Homemade vs. Store Bought: Make Your Own Sauces, Dips and Dressings

In a world of packaged food, we appreciate homemade more than ever. Homemade food is made with known ingredients, and we feel good about serving it to our families. Here’s a collection of tried-and-true recipes that, once you’ve tried them, you’ll never want to go back to store-bought again.

A few years ago, I slowly converted our family to eating food as close to the way as nature intended. Think of it as an “almost” whole food diet. Much of the change was welcomed and easy to do. What became a challenge were the bottled items that we dip, dump, marinade and pour. Many of these foods have a high sodium and/or sugar content, which we were trying to cut back on. So began our endeavor to find recipes that we could make ourselves. We found recipes that were flavorful, easy to make and sometimes have more than one use.

Implementing these recipes with what I had in my food storage was also a consideration. I wanted to maintain a variety of foods that could be versatile in different recipes. For example, a can of tomatoes could be used for a homemade or a semi-homemade dish. So a variety of store-bought foods, along with more “whole foods” sit side by side in my pantry.

One item that is most helpful is my Kolder Salad Dressing Bottle. It has eight different recipes on the glass bottle, along with the fill lines for each ingredient. No recipes to keep track of or measuring cups to clean. It is all on the bottle!

I am sharing a few yummy recipes that are simple to prepare, use common ingredients and are easy to store. In many of these, I have reduced the amount of salt or have used a sugar substitute. Experiment and tweak them to suit your personal tastes. Enjoy!

Homemade vs Store-Bought: Simple Homemade Recipes

Homemade Creamy Avocado Dressing

Ingredients
1 large ripe avocado
1 large jalapeno, seeded
2 tablespoons fresh, minced cilantro
2 tablespoons sour cream
½ cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon cumin
Salt to taste

Instructions
Peel the avocado, remove the pit, and blend it in a blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients. Chill.

 

Italian Herb Dressing

Ingredients
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1½ teaspoons honey or maple syrup (I used honey)
Pinch salt

Instructions
Notes: Some people mix the wet and dry ingredients together in a blender bottle or jar with lid and shake. Remember, the oil will solidify when kept in the fridge. Let it warm to room temperature before serving. Makes 1 cup of dressing that will last a few weeks in the fridge.

 

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

Ingredients
⅓ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
½ tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic minced or pressed
¼ scant teaspoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions
Measure out all ingredients and add to a glass bottle or dressing dispenser. Nothing complicated about this one.

 

Healthy Honey Mustard Dressing

Ingredients
½ cup plain Greek yogurt (vegans can try coconut yogurt)
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1½ tablespoons raw honey (maple syrup to keep it vegan)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

First, combine the yogurt and mustard and stir until smooth. Add the honey and lemon juice, and allow the mixture to marinate together before using.

Easy Semi-Homemade Recipes

Taco Salad Dressing

1 part French dressing and 1 part salsa. Shake and serve.

Semi-Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix

Ingredients
4 cups powdered milk
21.8 oz. box Nestle Nesquik
16 oz. instant coffee creamer
1 cup powdered sugar
Instructions
I found this recipe here.

Semi-Homemade Caesar Dressing

Ingredients
1 cup Ken’s Creamy Caesar Dressing
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 lemon, juiced
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese, not the powdered stuff
Instructions
This one works well because you’re adding fresh ingredients and using the store-bought dressing as the foundation. Simply combine all these ingredients in a blender.

Semi Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt, pinch

1 (14.5 ounce) petite diced tomatoes, undrained

2 tablespoons ground ancho chile pepper

2 tablespoons ground pasilla chile pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 (28 ounce) RED enchilada sauce

3/4 cup beef or vegetable broth

1/2 ounce unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

Complete recipe and instructions can be found here.

Comeback Sauce

Ingredients
1 cup Duke’s mayonnaise or our favorite brand
1/4 cup Heinz ketchup
1/4 cup chili sauce (DO NOT substitute Thai Chili Sauce)
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
1/4 cup light olive oil
Juice of one lemon
Instructions
The recipe can be found on this website.