Salad is a staple summertime dish, and everyone has their own way of enjoying it. Some prefer a simple garden salad to accompany a main meal, while others turn it into a meal in its own right by adding fats, proteins, and carbohydrates—think chicken Caesar and salad Niçoise. One thing most people can agree on is that it's best with a drizzle of dressing, but many shop-bought formulas spoil quickly before you're able to finish the bottle.

A simple mixture of just three cupboard ingredients could be the solution to your salad woes when faced with eating it plain. Shared by Simply Recipes, this creamy salad dressing requires only three ingredients and can be whipped up from scratch in just five minutes. It's versatile too, pairing well with all sorts of plain salads, particularly those with chicken, and works wonderfully on cabbage for homemade coleslaw.

Rachel Knecht of Simply Recipes says she makes the sweetened dressing recipe "on repeat" to drizzle over her favourite salad that combines grilled chicken, white rice, cold iceberg lettuce, and shaved carrots.

The core recipe is simple: just combine rice vinegar, sugar, and mayonnaise. Rachel notes: "Sometimes you’ll find sesame oil or poppy seeds added. I add salt, but again, you could skip it if you want to."

As for quantities, Rachel's formula makes around half a cup of dressing, enough to coat one head of iceberg lettuce (approximately four servings).

Creamy salad dressing recipe

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• Two tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup full-fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
• One teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds (optional)

Method

This basic recipe makes it easy to customise to suit your taste, notes Rachel. She suggests that her recipe is "more tangy than sweet", but you can increase the sugar one teaspoon at a time to change the flavour.

As for the mayonnaise, full-fat is recommended to ensure it doesn't curdle when mixed with the vinegar. It means the dressing can be made ahead and stored in the fridge for up to two days without going hard or separating.

To make the dressing, first add the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt to a small bowl or spouted measuring cup and whisk.

Stop whisking when the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Then whisk in the mayonnaise until the dressing is smooth. If using, whisk in the sesame oil and poppy seeds at this point, too.

Season well with pepper if you wish. Slowly pour the dressing into your bowl of washed salad, then toss to combine everything.