This sweet and tangy Homemade Catalina Dressing takes 5 minutes (tops!), uses ingredients you probably already have on hand, and it tastes so much better than store-bought! It's sure to become a favorite!
Making homemade salad dressing is so quick and easy, there's really no need to buy bottled dressing.
This Homemade Catalina Dressing is sooo delicious on any green salad, on taco salad (!), as a veggie dipper, as a chicken finger dipper, in sandwiches and wraps, as a marinade, and you can use it in recipes that call for Catalina dressing.
As soon as the weather gets warmer, I start making a lot more salads - not just to help take off those extra pounds that appeared over the winter, but also because we start grilling a lot, and I love a fresh, crisp salad with anything grilled.
Homemade Catalina is my go-to dressing for all those salads. I've been making it for a really long time, and it's still our all-time favorite!
In fact, around my house, it's simply referred to as "The Dressing," as in, "We're having salad? I hope you made The Dressing!" If I don't make it, I gets looks of disappointment. If I put out a variety of other dressings, this is the one that everybody always wants!
In case you've never heard of Catalina dressing, it's basically French dressing's not-creamy and a little more bold-tasting cousin. It's tomato-based, has a vibrant red-orange color, and has got the perfect blend of sweet and tangy. It's sooo good!
Ingredients You Need
- Red wine vinegar
- Sugar
- Ketchup
- Olive oil (not extra virgin)
- Garlic powder
- Onion Powder
- Paprika
- Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Catalina Dressing
THAT IS IT!!!
Honestly, it doesn't even take five minutes! You don't even have to let it sit. It's absolutely delicious as soon as you make it!
For this recipe, I recommend not using extra-virgin olive oil because I think the flavor is too strong, and it changes the flavor of the dressing. I just use regular olive oil. You could also use vegetable oil or any other neutral-flavored oil.
I use a blender or food processor because it makes super quick and easy work of really blending everything together and getting all the ingredients emulsified.
If you don't have a blender or food processor, though, you can just whisk everything together by hand until very well combined. You could even just put everything in a mason jar and give it a really good shake!
So take a break from that bottled salad dressing and make your own fresh homemade dressing. You'll love how quick and easy it is and how much better it is!
I hope you give this recipe for Homemade Catalina Dressing a try and love it as much as I do. Thanks for visiting today!
More Salad Dressing Recipes to Try
If you make this recipe, I'd love to know how it went! Please leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
📋Recipe
Homemade Catalina Dressing
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup red wine vinegar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup ketchup
- ½ cup olive oil (not extra virgin)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until well combined.
Notes
- If you don't have a blender or food processor, you can also mix this by hand using a whisk and whisking until very well combined, or you could put all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously until very well combined.
- You could use vegetable oil or another neutral-tasting oil instead of olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil is not recommended due to its stronger flavor.
- Keep stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray.
Judith says
I just made this Catalina and didn’t have red wine vinegar, but I had rice vinegar and used it. I didn’t like not putting it in my blender. It wouldn’t come together and it was too thin but then I use my blender. What a difference I love it.
Michelle says
Hi, Judith! Yes, I agree that this dressing is best when made in a blender or food processor!
Jody says
How much does it yield? I need 24 oz for a recipe and can’t use bottled since someone has a soy allergy.
Michelle says
Hi, Jody! The recipe yields approximately 1¾ cups, which would be about 14 oz. So doubling the recipe should give you the amount you need with a little extra left over.
Sandra Jones says
When I did the initial taste test I thought it was too acidic. So I was about to add more sugar to tame it down. Then I thought - wait a minute. This will be mixed into my taco salad and we probably won't even taste it very much. So I left it as is. It was delicious! Thank you!
Michelle says
Thank you, Sandra! So happy you enjoyed it, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment and rate the recipe!
javajanwalker says
I made this night before last and ate in on my southwestern salad mix from Sam’s Club. This was amazing and so much better than the bought version. I will be keeping this recipe for when I want Catalina dressing.
Michelle says
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
Stephanie says
This is so good! Pleasantly surprised!
Michelle says
Thank you, Stephanie! So happy you like it!
Jan says
This dressing is delicious! The flavor is really good. The only reason I gave it a 4 and not a 5 is it’s just a bit too sweet. I’m going to cut the sugar by half next time.
Michelle says
Thank you, Jan! So glad you enjoyed the dressing!
Jean says
Made this Dressing, much better than store bought. I didn't have onion spice so I used 1 tablespoon grated sweet onion. I also omitted the salt, as we're on a low sodium diet. It was great thankyou for sharing. I give this a five star plus.
Michelle says
Hi, Jean! I'm so glad you enjoyed the dressing! That is a great idea using the onion in place of the onion powder. Thank you for sharing that with us! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment!
Mike Jones says
I have made this several times, it is very good. Have you tried a low fat version?
Michelle says
Hi, Mike! I am glad you enjoyed the dressing! I have not tried making a low-fat version. You could replace the olive oil with a neutral-tasting oil that has less fat. Most common oils have very similar total fat content but have differences in the amounts of saturated fat, monounsaturated fat, and polyunsaturated fat, so you would need to pick one depending on which type of fat you would like to reduce. I'd love to hear any other suggestions you might have! Thanks so much for taking time to comment and rate the recipe!
Penny says
Excellent. Down here in the south we put french dressing on our pizza. This is a delicious recipe.
Michelle says
Hey, Penny! Thank you so much! Oh, my goodness, I can't wait to put some on my next pizza (I've done ranch but never French)!
Kristyn says
This recipe is amazing!!! I love the simplicity of the recipe and how delicious it is.....WOW!! Thanks for showing how simple it can be to make homemade dressing.
Michelle says
Hi, Kristyn! Thank you so much, and you're welcome!