Homemade Dressings Salad Dressing Mix and Rub Variety Pack, 2.725 Pound

I've been with the Amazon Vine program for a while but there's only one product that I've received over the years that was good enough to keep me buying it, and it was a container of Homemade Dressings Italian Garden salad dressing mix. It's been a few years, but no other salad dressing, premade or mix, has entered my house since my discovery.Homemade Dressings is unique among salad dressing mixes because none of their blends contains sugar--I'd add that nearly all bottled salad dressings (yes, even the "healthy" ones like Annie's and Brianna's) also contain sugar of some sort. Italian Garden is still my favorite, but Napa Garden, with its tomato base, and tarragon-laced French Garden are also very tasty. Napa Garden mixed with sour cream makes an excellent dip for raw vegetables--I made a vegetable tray with the dip for an office potluck and it actually got cleaned out, a rarity for healthy stuff! I use my old Good Seasons bottles to mix, using the same proportions of olive oil and vinegar. Don't be put off by the price, for the containers hold a lot and you'll get about ten bottles of dressing out of one. Having these mixes at hand always means you'll have the freshest, most delicious salad dressings!

When I first received my order of the Italian Dressing mix, I was a little wary. A lot of prepared herb and spice mixes on the market seem to be full chemicals that I can't pronounce and they taste very dull, extremely salty and have a strange, artificial after-taste. NOT THIS ONE!When my order arrived the first thing that I did was to taste the mixture straight out of the jar. I was surprised at how clean and fresh the taste was. I picked up on the herbs (I'm thinking oregano, basil, parsley, rosemary and maybe some mint), the sea salt and then the sweetness of the bell pepper combined with a tartness of the lemon juice. There was a slight bit of heat (the garlic?) and a nice, pure, food-like aftertaste.Next I mixed it with some fine olive oil and used it as a dip for some crusty Italian bread. Wonderful! Later in the week I used it, along with some Dijon Mustard, as a coating for a rack of lamb. I ended up adding a little crushed black pepper to the mix and it was great.Finally I used it as a salad dressing along with aged balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. It took a few minutes to get the proportions right, and I did add a little chopped rosemary and some fresh minced garlic. It was much better than any prepared dressing that comes in a bottle.I was really impressed with the flavor and quality of this prepared mix, so much so that I ordered this variety pack. Here are my thoughts on the other two varieties that come with this set:* French GardenAt first taste it seemed salter than the Italian version. The chives not only tasted fresh but still retained their classic oval shape (meaning that they were not over-processed or ground to death). The garlic and onions were strong, but not too. I also picked up on the parsley and I thought I tasted a little tarragon. I added this mix to a French style omelet (runny). Very nice! My fear of it being too salty was put to rest. I next sprinkled it on some grilled eggplant and I was blown away! It woke up the subtle flavors of the vegetable. I will be trying this is other dishes to be sure.* Napa GardenThis mix had a different texture than the others, probably due to the tomato powder which added a wonderful richness to the blend. This one was not as salty as the other two. The pepper gave it a little heat but I usually like more (which is easy to add, hard to take out). I tried this (along with some olive oil) with spinach angel-hair pasta. That turn out to be a good choice. The mix did not overwhelm the flavor of the pasta but added that extra kick.I highly recommend this variety pack. All three will become staples in my spice cabinet.

It has been a long time since I wanted to keep a full contingent of spices in my cabinet. They just age too quickly and if you did it right, you would be spending $100s every six months to replace them all. Eventually sanity and spice blends won out.I will use these up before they lose their punch.Each is very well blended, has a very appealing aroma and taste, and work well with a large variety of dishes and of course salad dressings too. The flavors between the three are distinctive and do not overlap much.These are my 'go-to' spices in my cabinet now, and I'm really enjoying a bit of extra zip for my regular dishes.

Never mind the unimaginative title, this really is the best homemade dressing mix out there. I wanted to find a low-carb dressing made with olive oil, and after spending way too long searching I'm convinced there's not one on the market. With this mix you can use any oil and any vinegar you like. I'm partial to making an olive oil/balsamic vinaigrette recipe, and all three of these blends are just fabulous. Makes a great marinade too.

My daughter-in-law has been trying to get her mom to eat a healthier salad with just a light oil/vinegar mix rather than loading it up with creamy dressings. This mix converted her mom. My daughter-in-law and I always get raves on our salads when we dress them with one of these...our favorite is the Napa. Our local market used to carry this product, but quit. I was happy to find I could purchase it on-line.