4-Ingredient Roasted Red Pepper Dressing (No Peeling Required!)

Say hello to your new favorite summer salad dressing! Made with only 4 ingredients, this roasted red pepper is shockingly easy to prepare as the roasted peppers require no peeling. The peppers lend both a sweetness and smokiness to the dressing, and the vinegar provides a perfect acidic bite. Summer salads, let’s go!

After dining at Ops in Brooklyn several summers ago, I returned home dreaming about the salad, the sole salad on the menu, an artful arrangement of Little Gems and radicchio drizzled with a roasted red pepper dressing. Ops, I learned, uses a mix of peppers, several vinegars, and herbs in their dressing, and I worried recreating it at home would be a challenge.

Much to my surprise, it was not, thanks to the roasted red peppers, which lend so much depth of flavor on their own — both a sweetness and smokiness — as well as body and richness. I kept my version simple using one variety of pepper, one type of vinegar, olive oil, salt, and no herbs, and I couldn’t believe how only four ingredients could create such a tasty emulsion.

It quickly became one of my favorite summer dressings, and I shared the recipe early last year in a bonus recipe PDF to those who pre-ordered Pizza Night. And while I never imagined tinkering with it, recently, two other recipes inspired me to do just that.

The first was this romesco sauce, which calls for roasting red bell peppers at high heat with a few other ingredients before puréing them all in a blender. It is incredibly delicious and, straying from tradition, requires no peeling of the peppers.

The second was a recipe for a “fast n’ fresh harissa” from the recently released Tahini Baby, which not only calls for no peeling of the peppers but also no roasting of the peppers. It, too, is incredibly delicious.

How, I wondered, would the simple 4-ingredient roasted red pepper dressing fare if I skipped the pepper peeling part of the process?

Turns out: spectacularly!

In my experiments, I tried roasting the peppers several ways, first as I always do, for roughly 40 minutes, until the skins completely blackened. Worrying, however, that some people might not like the idea of consuming all of that charred skin, in my next attempts, I roasted the peppers for a much shorter period of time, 20-25 minutes, just until the peppers charred in spots.

The result? Minimal blistering with the same great smoky, roasted flavor. Most important: the unpeeled peppers puréed just as smoothly as the peeled peppers. Win win.

This dressing is perfect for heartier greens like Romaine, Little Gems, radicchio, and endive, but it’s the sort of thing you’ll want to drizzle over everything from grilled meats and fish to charred vegetables and more — if, that is, you can refrain from drinking it straight from the blender. No judgement here!

How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Dressing, Step by Step

First, you need two red bell peppers:

Halve them and place them cut-side down on a sheet pan:

Roast them @ 450ºF for 20-25 minutes or just until the skins blister in spots:

Let them cool for 10 minutes; then transfer to a blender with some salt and white balsamic vinegar.

Purée until smooth, then add the olive oil, and purée again until emulsified:

Transfer to a storage jar and store in the fridge for up to two weeks:

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