How do you guys eat salads?

46 comments

1. Vinegar based dressing exists. Most people prefer ranch, blue cheese, or another creamy dressing. Honey mustard is popular as well

2. I think most people in the US use pre-packaged dressings, but I think vinaigrettes are fairly popular. My husband’s mother makes a pretty good dressing with oil and vinegar and some spices. 🙂

3. Why would the entire country be eating like your one cousin in Idaho?

4. It’s very individual, but yeah, most people use some sort of dressing.

   That being said, vinegar and oil is common enough that no one would bat an eye at it.

5. Vinegar and oil is definitely a way to eat a salad, but I’d say most salads come with pre-made salad dressings (think “Italian”, Cesar, balsamic vinaigrette, etc.)

6. salad with just olive oil and salt as the dressing goes hard. i can see vinegar

7. There’s a lot of personal preference. The midwest is big on ranch dressing. Ive seen more upscale places use raspberry vinaigrette dressings/oils.

8. Dressings usually include vinegar as an ingredient, I think.

9. >She said nobody use vinegar mostly dressing.

   I can’t remember the last time I was at a halfway decent restaurant that didn’t have a balsamic dressing option on salads.

10. I’m ok with vinegar and oil but I need some salt added too. I prefer it with some garlic powder or dried herbs but salt, vinegar, and oil works in a pinch. Good seasons Italian dressing mix though: that’s the winner.

11. Plenty of people do just use oil and vinegar, but it’s far from the most popular option. The most popular salad dressing is ranch, which is a buttermilk and mayonnaise based dressing.

    I will say, though, vinaigrettes are extremely popular and you’ll find them and most restaurants that serve salads. They’re oil and vinegar based dressings that usually have some other flavor component.

12. Most dressings are vinegar (or some other acid like lemon juice) and oil based but emulsified with other ingredients to a thicker, creamier consistency.

13. I use balsamic vinegar but I might be an outlier

    ETA: *not* vinaigrette! too sweet for me!

14. We eat all different types of salads but when I make a salad at home it’s usually a vinegar and oil situation – I’ll add some things like red bell pepper and red onion on top usually and if I’m feeling fancy I’ll make the salad dressing my mom makes – oil, vinegar, Dijon mustard and garlic

15. Vinaigrettes are incredibly popular as are green salads so idk wtf they’re talking about. 

16. My preferred salad is a hearty salad. Green leaf or red leaf lettuce with bell pepper, jalapenos, cucumbers, carrots, black beans, some type of meat, etc. For dressing I prefer salsa mixed with ranch or a jalapeño ranch dressing.

    Preferences vary widely in the US and there are many types of salads including what you have described.

17. My husbands mom was French. He makes an oil, red wine vinegar and Dijon dressing when he has salad.

18. Yeah vinegar and oil was big with my grandparents and their older relatives. They also cut up onions and cucumbers and served them in vinegar and oil. I haven’t seen that at a family function since the late 1980’s

19. When I was a kid, our school lunches had a salad that was lettuce with vinegar & oil dressing. That was 40-some years ago.

20. I used to see places that had small vinegar and oil dispensers on every table, but I think those have faded away and can’t say I’ve seen them on all tables like that recently. But they are definitely available at salad-focused places, maybe just not on every table.

21. I’m born and raised in the U.S., and grew up mostly eating green salads with vinegar and oil? But maybe my family is odd? I also live in the Northeast. Maybe it’s a regional difference.

22. Vinegar & oil dressing (with some seasoning) is pretty common in the United States. “Italian” dressing is pretty much that.

    But in Idaho, I’d guess that ranch dressing might be king with “French” just behind.

23. Is she staying with a family? They might not use it, but thats just a preference. We have oil and vinegar available most places. Vinaigrette is also popular in various forms, which are vinegar, oil, and herb concoctions. Some restaurants will have more than one available. I almost always use balsamic vinegar and olive oil at home on my salads. If she couldn’t find it, she didn’t look.

24. I use oil and vinegar on my salad almost everyday 

25. Vinegar and oil are common here but dressings are probably a bit more popular, especially somewhere like Idaho.

    This reminds me of the Japanese student who lamented there was no seafood in the US while living in Boston. His host dad didn’t like fish and never cooked it so the student decided Americans literally didn’t eat seafood.

26. We use olive oil and salt, maybe some vinegar when I make the salad. My wife only ever uses olive oil and salt. We are definitely not the norm though.

27. I live in CA a d vinegar and oil on a salad is pretty common in my area. More common are other vinegarett type of dressings with various oils, vinegars, citrus, herbs and seasonings.

28. To me, vinegar and oil would be a type of salad dressing. We’re famous for ranch dressing and it is popular, but we also have vinaigrettes, which I think is what a vinegar and oil type would fall under.

    This is also hard to answer without the context of *where* she was getting these salads. At someone else’s house where they only buy what they like? At a restaurant where she wasn’t aware of the options? Certainly not buying for herself, as grocery stores have shelves and shelves of options.

29. We are many people with many subcultures; I couldn’t presume to guess…except that prepackaged salads seem to be getting more and more popular. Those come with their own dressings.

    Personally I make my own and just throw on olives or onions or egg or feta or sunflower seeds or jalapenos or something until it tastes good and skip the dressing.

30. I honestly just eat salad with olive oil salt and pepper but some plain vinegar with it would be really good too.

    I’m not a an American salad dressing fan usually. They are usually too sweet unless they are homemade. 

31. I prefer mine plain, but it has to have good/strong onions.

    I can’t stand the taste of vinegar. So anything with that in it is out.

32. My family always had salad with every dinner and it was usually a homemade Italian dressing that was oil and vinegar based with some seasoning in it. Now that I’m older, I generally only have salad when I’m out to dinner.

33. Vinegar and oil is very common in the US. Creamy dressings are more popular, but every grocery store and restaurant offers vinaigrette. Many people just splash some vinegar and some oil on their salads.

34. Vinaigrette dressing is very common

35. I don’t like dressing at all, I eat salad naked.

36. My wife just does olive oil for most of her salads at home.

37. You can usually just ask for oil and vinegar, then not add the oil. 

38. Begrudgingly and with disappointment

39. I like creamy dressings, but my mom prefers oil and vinegar.

40. I basically only eat Cesar salad

41. Yes. I love vinegar and usually use that or lemon juice to make my dressings.

42. Certain regions of the US eat “heartier” than others to put it nicely. Oil and vinegar is common enough but like most things that have fat and cream, a lot of people are going choose it instead when they’re right next to each other for roughly the same price.

43. This may be regional, as you can get a vinaigrette dressing (oil, vinegar, and spices) pretty much anywhere in the US and lots of people use vinegar and oil on their salads at home. But it is true that a lot of our dressings are mayonnaise-based too, like ranch or thousand island, both creamy dressings with other flavorings added. I like both and use both depending on the day.

44. > She said nobody use vinegar mostly dressing. 

    Incorrect. We have entire grocery store sections dedicated to Vinegarettes and even in the shittiest little gas stations in bum fuck nowhere they’ll have a Vinegarette labeled “Italian.”

    I would even say it is ubiquitous. 

45. There’s 330 million of us from different upbringings and cultures. Everybody eats salads in different ways. There is more to the world than what your friend has observed.

46. I just have salt and pepper on my salad. There’s no reason to ruin a good salad with anything else. Americans are very diverse.