Let's go back.  Way back!  That's right it's retro throwback time!  Today we are sharing this recipe for Catalina style dressing.  You remember?  That sweet, tangy, tomatoey French dressing from when you were a kid?  This stuff is delicous and as easy as it may be to toss a bottle in your shopping cart, you probably already have all the ingredients you need to make this in your kitchen right now!  Drizzle this over fresh garden veggies, over a chef salad, on a delicious Catalina taco salad or even blanket a hot dog in it for a real taste twist!  If you are not familiar with Catalina dressing then you are in for a real treat and so is your family!  Make this for your salad night and watch it disappear!

Catalina dressing was a popular favorite in our house when I was growing up.  Believe it or not it was really the ranch dressing of the 70's.  With it's sweet, tangy tomato flavor this is just plain good.  Then we grew up and forgot about it.  Rick says this reminds him of the "Western" brand dressing that he grew up with and I concur.  This is just a wonderful dressing to have in your fridge and you can use it for more than just salads. 

The beauty part of this dressing is that you probably already have what you need on hand because it really is just a conglomeration of shelf champion ingredients that we mostly already have.  Starting off with ketchup.  Use what you have then add some vinegar, apple cider or distilled is in order here.  Some granulated sugar.  You can adjust for your taste if you think 1/2 a cup is too much.  Some vegetable oil like sunflower or your favorite clear blend.  Olive oil is going to be way too heavy here.  some grated onion.  I ran half of a sweet Vidalia onion over my microplane so that this would be more smooth than just minced onion.  I prefer this dressing to be pretty smooth.  You can also waz some up in your mini chopper if you prefer or if you want to make this in your blender, just do a rough chop and let the blender do the work for you.

Next up are our flavorizers.  Those include a bit of Worcestershire sauce, some mustard powder, paprika, onion and garlic powder and some salt.  These all play nicely together here and accentuate the sweet, savory flavors of this delicious dressing.    Now all you have to do is combine all these ingredients and whisk or stir or put them in a jar and shake them up.  You can also use your standard blender or your immersion blender to mix this up.  Whatever you like most.

This dressing will keep in your fridge for up to two weeks.  Don't think you will use this much?  Cut the recipe in half!  You can also use this for more than salad!  Drape over a hot dog, use it as a marinade for chicken or pork. Glaze a meat loaf with it!  Use it as an alternative to barbecue sauce for a cheeky twist.  Use as a base for a delicius slow cooker chicken that I will share some time in the future.  Dressing is a great starting place for a lot of recipes! 

You can also make this dressing sugar free by using sugar free ketchup as well as a cup for cup version of powdered sweetener such as Splenda.  You make this to suit your taste and your needs.  But make it because I know you will love it and so will your family.  This is super versatile and has a lot of potential!

I hope you give this Catalina style dressing a try, sometime soon and I hope you love it!

Happy Eating!

Catalina Style Salad Dressing

1 Cup good quality mayonnaise
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

​Review and Print Recipe Here!!

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Meet Noreen!

Hi!  I'm Noreen, wife, mother of two amazing, almost grown, daughters, content creator, cook, baker and sister in Christ. Welcome to my Kitchen!   I hope you stick around, enjoy the recipes and share them with those you love!

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