I usually reach for a tiny dollop of maple syrup. Honey will work. A fine line to balance the tart acidic. I also like using finely diced dried fruit. I keep lots of dried fruits in the freezer. Often two thawed and diced dates will balance a salad dressing. A diced crisp apple works.

I've been making lots of fresh salads and slaws recently using fermented krauts, kimchi, kefir...as a dressing base for fresh ingredients. No recipes available so i do need to adjust as i go.

I'd skip the dill. Did you use extra virvin olive oil? Try adding some of the juice from a can of Mandarin oranges and an orange segment or two, and either lemon OR red wine vinegar. Delicious!

A good ratio for acid to oil is 1 to 2....Some acids, like white vinegar need to be cut back and some like meyer lemon juice to be upped....but by and large....
Also cheese acts as a buffering agent....the casein I think it is....keeps the acid from being too sharp....mellows it, smooths it out. Doesn't take much but a little grated parm does wonders for a too sharp salad dressing.
And I ALWAYS put something sweet in my salad dressing....sugar, maple syrup, honey, fruit, orange juice, raspberry juice, balsamic vinegar.

I did use extra virgin olive oil ;) It really needed the honey, but balsamic vinegar would've worked too. I seemed to remember, in the far recesses of my mind, that the salad dressing maven (Linda!) said something about sweet and I realized the dressing had nothing sweet in it.

I do like the dill. I really think it's the raw garlic that is biting. Next time, I'll reduce it or leave it out completely. However, the feta seemed to disappear and I remember now, I only had 6 ounces, but the recipe called for 8. So it probably would've helped to have it all.

Thanks all!

Rob, pick up some rice vinegar and also Trader Joe's Orange vinegar. I find red wine vinegar quite sharp. I don't need to add sweet we if I use one of those vinegars. However if sweetening is necessary, I prefer a little maple syrup.

Ditto on Sushipup's recommendation for granulated garlic. Another item that I use to thicken my vinaigrette is Penzeys Brown Mustard Seed. It works wonders to emulsify without being as sharp as Dijon mustard.

When I make vinaigrette, I often use a bit of very thick aged Balsamic vinegar, for sweetness. I never add honey unless I am making a dressing for a fruit salad, although I have added a tiny bit of sugar if the dressing came out too sharp. You could also try pomegranate vinegar, which has a nice flavor without being too sharp. Also, if you use Meyer lemons, the sharpness will be less than if you use regular lemons.

Was there no salt in the vinaigrette? I often start with mashing the garlic with a bit of Kosher salt to make a paste, and this seems to make the garlic less sharp. When I make a Greek salad dressing, I generally also add oregano.

You know, I didn't use salt. That could help. I only picked honey because I felt it lent itself to a Greek dish? and I had it on hand. It did help though, so it was not sweet enough. I certainly was better before i dressed the pasta dish. I hoped they would balance each other well, but nope. Live and learn!

What ratio of vinegar and lemon juice to olive oil?

I don't care for honey in vinaigrettes. When I make my Sensation dressing I'll add a little sugar, but that's about the only time I add sweetness.

Agree that pomegranate balsamic has a nice natural sweetness. I buy one locally that's very thick and super delicious!

Red Stick Spice Company Pomegranate Balsamic

Rob....always taste the dressing before you add it to your dish.
My favorite pasta salad dressing is very sweet but people don't seem to notice the sweet once it's added to the pasta and cukes, onion, peppers, tomatoes etc.
My basic go to always have a container around dressing is this:
1 rounded Tablespoon of a dark grainy mustard...not a yellow with lots of tumeric...or a Dijon.
1 Rounded Tablespoon of honey
I clove of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup mild vinegar, like rice wine vinegar or a champagne vinegar or an organic cider vinegar
1/2 cup EVOO
1 teaspoon herb of choice or a blend....oregano, dill, basil, thyme, parsley....choose one or several.
Whisk well and add salt and pepper directly to the salad after it's been dressed.
Works for greens, pasta, mixed veggies even marinating stuff.

It can be varies by using lemon instead of the vinegar or catsup instead of the mustard and add some chili powder too....or use maple syrup with the catsup....or brown sugar, or agave. cilantro with the catsup makes it different....just keep the basic proportions.

You could also try roasting the garlic, which should take off the rawness and sweeten it a little.

Rob....always taste the dressing before you add it to your dish.

I told you, I'm terrible at salad dressings! ;) (grin!)

Well....fi you taste it before you add it....you will know ahead of time if it's lousy...;-)

Well, I've never sweetened dressings... until I read this thread. I made one yesterday that just wasn't good until I added a drop of maple syrup and it madeall the difference. Thanks, Peeps!

Rob, if you're beginning to experiment with salads, think about trying this one. You can serve it hot or cold.

For one serving

One bunch ROMAINE HEARTS or Bag of BABY SPINACH

EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

GARLIC SALT

One quarter of one small tube of GOAT CHEESE WITH HONEY, about one heaping tablespoon.

several thin slices of RED ONION

as many CHERRY OR GRAPE TOMATOES and KALAMATA OLIVES as you like

Swirl the olive oil in a large pan add the onion rings and warm them about five minutes. Then pile the greens in with the onions and turn and warm them until they begin to wilt. Add the tomatoes and goat cheese, stir and toss to combine. The cheese will melt and become a lite, creamy sauce, the tomatoes should begin to soften and crack a little, the romaine will turn dark green.

Sprinkle with GARLIC SALT to your liking, add the KALAMATA OLIVES and enjoy warm or cold. It is a visually beautiful salad. A small SALMON FILET is especially good with it for dinner.

ETA Bag of baby spinach to ingredients.

Well....I guess I am still not sophisticated enough to be able to eat cooked lettuce....I know it's just "wilted"...but can't do it....the closest I can come is hotbacon dressing over spinach.
BUT I'll bet that would be delicious if you kept the Romaine out of the pan and just poured the warm dressing over it....or on the bag of "healthy greens with kale"...in my refrig. In fact it sounds like dinner!....with that small salmon filet in the freezer with some lemon juice squeezed over all. I put goat cheese in my salad but never thought to melt it into the dressing.

Sophisticated? Hah! Cheap, maybe.

It's also wonderful if you substitute baby spinach for the romaine, Linda. Maybe you'd like that better. I should have included that in the recipe above. I think I'll edit it now.

hotbacon dressing over spinach.

Mmm. My favorite!

Most homemade, oil/vinegar based dressings are just that... oil & vinegar. I add a little sugar... not enough to say it's "sweet" but enough to take edge off

And rob333... LOVE wilted spinach salad. One of the MANY uses for bacon grease after cooking. Don't know that I could trust someone who tossed that liquid GOLD?!?

I've been making a lovely lemon vinaigrette sweetened with just plain old sugar.

One reason I make my own salad dressings is to eliminate the sugar. I get inventive with miso, mustard, balsalmic vinegar, fruits and/or various other things. Yes, the fruit has sugar of its own, but fruit comes with its own special flavors (and I don't always use them).

I think klseiverd hits what I was trying to do, take the edge off. Not sweeten it.

;)

Okay, back to the original question, I think a lot depends on your ingredients. My very first reaction before I read the whole OP was use red wine vinegar, which is sweeter than many other vinegars, but that was already called for. But what kind? It may be that some "red wine vinegars" are sharper than others. Some lemons from the same tree can be much more acidic and bitter, and some sweeter. Some garlic is positively hot and other, while still garlicky, is almost sweet. Therefore your ingredients might have been much more of a muchness than those of the person who wrote the recipe.

If you're bad at dressings, taste the one you make on a scrap of lettuce rather than on a spoon. If that's not enough to tell you, take a few bits from the salad together with several drops of the dressing. Another trick for the future is to find a dressing recipe that you really like, and start changing just one thing at a time and seeing if you still like it. Take notes. You can gradually morph the basic recipe you liked into different flavors.