Looking for an oil-free vegan salad dressing? Try this magical applesauce vinaigrette recipe. Easy, vegan, gluten-free, and healthy!
Cooking and baking are sometimes described as science… but I like to think of it more like magic. Because sometimes an idea unfolds and is realized in food form with a way that is almost mysterious, yet very exciting!
This week this magic happened with an idea for an oil-free salad dressing. I actually had this concept for a fat-free vinaigrette years ago, when I was writing Vive le Vegan.
I toyed with it, but left it behind at the time. As recipe developers, we sometimes do this. Either the notion becomes further developed down the road as our cooking evolves, or it never materialized.
Why Applesauce?
The idea that was with me for years and manifested this week is… wait for it… using applesauce in an oil-free salad dressing.
Sounds a little strange at first, right? But, think about the qualities of applesauce.
It has viscosity and moisture (the very things that help replace fat in baking) so why not aid a vinaigrette as well?
Initially the combination didn’t quite come together for me in terms of flavor balance.
After a few rounds of testing this week – ta-dah! The magic happened.
The applesauce blends and helps emulsify the other ingredients so that you have a thicker, more rich and full-bodied textured dressing.
Magical Oil-Free Vegan Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp mild miso ex: chickpea miso or brown rice miso
- 3/4 – 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup or more to sweeten to taste if desired
- 1/4 tsp rounded sea salt (or more to taste)
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Using an immersion blender and deep cup (if using a blender, you may need to double the batch for enough blending volume), combine all ingredients, whizzing through until very smooth.
- Taste, and if you’d like a little sweeter add another teaspoon or so of maple syrup.
- Season to taste with additional salt and pepper as well.
- If you’d like a thinner dressing, simply add a couple of teaspoons of water and blend through again.
What are your favorite vinaigrette and salad dressing ingredients?
Note: This oil-free salad dressing recipe is now in Plant-Powered Families.
Update: My OIL-FREE salad dressings now here!
TD says
FYI – I put this recipe into my food program, and I’m wondering how many servings this makes? In the total recipe there is 888mg of sodium (more than half of the daily recommended amount) without adding additional salt to taste as you suggest. There is also 25 g of sugar and 30 g carbohydrate (which is equal to 2 servings of fruit). The food program is handy to check out the nutrition info. For those on a plant strong vegan diet because of health reasons, like heart disease or diabetes, this recipe would have to serve about 10 people to be acceptable.
Dreena says
Certainly you can reduce the salt – or omit the miso – if you like. You can also reduce the sweetener somewhat, but at some point the reduction of seasoning and sweetener really sacrifices flavor. I use my batch over about a week’s worth of salads for my husband and I, just a little drizzle works well (maybe 2-3 tsp per portion). I find if you toss it through the salad, a little goes a lot further as well (rather than having it poured over the top). That way you keep more of the flavor and enjoy your salad that much more! I appreciate your information for people with health issues.
(As a side, my father-in-law had a heart attack about 15 years ago and his cardiologist advised him to eat a plant-based diet and follow the Dr. Ornish program for reversing heart disease. My husband and I were already vegan at the time, but that inspired me to start writing cookbooks over ten years ago. I’m familiar with the fat, sodium, and sweetener limitations when disease reversal is necessary. Wishing you the best on your journey.)
Tina Schantz says
this sounds wonderful, do you think I can use agave instead of the maple syrup? Do you have any other thoughts about Agave nectar, good bad or otherwise? I heard that it is the worst sweetner and that it is made with corn syrup. My bottle is organic Agave and has no ingredient list, just states Organic Agave Nectar derived from the plant.
Dreena says
Hi Tina, certainly you can. I do often prefer maple syrup mostly for the flavor it imparts (including in this dressing), and also just how wonderful and versatile it is as a natural sweetener. I do use agave at times, if I don’t want the pronounced maple flavor – but will opt for maple syrup when I can. There isn’t corn syrup in agave nectar, but you may be thinking about corn syrup because comparisons have been made between the fructose content in agave vs corn syrup. Agave nectar has a lower glycemic index than other sweeteners, but some suggest that the higher fructose level makes it less of a healthy sweetener than originally thought. For me, the information is not entirely clear, so I use it more sparingly and choose maple syrup, or coconut sugar, or dates, etc, as sweetener options. That help any?
Mare says
I don’t like miso. Is something else I can substitute?
Dreena says
Mare, you can omit it and add extra salt. The miso flavor doesn’t come through too prominently in this dressing, but if you want to omit it then bump up the salt to about 1/2 tsp, and you can always adjust more to taste if you like.
Mare says
Thank you! I can’t wait to try this one!
Tiffany says
Hi Dreena,
This looks great!!
I believe I saw a recipe of your that was a miso salad dressing…now I can’t find it. I have your book Let them Eat Vegan and Eat Drink and be Vegan. Looked in both but I cant seem to find it. Maybe it was a miso sauce…not sure. Do you have a miso dressing that I am referring to?
Thanks!
Dreena says
Tiffany, I did do a miso gravy (very tangy) in my first cookbook ‘The Everyday Vegan’… but I also did and Orange Miso Vinaigrette (fat-free) for the PCRM kickstart last April – do you recall which of the two it was?
annette brown says
how long can this keep in refrigerator?
Dreena says
Hi Annette, with the vinegar in the dressing it will keep well for at least a week – probably two. It’s not a really large batch, so you would probably use it in that time.