In American cuisine, italian dressing is a vinaigrette-type salad dressing in that consists of water, vinegar or lemon juice, vegetable oil, chopped bell peppers, sugar or corn syrup, herbs and spices (including oregano, fennel, dill and salt) and sometimes onion and garlic.

The creamy Italian variant adds milk products and stabilizers.

Italian and creamy Italian dressings are often bought bottled or prepared by mixing oil and vinegar with a packaged flavoring mix consisting of dehydrated vegetables and herbs.

Despite its name, Italian dressing is not used in Italy, where salad is normally dressed with olive oil, vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and sometimes balsamic vinegar at the table, and not with a pre-mixed vinaigrette.

In North American cuisine, Italian dressing is also used as a marinade for meat or vegetables, for stir-frys, and on sandwiches. Pasta salads sometimes include Italian dressing. The caloric content of Italian dressing varies widely.