn’t a ample or dependable remedy for prediabetes or diabetes.

Plus, the vinegar’s acidity will take a toll on tooth enamel, and it could exacerbate GERD and acid reflux disease.

The underside line: apple cider vinegar is a superb culinary ingredient, with the added bonus of probiotics that exist in all fermented meals. It’s not a cure-all.

A very punchy dressing

For many of my French dressing recipes, I take advantage of a couple of 2:1 ratio of olive oil to acid.

The ratio right here is decrease. I take advantage of a 3rd cup of olive oil and quarter cup of ACV, leading to a French dressing that’s unmistakably acidic, even a bit spicy.

A heaping teaspoon of Dijon mustard enhances that impact.

Olive oil and a measuring spoon are pictured in a glass jar. — Modifying the ratio of olive oil to vinegar may also help to extend a dressing’s energy and punch.

To assist stability the acidity, I additionally add maple syrup. This isn’t uncommon for me, as I like a contact of sweetness in my vinaigrettes for stability.

However whereas I often add a half teaspoon or teaspoon of maple syrup to dressings, I add a tablespoon to apple cider French dressing.

And whereas we’re on the subject of stability, there are savory notes within the French dressing, too!

One fats clove of garlic—or two smaller cloves—ought to be grated and added to the dressing, giving it additional chunk.

How one can make apple cider French dressing

The method of creating apple cider French dressing is so easy. First, collect up your elements:

Olive oil
Apple cider vinegar
Garlic
Maple syrup
Dijon mustard
Salt
Freshly floor black pepper

Place them right into a mason jar or glass measuring cup.

Salt, pepper, oil and vinegar are pictured in a Weck mason jar. — The apple cider French dressing may be whisked collectively in the identical jar you utilize to retailer it.

Subsequent, simply whisk the elements collectively, utilizing a fork or a small whisk. Or, you may cowl the jar tightly and provides it a very good shake.

For those who used a liquid measuring cup, pour the French dressing right into a storage vessel of some form.

From right here, you may retailer the apple cider dressing in your fridge, lined, for as much as every week.

Concepts for utilizing apple cider French dressing

I’ve talked about kale and bitter greens, however the French dressing can also be nice over peppery arugula.

I additionally actually wish to pair this dressing with autumnal recipes and flavors. I take advantage of it as an alternative choice to the maple tahini dressing in my harvest bowls from Energy Plates and on my vegan autumn harvest salad.

The French dressing will add brightness to any big sheet pan of roasted candy potatoes or butternut squash, and I really like mixing it along with roasted beets.

One factor I don’t emphasize typically sufficient is how simple it’s to enliven a pot of cooked entire grains by stirring in a couple of tablespoons of salad dressing. Immediate taste, instantaneous seasoning!

For those who like that concept, strive drizzling apple cider French dressing over your subsequent batch of heat, freshly cooked farro, brown rice, or quinoa.

And if none of these concepts is looking to you, I’ll quickly be writing a couple of winter wheat berry salad that’s an ideal use for this zippy, multi-purpose dressing.