salad dressing

Meaning

A sauce, typically made of oil, vinegar, herbs, and other flavorings, used to flavor and coat salads. It can be a creamy style (like Ranch) or a light vinaigrette.

Examples

• Would you like ranch or vinaigrette salad dressing?

  Would you like ranch or vinaigrette salad dressing?

• I prefer to make my own salad dressing with lemon juice and olive oil.

  I prefer to make my own salad dressing with lemon juice and olive oil.

• Don't put too much salad dressing, or the lettuce will get soggy.

  Don't put too much salad dressing, or the lettuce will get soggy.

• He poured the salad dressing into a small bowl on the side.

  He poured the salad dressing into a small bowl on the side.

• This creamy garlic salad dressing goes perfectly with crunchy romaine.

  This creamy garlic salad dressing goes perfectly with crunchy romaine.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ I like to put salad sauce on my greens.

  ✓ I like to put salad dressing on my greens.

  Native speakers call this specific condiment 'dressing', not 'sauce' or 'cream'.

• ✗ She made a delicious dressing of salad.

  ✓ She made a delicious salad dressing.

  We use the compound noun 'salad dressing' directly rather than a prepositional phrase with 'of'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• What kind of ___ do you want on your Caesar salad?

  💡 The sauce or liquid flavor added to salads.

  Show answer

  salad dressing

• Toss the greens with the ___ just before serving.

  💡 A mixture of oil, vinegar, and spices used for salads.

  Show answer

  salad dressing