Creamy Basil Dressing Recipe (Easy And Healthy)

Add a burst of flavor to your salads with this simple and nutritious creamy basil dressing recipe. Made with fresh ingredients, it’s the perfect addition to your healthy meal options.

Watch How to Make our Creamy Basil Herb Dressing Recipe

This is one of those recipes that has evolved over time and has become one of my favorites. I drew some inspiration from our creamy avocado cilantro dressing, but in this salad dressing recipe, I mix up the herbs and amounts sometimes depending on what I have on hand or what is in season. I’ve even served it over roasted corn for a corn salad once. So good! It’s just one of my go-to, most favorite things ever.

We used this fresh basil salad dressing on our BLT pasta salad once and we have never used any other dressing on it since. It is just so bright and fresh and the perfect creaminess and zesty flavor for that pasta salad recipe. Scroll down to the section below for more ideas of how to use this dressing recipe.

Ingredients for Creamy Basil Dressing

This creamy basil salad dressing is a perfect blend of fresh, vibrant herbs and smooth, rich flavors. Made with simple, yet delicious ingredients, it brings a burst of aromatic basil combined with the creaminess of Greek yogurt and mayo. Here’s a list of the ingredients you’ll need to make this delightful dressing:

• Plain Greek Yogurt: Lightens up the dressing a little and adds great protein.
  • Possible substitute: sour cream
• Mayonnaise: Adds more creaminess and gives a little acidity to the dressing.
• Buttermilk: Helps thin out the dressing to a good consistency while keeping the dressing tangy and fresh.
• Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Dill and Chives — Everything must be fresh, no other option here.
• Worcestershire Sauce: Adds delicious umami undertones to the dressing and some acidity.
• Seasonings: Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Kosher Salt and Black Pepper

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

The BEST Salad Recipe-Salad de Maison [+Video]

The BEST Family Favorite Salad recipe ever! This easy salad is made with fresh romaine lettuce, two kinds of cheese, crispy bacon, sweet tomatoes, crunchy toasted almonds, and fresh cucumbers all tossed with a healthy lemon vinaigrette.

My mom would often say that she’s not a great salad maker, which is not true. Her strawberry feta poppyseed salad is hands down one of my favorite salads ever. I cannot beg you enough to make it. Oh and she’s famous for her Bowtie Chicken Pasta Salad too.

The Process

I began testing simple family salad recipes that even kids would like a few years ago, but no matter how hard I tried to find something simple it always ended up a bit more involved. Tell me you love to cook without telling me you love to cook…

So I’d circle back to Cooking Classy’s recipe for Salad de Maison, and forget about my own search for a bit. With time I realized that her recipe really is just the best for a simple, healthy, quick and easy salad recipe.

Cheese in salad is a big win for me, but which cheese is best? I tried all the different varieties; cheddar completely overpowered the salad, swiss hit all the wrong notes, havarti was soft and didn’t fall through the salad like I wanted.

I finally settled on two cheeses that I think transform this salad: Manchego and Parmesan cheese. Listen, manchego can be bought old or young, you will need to decide if you like the more mild or more pungent. I prefer the younger manchego to be honest, but both are deliciously mild. The parmesan adds that salty, nutty note your salad needs to pump up the flavor.

What Do I Need to Make Salad de Maison?

We’ve talked about a lot of the ingredients needed for this simple green salad recipe, but here is a complete list so you know what you need:

• Slivered Almonds
• Bacon
• Romaine Hearts
• Roma Tomatoes or Cherry Tomatoes
• English Cucumber
• Manchego Cheese

Lemon Dressing

• Light Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Lemon Juice
• Dijon Mustard
• Honey
• Salt
• Black Pepper

I love the BLT flavor that all the ingredients have when they’re combined! The measurements and details for each ingredient can be found in the recipe at the end of the post.

How to Make The Best Salad [Salad de Maison]

Before you get started with this salad, make sure you have cooked the bacon and toasted the almonds. It seems a little silly to include the steps for making a salad, but just in case you need it…

1. Combine all the ingredients for the salad i

Easy Italian Pasta Salad [+ Video]

This easy Italian Pasta Salad is a crowd-pleasing dish perfect for summer picnics or potlucks. Packed with fresh vegetables, cheese, pepperoni and dressed with a zesty homemade Italian dressing, this salad is sure to be a hit. Plus, check out the recipe video for step-by-step instructions!

Have you made our Greek Pasta Salad? It’s really good and one of the most popular recipes on our site. Here’s the thing though, not everyone is a fan of feta cheese, so we felt like we had no choice but to bust out an amazingly easy pasta salad recipe complete with mozzarella cheese, fresh and flavorful homemade Italian dressing, and meat and colorful vegetables galore.

There’s something about pasta salad recipes and summertime that just make the world happy. I get almost giddy the closer we get to summer just thinking about dusting off the BBQ and pulling out the lawn chairs for outdoor cookouts with friends. Make some grilled chicken and grilled corn on the cob with this pasta salad with Italian dressing, and you have yourself the perfect summer dinner!

What’s in Italian Pasta Salad?

I’ll be honest with you — our kids totally pick out some of the ingredients in this homemade pasta salad. Two of our kids love straight up cold pepperoni. So Cade and I are left to eat whatever’s leftover from this pasta salad with pepperoni. The joys of parenthood!

To make this pasta salad recipe, you’ll need:

• Rotini Pasta: Any short, sturdy pasta works great like penne, farfalle, fusilli, macaroni, etc.
• Pepperoni
• Salami
• Black Olives
• Mozzarella Cheese: Fresh mozzarella balls are preferred.
• Parmesan Cheese: freshly grated
• Bell Pepper: I prefer a red, yellow or orange bell pepper.
• Tomatoes: Grape or cherry tomatoes work great.
• Red Onion
• Italian Salad Dressing: You can grab some at the grocery store or make it at home with the recipe we’ve included below.

The measurements needed for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Make Italian Pasta Salad

Don’t let all the mix-ins fool you, this Italian pasta salad with pepperoni is as easy as it gets! It’s just a matter of cooking the pasta, choppi

Easy Spring Salad [+Video]

This is an easy spring salad full of seasonal ingredients like asparagus, radishes, peas, fresh herbs and enhanced with roasted chickpeas, feta cheese, toasted pine nuts, and hard boiled eggs all topped with a bright and tangy lemon salad dressing.

Well, we did it again! We survived winter! And boy was it a doozy here in Utah this year. I have never seen so much snow here and we have lived here a really long time. So the fact that a “spring” salad is even a possibility brings a smile to my face! It is time for bright refreshing flavors and warmer temperatures!

What Goes in a Spring Salad?

One of the beauties of a salad is that they are so versatile, so I’m going to share the ingredients for how we like to make this salad, but keep in mind that you can omit or add ingredients to your liking. Here is what we like…

Dressing

• Olive Oil: the base of the dressing
• Dijon Mustard: adds intense mustard flavor
• Lemon Juice and Zest: adds a bright pop of freshness and acidity
• Shallot: adds mild onion flavor
• Champagne Vinegar: if you can’t find champagne vinegar, you can use prosecco or white wine vinegar
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor

Salad

• Pine Nuts: adds texture and we toast them for maximum flavor
• Asparagus: remove the tough stem end and then cut it into 1-2″ pieces
• Frozen Peas: let them defrost in a bowl of water
• Baby Salad Greens: this can be any mix of greens you enjoy…romaine, spinach, arugula, chard, etc.
• Radishes: adds a little heat and gorgeous color
• Cucumber: we prefer an English cucumber
• Fresh Herbs: mint, basil, parsley, chives – this blend is so bright and bold
• Feta: totally optional, but we love them saltiness flavor it adds
• Roasted Chickpeas: you can buy roasted chickpeas or roast your own and they add great texture
• Olive Oil: used to roast the chickpeas
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Hard Boiled Eggs: adds protein and heartiness to the salad

This is meant to just be an overview of the ingredients for this salad. For all the details and measurements, scroll down to the recipe card at the end of this post.

How to Make a Fresh Spring Salad

I like to start salad recipes by making the dressing. It can be made up to a day or two ahead of time, so it’s nice to get that made and out of the way. For this salad dressing, just whisk all the ingredients together and set it aside.

Other parts of this recipe can also be prepped ahead of time. You can hard boil the eggs, toast the pine nuts and roast the chickpeas up