The Step You Need To Do Before Adding Booze To Salad Dressing

From funky beer-infused vinaigrettes to smoky bourbon coleslaw, adding alcohol to the dressing can be a fun and flavorful way to refresh your salads. However, there are a few important things to keep in mind before heading to the liquor cabinet. "In a restaurant, we would never put raw alcohol in a salad dressing," Jason Stern, executive chef at Boone's restaurant in Atlanta, told The Takeout. The main reason for this is taste: "Raw alcohol is very bitter when it's raw and in recipes," he explained.

Instead, Stern recommends flambéing or otherwise cooking the alcohol out of the dressing before adding it to your salad. This will burn off some (but certainly not all) of the alcohol, and, more importantly, soften the sharply bitter flavor of raw booze. This step is particularly important if you're using strong distilled spirits such as whiskey, vodka, and tequila. In addition to cooking the booze to reduce the harsh flavor, you can balance the alcohol with sugary and fatty ingredients like honey, maple syrup, and the best Costco olive oil.

A wide variety of alcohol can be used to jazz up salad dressings, but one of the most interesting ways to give salads a boozy boost is with tequila. The distilled agave beverage (which can only legally be made in Mexico) can add a lovely punch of complexity to salad dressings, especially when the harsh alcohol flavor is cooked off so the flavors can truly shine, as Jason Stern recommends. However, it's important to know the unique qualities of your tequila before cooking with it, Stern emphasized. "There are many different characteristics that can be developed," he explained. 

Geographic factors such as location and elevation impact the sweetness of the spirit, while different production methods can produce a wide range of flavor profiles. "Traditional production yields a smoky finished product, while modern methods yield a deeper, earthy, and vegetal product," Stern noted. Smoky tequilas make a fabulous addition to citrus vinaigrettes, while the smooth richness of añejo tequila can pair beautifully in a creamy tequila and lime salad dressing. If you're looking for more ways to upgrade your salad game beyond booze, here's how to pick the perfect salad dressing for your greens.