Homemade Catalina Dressing Recipe

What is Catalina Dressing?

Catalina dressing is that bright red, sweet-tangy salad dressing you probably remember from diners, potlucks, or that one aunt who always brought the "fancy" salad. It's tomato-based, a little sweet, a little sharp, and unapologetically bold. Think French dressing's louder cousin. Same family. Bigger personality. Catalina Dressing for Taco Salad is probably it’s most popular use, but can also be used as a marinade or even a dipping sauce.

Catalina Dressing vs French Dressing, What’s The Difference?

They are similar in flavor but usually there is a difference in color. French dressing tends to use less tomato products resulting in a lighter tone. Catalina leans harder into tomato, sugar, and vinegar. More punch. More color. More "what is that and why do I like it so much?”

The flavor of Homemade Catalina dressing makes the difference more obvious, with a rounder, sweeter and louder flavor than the more polite French dressing.

Why Make Catalina Dressing At Home?

What Does Catalina Dressing Taste Like? If you’ve never had homemade Catalina dressing, adjectives that come to mind to describe the flavor are pizzaz, tangy, sweet, thick, luscious, creamy (yet dairy free) and just plain exciting.So much better than the bottled version, and we’ve been drizzling it all week over a big bowl of salad greens for a quick side dish.  

• The vibrant rich rusty color alone is alluring to the senses and a hint to it’s irresistible flavor.
• It takes about 15 minutes to make. Once the ingredients are gathered, just whisk and serve.
• It’s an easy make ahead dressing that you can pull out of the fridge when dinner is ready. And it will be ready to drizzle over any salad you toss together all week.
• You’ve probably already got everything in your pantry to make this recipe.
• And as we all know, homemade dressings are always preferable to the shelf stable bottled versions with a list of unrecognizable ingredients.

Ingredients You’ll Need

The line up of ingredients to make this recipe brings to light the reason the end flavor result is so exuberant. Simple pantry items for a quick dressing.

Key Flavor Components

• Oil, I like Extra Virgin Olive Oil here.
• Vinegar, I like Apple Cider Vinegar
• Tomato base, grab that bottle of Ketchup
• Sweetener, granulated sugar
• Seasoning, grated onion, chili seasoning, paprika and mustard powder.

That's it. The balance matters. Sweet shows up first. Vinegar brightens overall flavor. Tomato pulls it together. A little onion and garlic give it backbone. Paprika adds that familiar diner-style warmth.

These ingredients are all important to give this Catalina Dressing Recipe its appealing vibrant color and rich flavor.

Ingredient Subs and Swaps

CanYou Make Catalina Dressing Without Ketchup?

• Ketchup is the most convenient option here, but if you’re out, use Tomato Paste with a bit of sugar. It’s a wonderful ingredient that brings a richer, rounder cleaner flavor. Culinary school drilled that into me. Tomato paste was an MVP in our kitchen with ketchup basically non-existent.

More Swaps

• Vinegar: Cider vinegar is a all-around great vinegar for flavoring about anything where you need a “tang”. Red Wine Vinegar would be a good substitute here. And white vinegar, or Champagne Vinegar will also work well for this recipe.
• Paprika: Regular paprika is called for in this recipe. But try Smoked paprika to give it a little bit different flavor profile.
• Sugar: Substitute ⅓ cup of honey for the granulated sugar. Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you’ll need less. You can also use Agave Syrup.
• Onion: Substitute ½ teaspoon onion powder for grated onion.
• Oil: You can also use a neutral oil such as canola or vegetable oil.

How To Make Homemade Catalina Dressing

1. Step 1: Choose a mixing bowl that’s large enough to easily whisk ingredients without them spilling out. Add all of the ingredients and using good old fashioned elbow grease, whisk vigorously until well blended.
2. Blender Method: You can add everything to a blender or food processor to do the mixing for you. The power of the blades will give you a glossier appearance, but I feel like it makes for more cleanup.

How To Serve

• 1. Bacon Burgers. Top burgers with bacon slices and some Catalina Dressing.
  2. Brush over chicken wings and grill, basting with more dressing as you cook.
  3. Mix ¼ cup Catalina dressing, 4 ½ teaspoons of onion soup mix with 1 Tablespoon grape Jelly. Slather this mixture over boneless skinless chicken breasts and bake at 350 degrees for 30-ish minutes or until internal temp of chicken reaches 165 – 170 degrees.
• Make Catalina Meatballs: Place meatballs on a sheet pan and drizzle with Catalina dressing. Bake according to directions.
• A friend told me she uses it as a dip for French Fries.

Storage – How Long Does Catalina Dressing Last?

• Refrigerator: This dressing will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks. I like to store it in a Ball canning jar with a tight lid. I like glass over plastic because plastic can hang on to smells. If it separates, that’s normal, that’s homemade. Just give that jar a good shake. Please no countertop storage, it needs a cold fridge for food safety.
• Freezer: Double the recipe and freeze some for later. This dressing will keep in the freezer for up to three months. I like to store it in a freezer safe zip lock style bag. Just stand the bag up, pour in the dressing and then carefully squeeze the air out. Why this method? You can lay it flat and save on freezer space. Just thaw in the refrigerator over night before using.

Variations

Catalina Dressing is somewhat of an institution, so I like to keep the original recipe as it is, but, if you’d like to have fun:

• Spicy: A pinch of cayenne or a splash of hot sauce wakes it up fast. I do this when using it as a marinade.
• Healthier: This one's easy. Don't use bottled stuff that contains high fructose corn syrup.
• Sugar Free: Use your sugar free sweetener adding a little at a time at the end of blending. Start small. Taste as you go. Catalina shouldn't taste fake-sweet.

So don’t hesitate, give this Catalina Dressing Recipe a try. Drizzle it over your favorite bowl of salad greens, or make this classic Taco Salad recipe. A salad that the whole family will love.