Creamy Light Sour Cream Vinaigrette

Whether you’re looking for an easy and adaptable salad dressing or needing a lower-calorie alternative to an olive oil vinaigrette, I hope this recipe will be your new go-to. By using light sour cream, the vinaigrette calories are 28% of what they are with a traditional olive oil vinaigrette. Change up the vinegars and seasonings to suit your tastes. See COOK’S NOTES below for a Caesar-style version.

I like to make the dressing in the bottom of a large bowl fresh for each salad, but you could increase the ingredients and make a small batch for a jar that would keep no more than a few days in the fridge.

makes close to ¼ cup vinaigrette

Ingredients

1 generous tablespoon red wine vinegar-can sub white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 large and plump clove of garlic, crushed and minced
A good and hefty pinch each: kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard or more to taste
2 tablespoons light sour cream. I like Daisy brand.

Instructions

To the bottom of a large salad bowl, add the vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Let rest a few minutes to dissolve the salt. Whisk in first the Dijon-style mustard and then the light sour cream until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. At this point, you’ll add the salad ingredients on top, (you can refrigerate it here, covered, for an hour before tossing) toss, garnish, and serve.

Notes

COOK’S NOTES: For a Caesar-style dressing, use lemon juice in place of the vinegar. Add a second clove of garlic along with two mashed anchovies. Increase the Dijon-style mustard to 2 or 3 teaspoons and use the same amount of light sour cream. Taste and adjust seasonings.

For a lighter mayo vinaigrette, use Hellman's Light Mayonnaise in place of the Light Sour Cream.