Sweet Onion Dressing
This creamy sweet onion dressing is quick and easy to make, vegan, egg-free, and dairy-free. It blends up like magic into a delicious creamy dressing that tastes better than any store-bought dressing for a fraction of the price.
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Pour this Vidalia onion dressing over lettuce for a yummy green salad, or use it as a dip for veggies.
Why make sweet onion dressing
We love to make homemade dressings like vegan ranch, vegan Caesar, and maple balsamic dressing, but this creamy Vidalia onion dressing is a favorite in my house. The kids love the sweetness and they always finish their veggies with this drizzled on top.
It’s a great universal salad dressing that everyone can enjoy since it’s vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and nut-free, yet it’s still creamy and satisfying.
This old family recipe was passed down from my great-aunt. My mother remembered this delicious sweet onion salad dressing that she used to make so she passed it along to me and I’m so glad that she did!
(This is the closest thing that I have found to the Costco Vidalia onion dressing that my family loved before they discontinued it.)
This dressing is absolutely delicious!! I am so happy to have found this recipe! This tastes exactly like the Costco version I remember, so freakin’ good! 💜
—Lisa
What makes it creamy?
The first time that I made it, I couldn’t believe that a few simple ingredients like oil, vinegar, fresh onion, and spices would blend into a smooth and creamy dressing.
The onion acts as an emulsifier in this dressing and makes the oil and vinegar bind to each other for a thick and creamy dressing.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Cooking Oil – any neutral flavored oil will work. You can use vegetable oil, canola oil, light olive oil, or avocado oil.
- Vinegar – white vinegar gives it the most neutral flavor, but you can also use wine vinegar or even balsamic vinegar.
- Fresh Onion – sweet Vidalia onions work best since they have a natural sweetness, but I have also made it with yellow onion and white onion and it tasted great too.
- Sugar – I usually use organic cane sugar so that it’s vegan, but you can use any other sweetener that you want. (This is a sweet dressing, but feel free to add or subtract the amount of sugar to suit your taste.
- Mustard – you can use yellow mustard, spicy brown mustard, or really any mustard that you have.
- Salt and Black Pepper – for flavor
- Celery Seed – for flavor. This adds a great flavor to your dressing, but if you don’t have it, you can leave it out.
- Poppy Seeds – (optional) You can easily turn this into poppyseed dressing by stirring in some after blending. They add a nice texture to the dressing but are not necessary.
Helpful tools
- Blender or Immersion Blender – you will need to blend the salad dressing to emulsify the oil and vinegar and chop up the onion.
How to make onion dressing
A full printable version of this recipe with ingredient measurements is available at the bottom of this post.
Step 1 – Peel a medium-sized onion and cut it into quarters so it easily fits in the blender.
Step 2 – Measure all of the ingredients and put them into the blender.
Step 3 – Turn the blender to high and blend for 30 seconds. Scrape the edges and blend for another few seconds.
Step 4 – Stir in poppy seeds if desired. Use immediately on salads or store in the fridge for later use.
Pro Tips
- Use a fresh good quality onion with no brown spots.
- Blend well to ensure that the onion is well mixed. You should not be able to detect any onion pieces when it is done blending.
Storage
Refrigerate: This sweet onion salad dressing will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks in an airtight container. I like to store it in a glass jar for easy use.
More homemade vegan basics
I love to save money on groceries and make my own homemade basics like salad dressings. Check out all of my homemade dairy-free alternatives to store-bought products. Here are just a few…
Sweet onion dressing recipe
Sweet Onion Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup oil
- 1/3 cup vinegar
- 1 medium onion, (about 3/4 cup)
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds, (optional – stir in at the end, don't blend)
Equipment
Instructions
- Peel a medium-sized onion and cut it into quarters so it easily fits in the blender.
- Measure all of the ingredients and put them into a blender.
- Turn the blender to high and blend for 30 seconds. Scrape the edges and blend for another few seconds.
- Stir in poppy seeds if desired (don't blend them with the rest of the ingredients.) Use immediately on salads or store in the fridge for later use.
Notes
- Use a fresh good quality onion with no brown spots.
- Blend well to ensure that the onion is well mixed. You should not be able to detect any onion pieces when it is done blending.
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Is there any way to sub or use less oil in the recipe? Thanks!
This dressing is absolutely delicious!!
I’m so happy that you liked it! 🙂
This dressing is absolutely delicious!! I am so happy to have found this recipe! This tastes exactly like the Costco version I remember, so freakin’ good! 💜
I’m so glad that you liked the recipe! We loved that Costco dressing too!