My parents passed down this recipe to me from the “lean years.” It is quick, simple, and quantity-tolerant.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 15 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 1 1/2 cups |
Ingredients
- 1 cup olive oil
- ½ cup white wine vinegar
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste
- 1 pinch herbes de Provence
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise, or more to taste
Instructions
- Place olive oil, vinegar, garlic, parsley, thyme, chives, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and herbes de Provence into a nearly empty mayonnaise jar containing at least 1 tablespoon mayonnaise.
- Cover the jar with its lid and shake vigorously to make a creamy dressing, about 2 minutes. Pour into a serving dish.
- If you prefer a creamier dressing, add a couple more tablespoons of mayonnaise, some sour cream, buttermilk, or whatever!
Reviews
This is a great way to make a quick, easy and delicious dressing. It provides a great base to customize. I used red wine vinegar as I was out of white and it produced an unappetizing color but just ensures no one else will use it up so that’s a fun benefit. Thanks Chef John!
With today’s high prices this is an even better idea! I used my leftover mayo jar with a salt-free herb/spice blend I like, oil and vinegar, and some salt. Wonderful! This recipe/idea can be adapted to almost anything!
What an amazing & delicious way to use the mayo in the bottom of the jar. I can’t believe I haven’t thought to use the mayo jar because I use the dregs of the Dijon mustard to make a light vinaigrette with EVOO and herbs and the dregs of the PB jar to make a quick peanut sauce. Thank you Chef John – I love your recipes & tips!
Very good, easy and smart way to make salad dressing.
This was very good. I used avocado oil in place of the olive oil and also added fresh basil and garlic chives. Just add whatever kind of oil/vinegar and fresh herbs that you have. It’s a quick and tasty dressing.
What a terrific idea. I had a small jar of almost finished mayo so I adjusted the measurements and also changed the herbs to just one. I used 4 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Added parsley as my one and only herb…I had it chopped already. A smashed clove of garlic. Salt and pepper. Completely delish. Will follow to a T next time but i suspect all different varieties of herbs would work here. Thanks chef John for a great idea.
I didn’t have any of the fresh herbs so used 1/4 tsp. dried for each. I also didn’t have the herbs de provence so used Penzey’s Mural of Flavor. I used raspberry white wine vinegar as that’s what I had. The flavor was OK–maybe it would have been a little more distinctive had I used the herbs de provence. It was also runnier than I thought it would be so will add sour cream, buttermilk or more mayo per the cook’s note at the bottom of the recipe..
What a great idea! Tried it and absolutely loved it.
This is an excellent way to use the remains in the Mayo jar! I have tried it several ways using different herbs and spices…always good!
Mr. Sobieski, if someone not knowing the ingredients in herbs de provence is all that’s wrong with society we must live in Utopia. I was shocked at your statement. Not all of us were born knowing all there is to know about cooking and ingredients. Not all stores carry some of the lesser used ingredients, especially when you get into the smaller cities and rural areas. A person should be able to ask a question without an arrogant remark being given instead of an answer. I think you owe the questioner an apology, and the rest of us for having to read your comment. As far as this recipe goes, I loved it, and will experiment with the bottoms of all varieties of condiment jars and bottles. Thanks for getting my creative side working!
Super. Isn’t Mrs John lucky!
This is good. Another trick I use is to empty an almost full bottle of italian dressing into the empty mayo jar and give it a good shake. There’s usually enough mayo left to make a nice creamy dressing with absolutely NO fuss at all!
Very versatile, cute idea
The only thing I do differently is: rice vinegar instead of white wine vinegar and it works great with left in the jar creamy salad dressing!
Just tried this yesterday and used on a corn salad . . . had no greens. It is wonderful. What a quick and easy dressing that is delicious. Thanks, Chef John
I loved this but didn’t have the white wine vinegar. So I substituted tarragon vinegar.
Brilliant. I’m accustomed to adding mayo and/or sour cream to salad dressings when I’m in the mood for something creamier … but for the life of me I never thought to simply transfer them to the mayo jar. Thanks so much!
Valerie, – I agree with you and to the two snarky ones, what is this world coming to when there is no compassion! I can never remember what herbs make up “Herbes de Provence” and have to look it up every time!!
Great way to use up what is basically something unusable. One reviewer stated they didn’t know what herbs de provence was, and asked for “normal ingredients”. This is what’s wrong with society today
Also works with near empty Dijon mustard jars.
Cut back on the olive oil, added 1-2 teaspoons of dry ranch dressing mix and it was delicious. So many possibilities for making a custom dressing. Thanks!!