This very light, fresh dressing works equally well on mixed greens, spinach or romaine, or just drizzled over sliced, fresh, ripe summer tomatoes and fresh basil leaves.   Quick and easy to make fresh, but stores well for up to 3 months in the refrigerator. It's a family recipe brought over from the old country by my nonna (grandma.)

Nonna's Tuscan Salad Dressing

mayonnaise

red wine vinegar

water

lemon juice

Parmesan cheese

olive oil

garlic, minced

oregano

basil

black pepper,

Place the mayonnaise, vinegar, water, lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, oregano, basil, and black pepper into a blender. Blend for 2 minutes, then pour into a salad dressing container, and refrigerate at least 1 hour. Shake well before using.n


I am the submitter of this recipe. I have tried, unsuccessfully so far, to have a misprint corrected. The water should be 1/3 cup, NOT 1/2 cup. The longer you let it mellow, the thicker it gets, also. So if you like your dressing to be thick, BE SURE to make it at least 24 hours before you need it and allow it to rest in the fridge before use. Another way to make it thicker if you don't have resting time that I can recommend is to put 1 Tb tomato paste in the blender with the rest of the ingredients. The paste not only makes it thicker, it rounds out the taste and imparts a lovely blush. Feel free to add more Parmesan if you like it, which will also lend additional body to the dressing. The flavor is best if you avoid garlic powder (which no self-respecting Italian would ever have in his/her kitchen) and stick with fresh garlic. If raw garlic is too sharp for your taste, brown it lightly in a touch of olive oil before incorporating it. It's well worth the time to do this. Once again, if you find it too acidic for your taste, either be sure to use a high quality balsamic - from Modena, which has a much smoother finish on the palate, or add a tablespoon or two of corn syrup and blend well. Nothing is carved in stone. You can tailor this recipe to your taste. BTW, one reviewer questioned the olive oil amount, and it only seems low. Don't forget that the mayonnaise is almost pure oil, as well, which is why the recipe only calls for 3 Tb olive oil.

Great recipe for homemade Italian dressing!  I used Hellman's light mayo and a good quality balsamic vinegar. I also used 1/3 c. of water a little more Parmesan and garlic and added 1/2 tsp. of white sugar. I let it sit overnight and it went perfect over mixed greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, and thin sliced red onion. This is a fabulous salad dressing! Thanks Baricat for a great recipe!

I took the submitter's suggestion for smoother flavor and used a quality balsamic and reduced the water as suggested. I had time to make this dressing early this morning while cleaning up the breakfast dishes. The mayonnaise I used was reduced-fat and I used extra virgin olive oil and honestly, this didn't affect the flavor at all. This was good but I did end up tripling the spices after sticking a pinky in and giving it a try. IMO, this is one of the best salad dressings I've had on this site. I cannot stress enough that you use a quality balsamic for the best results. I could really just drink a vat of this--thanks for a new family favorite, Baricat!

We loved this. It reminds us of Olive Garden's salad dressing, only a bit creamier. It was just the right tartness for our palates. I let it whirl in the blender for about 2-3 minutes or so. If it's too tart, you could always back off a bit on the vinegar, or use balsamic, which will give smoothness to the taste. But all I can say is in this house, we LOVED it and I keep a cruet of it in the fridge all the time for dipping baby carrots and impromptu salads. Yum!

I'm a huge fan of homemade dressings--I don't even purchase the bottled kind but this recipe was just too sour for me.  I followed the submitter's recipe correction using less water but thought it was still way too runny.  Also, I'm used to a 3-to-1 oil to vinegar ratio and this recipe seemed to have it backwards.  I was disappointed since so many reviewers had given it high marks!

This was too acidic for our tastes. I had to add more Olive oil &amp; spices to even use.

Fantastic recipe! I used light mayo (all I had), and balsamic vinegar, also used garlic powder. Thanks Baricat! I will update tomorrow when I serve it with a salad! I can already tell its great though!

I made this dressing as written and found the vinegar a little pungent (hubby not a big fan).  I added a scoop of sun dried tomato pesto and that did the trick, WONDERFUL dressing! Thanks Nonna!

Very versatile recipe!  I made it pretty much as written the first time around except that I used fresh herbs.  I meant to add less water per other reviewers' suggestions, but was an airhead and added it all anyway when I was making it.  It was rather watery and runny but it still tasted good -- so good that I made it again that week.  The second time I made it, I used balsamic, dried herbs, less water, and plain nonfat yogurt instead of mayo to make it healthier.  The balsamic I used added a really nice sweetness to the dressing that balanced the tartness a little better than the red wine vinegar.  I also thought the nonfat yogurt worked out well with the balsamic and gave it the same creaminess that the mayo did without all those calories.  I will be making this again tonight because it is just that good!  Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!

Good stuff! I made this exactly as written with the submitters correction on the water  and including the garlic.  I would likely even up the oil/water percentages next time, as I really like the texture olive oil brings to the party, but we enjoyed the flavor very much - and look forward to having it again. Thanks for the recipe!

We love this dressing! I did use less water than stated. I also love parmesan &amp; garlic so I added those to my liking. You can do so many different variations depending on your preferences. It's a great mix of flavors. Next I will try it with a good balsamic or a mix of vinegars! Thanks so much for the recipe! 

This dressing is excellent! I put it over a salad and pasta salad.

Even tho I made a few adjustments, I'm still giving this four stars being the recipe was born with good bones and what too much vinegar is for some can be just the right amount for others. I love vinegar but found this to be too sour so I got out my trusty "Cruet" and followed the vinegar, oil and water lines on the bottle. I still found it to be a bit strong so I added some corn syrup. My only other addition was an increase in the parm as I couldn't really taste the two tablespoons offered. The end result is a terrific dressing that I know my S.O. will just love. Thank you so much Baricat!

This is delicious.  Didn't change a thing!

Very nice, I just whipped this up for a family dinner tonight!  I used balsamic vinegar instead, increased the parm by 1/2 tbsp and added 1/3C of water, very nice flavour!

Any time I attempt to make home-made Italian dressing, it never turns out.  However not only did this dressing turn out, it was perfect!  I used 1/8 tsp. garlic powder and a combo of balsamic vinegar and apple cider vinegar.  Tastes great on top of a Greek Salad!

Added a bit more parm and a tsp of sugar....LOVE IT!

Wonderful dressing, loved it!  Used fresh garlic, balsamic vinegar and only about 2 TBSPS of mayo to cut down on calories/fat and also used the 1/3 cup water as noted by recipe submitter.  Made a big salad for a family BBQ and it was enjoyed by all, will make again for sure, thank you!

Pretty good - wish that I had seen that the water amount was misprinted.  I'll try again with reduced amout of water.  Still better than using a commercially made dressing.

Great! Used 1/3 cup of water as the submitter suggested.  Will definitely make often!

The flavor in this dressing is excellent and it is not real thick once it's blended, but I loved it!  Next time I will add less liquid as others suggested.

this was good, but not one of our favorites or something i'll make again.

This is excellent! I used balsamic vinegar because I didn't have any red wine vinegar. This is my new favorite dressing!

This was excellent.  Even my picky kids liked it.  As I was preparing dinner, my daughter was dipping the salad veggies in it and snacking!  The only change I made was that I used half balsamic vinegar and half apple cider vinegar because that was all I had.  No more store-bought Italian dressing for us!  This is going to be a regular on our dinner table.  Thanks for submitting it.

Baricat, if you are trying to edit your recipe, go to your Recipe Box and hover over the title of your recipe, a drop down box that says Options will open, scroll down to Edit. Hope that helps!

I missed the reviews about adjusting the water at first, so I took the submitter's advice and added some tomato paste to the mix (about 2T). This significantly helped mellow the acid but the dressing was still pretty watery. It did, however, thicken right up after a few hours in the fridge.  Having tasted the dressing before and after the addition of the tomato paste, I will make the tomato paste a permanent part of the recipe...it was delicious over a Spinach and Tortellini salad recipe also from this site.

I adjusted the water amount as stated but I found 1/3 cup of red wine vinegar very strong.  I may make again and try reducing the amount.

The Salad Dressing is great and it works out pretty well.

It's okay ... I probably won't make again, tho' ....

My family and I love this dressing! It's still tasty with out the mayonaise.

Really good and fresh tasting.  The only change I made was only adding about half the water.  Don't bother buying store bought---so much tastier.  It was even better 2 or 3 days later.

Wow, this salad dressing is fantastic, just love it! To cut on fat, I only used 2 Tbsps of organic light mayo and was perfect. As the recipe submitter suggested, I reduced the water to 1/3 cup. You must add fresh garlic, it does give an incredible flavor.

I used high quality balsamic, but 1/3 cup took this way out of balance, far too much acid. Photo posted of the dressing looks creamy in color, mine came out brownish-purple. Will definitely try this recipe again, but will mix everything but the vinegar and add 1 tbsp at a time.

I used balsamic vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, and I added more garlic because we are garlic fiends! This is tasty recipe - it worked very well as the base dressing for a pasta salad.

It had the consistency of skim milk and was so sour it made my mouth pucker.

Yup! Very good. I used about 3 TBS parmesan instead of 2, and a biggish garlic clove instead of small, but otherwise kept to the recipe, including using the submitter's correction for water. Low fat mayo worked fine. Used an immersion blender for easy cleanup and that also worked fine. It sat overnight before using/tasting and num! I'll do it exactly the same next time. Yay another dressing for my arsenal. Thanks!

While this dressing has all the right ingredients the flavour balance seems off. Adding the suggested corn syrup (light rather than golden) helped a little, but I still found it still sharp.

Very good.  My guests really liked it.  Just play around with the seasoning/vinegar to get to your liking.  I added a little honey to mine instead of the corn syrup.

Should have used a balsamic vinegar, would have used ¼ cup of water instead of ½ cup. The dressing was lacking a flavor, maybe a little anchovy would have helped.

Made exactly as stated. Way too thin and vinegar tasting for me. I liked the spices.  I used the leftover as a marinade for chicken.

This dressing has become my favorite.  I eliminated the parmesan cheese because I usually  use it with a Greek salad featuring feta cheese.  I also cut back on the water to about 1/3 cup.

Not great. Way too watery.  I'll make it again but try leaving out the water and adding extra mayo oil and parmesan.

I followed the recipe except I didn't have red wine vinegar so I substituted white balsamic vinegar since it's a wine vinegar, and my husband doesn't like lemon so I substituted lime.  I didn't change any of the amounts.  This was exactly what I was looking for and will now be the recipe I use for Italian dressing.

This dressing is really tasty. I would not add any water. It doesn't need it as it is loose enough.

I only like tart, not sweet, salad dressings, but this way too sour!I made it exactly as directed, including using the lesser amount of water, but it was like drinking vinegar straight out of the bottle.

I made it exactly as stated, and even read her note about the water being only 1/3 cup, instead of the 1/2 cup.  It still came out watery and with an odd taste. I tried to make it more creamy by adding extra parmesan cheese, but all that did was make more crumbles in the bottom of the dressing bottle.

I've been looking for a tasty homeade (less salt!  no chemicals! ) Italian dressing, and this is a great framework recipe you can customize to your taste.  I LOATHE mayonnaise, so substituted sour cream.  Used a dried pesto Italian seasoning - about 1.5 teaspoons.  Only had a "so-so" balsamic on hand, so put in a little honey to taste, more black pepper and a dash of Kosher salt...awesome taste!

I adjusted per the submitters' review, but unfortunately found it thin, under-seasoned, and oddly colored.

Super delicious!  Like others, I used a high quality balsamic, added and extra clove of garlic, and subbed Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle for the herbs. I also added some extra imported parm.

Too thin -- WAY too much liquid! I had high hopes for this, but I should have slowed down and just eye-balled the amount of liquid. I made and reviewed the Creamy Italian Dressing I on this site. That had 1 cup mayo and ONLY 2 tblsp red wine vinegar! Maybe it's personal preference? I like dressing thicker, not thin and liquidy, when it comes to creamy Italian-type dressings. All the ingredients here are good. Unfortunately, I had to toss the remainder; tried draining some liquid off and adding mayo, but it did not work. I may try again and just cut back on both water and the vinegar.

I was looking for a dressing for a bean salad and this was perfect. It was easy to make and the bean salad turned out delicious.

I have not made this yet...but I LOVE vinegar and this sounds perfect to me...

I have made this recipe many, many times. Only changes that I made were to drop the water altogether and split the vinegar 50/50 with balsamic. Added a bit of sugar to reduce the bite. Garlic - usually I add a bit extra. This is my standard salad dressing and everyone loves it.

It didn't fit our taste for salad dressing.

Really liked the flavors in this, so good!  I found it too runny even with the water reduced, so next time I'll be sure and make it in advance and see if it thickens up in the fridge.  I like that it stores for quite a while.

I was looking for an Italion inspired salad dressing, tired of just vinegar and oil. I made this dressing this evening, ingredients as listed.
I did not use a blender, just shook it up very well.
Served it over a mix of baby greens with crunchy veggies(celery, red pepper, cucumber) kalamata olives and gorgonzola cheese.
While it is very runny, the flavor is really nice.(I used 1/2 a cup of water, and served it within a few minutes -not the hour wait)
I'm happy to read that it will thicken as it ages and chills in my refridgerator.

nonna's tuscan salad dressing

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 5 minutes

Servings: 1

Author : Baricat

Ingredients

Instructions

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nonna's tuscan salad dressing

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 5 minutes

Servings: 1

Author : Baricat

Ingredients

Instructions

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Tuscan Salad

Nonna Teresa's pasta

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