Why You Shouldn't Thin Salad Dressing with Water (and What to Use Instead)

When thinning out too-thick dressing, take into consideration its major components.

You don’t have to make your own salad dressing all the time—the bottled stuff can be handy, especially if you like trying out new flavors. Still, there are times a personal touch can really transform a store-bought dressing. Namely, the gloppy kind. You know the type—too thick to pour, so you need to use a knife to fish it out. Well there’s an easy and flavorful way to personalize the consistency of your too-thick salad dressing, and it’s not by adding water. 

The components of salad dressing

Water, unsurprisingly, waters down a salad dressing. It dilutes the flavor and degrades the texture. The dressing transforms into something I can only describe as “gray” (in both color and flavor), and drips off all of the salad ingredients. Instead, choose a liquid ingredient that will add flavor to the dressing. To do that, we have to consider what salad dressings are made of in the first place. 

This is really where the practice of making your own dressing is helpful—you get clued in on the major players: acid, oil, and emulsifiers. (Read here for the only guide you’ll ever need to make your own vinaigrette.) Regardless of if the salad dressing is an oily vinaigrette, or a creamy dressing, they all still use these three components. The acid might be lemon or orange juice, or apple cider vinegar. The oil could be olive oil, canola, or walnut oil. The emulsifier can be mustard, tahini, egg yolks, or a pre-made emulsification like mayonnaise. 

How to thin out salad dressing

To thin your gloppy salad dressing you just need to select the acid or the oil ingredient to help loosen it up. This will thin the consistency while also holding true to the dressing's original flavor profile. If you’re not sure where to start, check out the ingredient list on your bottle of salad sauce. The first two or three ingredients are sure to give you the main acid or oil in their recipe. For my bottle of Trader Joe’s Goddess Dressing, which I find to be a tad too thick for my liking, the first ingredients are canola oil and apple cider vinegar. I have my pick: I can add a tad more zing with vinegar, or keep it mild with canola oil. I usually opt for the vinegar, but if you only have the oil available then that’s the perfect choice.

To thin the consistency of the whole bottle 

If it’s a new bottle, take some dressing out in order to have space for the added liquid ingredient. Presumably that’s the bit you’ll use for your immediate salad needs. For an eight-ounce bottle of dressing, take out two tablespoons of the dressing as is and put it in a bowl or in a small jar with a lid. Add one tablespoon of the oil or acid of your choice directly to the bottle. Close the lid and give it a good shake. Check the consistency. If you’d like it even thinner, add up to one more tablespoon of the liquid. If you need to take it even further, you can continue on this path—but note that the increased ratio of acid or oil will start to significantly impact the flavor of the original dressing.

To thin an individual portion of salad dressing

Start with two tablespoons of the bulky dressing in a bowl or small jar. Depending on how thick the dressing starts out and your personal preferences you’ll need to adjust the consistency a little at a time. Start by adding one teaspoon of the acid or oil you chose. Use a whisk to incorporate it, or if you have a jar, close the lid and give it a shake. Add more if you need to. For two tablespoons of a medium-thick dressing, I add about a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to get my preferred results. If you go too thin, you can always add a bit more of the original dressing to take it a step back.

This trick is also handy if you’re trying to stretch the end of your salad dressing bottle, or the whole thing. Now there’s no reason for you to have a salad that’s weighed down by a thickset dressing.