This is an old family salad dressing recipe (slightly evolved over the years) that my great-grandma called “Russian” dressing, but would probably be called a creamy french dressing today. My kids just call it “Special Sauce.” It goes great on any salad, but we most commonly use it on tacos, taco salads, and other similar Tex-Mex foods.

Ingredients

1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup granulated (white) sugar
⅓ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
1 clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon minced garlic)
1 small onion (approximately ¼ to ⅓ cup) chopped into quarters or eighths
1 cup vegetable oil

Directions

Place all ingredients except the vegetable oil into a food processor (preferred) or blender. Pulse until all of the ingredients are finely blended into a slurry.

With the food processor or blender continually on, slowly add the vegetable oil. I use a Cuisinart food processor and drip in the oil using the small hole in the pusher cylinder. I have, however, also made this recipe using a typical blender, slowly adding the oil in a steady thin stream by hand.

Once the oil has all been added, continue to mix for 30-60 seconds.

The resulting dressing will have a texture ranging from thin and runny to quite thick and pasty depending on its temperature (if you store leftover dressing in the refrigerator, it will tend to become very thick, and you may want to let it sit out for a few minutes before using it).