Barb, I like that salad too. The salad dressing reminds me of the hot & thick bacon dressings, but it is much lighter. I found a recipe online that purports to be a clone of the Applebee's dressing. I've made it several times and think it comes pretty close. Since my husband dislikes vinaigrette-type salad dressings, I halve the recipe since it's just for me. It makes enough to keep me happy for quite a while.

I don't follow the directions, though. I just whisk all the ingredients together and add a teaspoon of mayonnaise to emulsify the dressing. It works for me, but you might want to follow the directions the first time just to "test drive" the recipe. Also, my husband is on a salt restricted diet, so I use the low sodium products I normally keep in my pantry & fridge.

Here's the full recipe with the half-version following:

Applebee's Spinach Salad Dressing

12/ c. light olive oil
1/4 c. finely minced bacon (3-4 slices)
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. liquid smoke

Combine bacon with 1/4 c. oil. Heat in saucepan until it bubbles. Cook for 1 minute. Do NOT cook longer. Let cool for 3-4 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in vinegar & whisk into oil & bacon mixture along with sugar, mustard, salt, pepper & liquid smoke.

Drizzle in the remaining oil while whisking into vinegar mixture.

Cover & chill mixture until thickened.

Here's my version of the dressing halved:

1/4 c. light olive oil
2 T. crumbled bacon (I use low sodium bacon, already cooked*)
2 T. vinegar (I use cider)
2 T. sugar
3/4 tsp mustard (I use no-salt-added mustard)
1/8 tsp. liquid smoke (use less if desired)
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp. mayonnaise

*Whenever I make something requiring bacon, I always cook the entire package and freeze leftover slices. So I always have 4-6 slices of bacon in my freezer. That's what I use when I make this dressing. That means there isn't any bacon fat in the dressing, so it doesn't have a strong bacon flavor. However, the addition of a drop or two of liquid smoke helps.

This post was edited by shambo on Tue, Dec 9, 14 at 0:10

Shambo. Thank you so much for the recipe. That sounds pretty much like it except mine had something in it that was either the sun-dried tomatoes that had marinated in it or roasted red peppers and little pieces of the purple onions. Thank you so much for including the low-sodium hints because I do need to watch that. I did not know that the already prepared bacon came in low sodium. I have not seen that. So nice of you to include your findings. Barb

Barb, you're right about the roasted red peppers. They're in the salad but not the dressing. The salad comes with grilled shrimp too. But I just use the dressing for whatever lettuce salad I throw together.

I buy the low sodium raw bacon and fry it up. Then freeze leftover slices for making this dressing and other dishes. It's a real treat when I use bacon.

Here's one source for the salad and dressing recipe:

Here is a link that might be useful: Applebee's Spinach Salad Recipe