The Worst Store-Bought French Dressing Has One Major Flaw

French dressing fans take note — we found a brand you may want to avoid. If you love the well-balanced tangy, sweet flavor of French dressing, you may be disappointed with Bowl & Basket Creamy French Dressing. After trying and ranking several store-bought French dressing brands, this one landed at the very bottom. 

Bowl & Basket, a ShopRite brand, got last place thanks to an artificial aftertaste that washed out any faint garlic and earthy notes. The dressing's flaws didn't stop there: the acidity from the vinegar overpowered the sweetness from tomato puree; plus, it had a thick, oily texture.

Using their food industry background, our reviewer ranked each entry on taste and texture. Each dressing was tried on its own — no salad, just a spoon. They were looking for a medium thickness and a sweet, bright, tangy flavor with savory, earthy, and spicy undertones. If you're looking for a better store-bought version of the dressing, our reviewer recommends buying a bottle from Ken's Steak House, Tuscan Garden, or Kraft.

Comparing Bowl & Basket to our top French dressing brand, Ken's Steak House, we can take a guess at what went wrong. Two main differences pop out: Ken's uses apple cider vinegar, tomato paste, and natural flavor, while Bowl & Basket uses distilled vinegar, tomato purée (made from tomato paste and water), and no added flavors. Both use propylene glycol alginate, a safe food thickener, and calcium disodium EDTA, a safe flavor preserver.  

We get why Bowl & Basket wouldn't use apple cider vinegar, as the company sells the worst one on the market, according to our reviewer. The dilution of the tomato paste and the absence of added flavors seem to allow any artificial ingredients to shine, giving the dressing the chemical aftertaste our reviewer picked up on.

Bowl & Basket's French Dressing isn't the brand's only salad dud. In our ranking of 14 Caesar salad dressings, the entry from ShopRite came in second-to-last, also thanks to a heavy artificial taste that lingered on the same reviewer's tongue for far too long. The Bowl & Basket Creamy Caesar Dressing does use natural flavors and has a long list of strong tastes like anchovies and parmesan, but the makers somehow still included the seemingly signature chemical aftertaste.