José Andrés' Genius No-Waste Salad Dressing Hack

José Andrés is one of the most accomplished chefs, restauranteurs, and humanitarians of our time. While his gourmet restaurants have been awarded Michelin stars and his chef skills have received James Beard Awards, Andrés has plenty of relatable kitchen hacks for the everyday cook. In an endearing Instagram video he filmed with his daughter, Andrés shared a list of quick kitchen tricks for college-aged kids like his daughter. First on the list was an ingenious no-waste salad dressing hack to utilize that last bit of mayonnaise stuck to the inside surfaces of the jar.

Instead of throwing out an empty mayo jar, Andrés says that a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise that you couldn't reach with a knife carries limitless potential. In the video, Andrés adds a hearty squeeze of mustard into the bottle along with a couple spoonfuls of olive oil and another tablespoon of vinegar. He doesn't measure any of the ingredients, adding each directly from the bottle for a dish-free, mess-free experience. A dash of salt finishes off the dressing, prompting him to put the lid back onto the jar and shake everything together vigorously. The oil, vinegar, and mustard, combined with the force of a few shakes is enough to lift the mayonnaise from the sides of the jar and blend it into a creamy vinaigrette. Not only are you using up every bit of mayonnaise, but the bottle itself serves as a shaker and storage container for the salad dressing.

In the video, Andrés pours his mayo-based dressing over a halved avocado, garnishing it with a sophisticated drizzle of olive oil and a dash of coarse sea salt. He keeps the dressing and its application as simple as possible, demonstrating how few ingredients you need to enjoy a delicious snack or meal. Vinegar, oil, and mustard are likely staples to have on hand, but there are so many other staples and variations of salad dressings you could make with this mayonnaise jar hack. For example, you could add a dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt and a few spoonfuls of pickle relish to create a tangy, creamy dressing to make coleslaw.

Ketchup is arguably as common a staple as mustard, so you could add ketchup, vinegar, relish, and a few dashes of hot sauce like Tabasco to create a zesty take on Thousand Island dressing. Serve it over a bed of greens or use it as a creamy cocktail sauce for dipping cold shrimp. For an Asian-inspired dressing, add soy sauce, sugar or honey, rice vinegar, and sesame oil to the mayonnaise bottle. The result will be a creamy, umami-rich dressing to drizzle over a poke bowl or this Asian-inspired coleslaw. If you have leftover pesto or half a bottle of store-bought pesto, you could add the remaining sauce to your jar with a squeeze of lemon juice for a rich and herbaceous green goddess-adjacent dressing.