How to Make Vinaigrette (Plus 3 Essential Variations!)
Here's my go-to vinaigrette recipe! So easy and tastes way better than store-bought dressing. This versatile recipe will take your salad to the next level.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 28, 2024
We’re going back to basics today with one of my most essential everyday recipes, vinaigrette! You know how much I love salads, and I’m surprised I didn’t think to share my basic vinaigrette recipe with you until now.
Vinegar and olive oil-based vinaigrette is a light, zippy, heart-healthy salad dressing. It’s great on greens, vegetables and fruits. You can change up the flavor by using different vinegars. Vinaigrette is easy to adjust to taste, and I’ve included notes how to do so in the recipe.
Once you start making homemade vinaigrette, you won’t go back. Whisk together some basic ingredients, and you’ll end up with dressing that tastes infinitely better than store-bought dressings. No preservatives here!
Homemade vinaigrette keeps for 1 to 2 weeks in the refrigerator, so it’s worth the 5 minutes it takes to mix it up. Then you can keep it on hand for all of your salad needs. Let’s get to it!
Basic Vinaigrette Ratio & Ingredients
The traditional French vinaigrette formula calls for 1 tablespoon vinegar for every 3 tablespoons olive oil. Modern vinaigrettes often call for a bit more vinegar than that, but it’s always up to you. Kale salads can tolerate more zingy dressings, while you’ll want to use less vinegar for mild greens like spring greens.
Here’s what you’ll need to make vinaigrette:
- Olive oil for your base
- Vinegar of choice
- Dijon mustard for some flavor complexity and creaminess
- Maple syrup or honey for a little sweetness that balances the vinegar
- Garlic for oomph
- Salt and pepper
Vinaigrette Varieties
While you can use any tasty vinegar you’d like to make vinaigrette, here’s how I choose between my three go-to vinegars.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Balsamic vinegar makes a bold, slightly sweet dressing that is wonderful on green salads with fruit, such as apples, strawberries or peaches. Examples include my strawberry arugula salad and favorite green salad with apples.
Red Wine Vinaigrette
Red wine vinegar packs a punch and works well with other bold flavors and bright veggies, like tomatoes, bell peppers, olives, feta and more (think Greek salads or Italian salads).
White Wine Vinaigrette
White wine vinegar a more mellow vinegar and it’s especially nice with more delicate flavors like spring greens, cucumber, zucchini and sweet corn. It’s lovely on just about every green salad out there. I’ve used it recently in my orange orzo salad and corn salsa.
Additional Options
Champagne vinegar is even more mild than white wine vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is sweet-tangy and tastes lightly of apples. Sherry vinegar is similar to red wine vinegar but slightly less intense.
Watch How to Make Vinaigrette
Please let me know how you like this vinaigrette in the comments! I love hearing from you and I’m dying to hear about the salads you make with it (#saladobsessed).
If you’re looking for more salad dressings that keep well, don’t miss my sunshine salad dressing (yogurt-based honey-mustard dressing), green goddess dressing, carrot ginger dressing or jalapeño-cilantro dressing (made a little creamy with some tahini).
You’ll also find four delicious salad dressings in my book, Love Real Food. Many more salads here!
Basic Vinaigrette (Plus Variations!)
Here’s my go-to vinaigrette recipe! It’s so easy to make and tastes way better than store-bought dressings. You can change up the flavors by choosing the vinegar that suits your salad best. Recipe yields ¾ cup dressing, enough for about 6 medium salads (assuming 2 tablespoons per salad).
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons vinegar of choice (balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- 2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Stir well with a small whisk or a fork until the ingredients are completely mixed together.
- Taste, and adjust as necessary. If the mixture is too acidic, thin it out with a bit more olive oil or balance the flavors with a little more maple syrup or honey. If the mixture is a little blah, add another pinch or two of salt. If it doesn’t have enough zing, add vinegar by the teaspoon.
- Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for future use. Homemade vinaigrette keeps well for 7 to 10 days. If your vinaigrette solidifies somewhat in the fridge, don’t worry about it—real olive oil tends to do that. Simply let it rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes or microwave very briefly (about 20 seconds) to liquify the olive oil again. Whisk to blend and serve.
Notes
Balsamic vinegar: Makes a bold, slightly sweet dressing that is wonderful on green salads with fruit, such as apples, strawberries or peaches.
Red wine vinegar: Packs a punch and works well with other bold flavors and bright veggies, like tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, cabbage and more (think Greek salads).
White wine vinegar: This is a more mellow vinegar and it’s especially nice with more delicate flavors like cucumber and sweet corn. It’s lovely on just about every green salad out there.
Greek/Italian variation: Use red wine vinegar. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano and, optionally, a pinch of red pepper flakes.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Wow this is good!! This is very similar to what my sister inlaw makes but she eyeballs everything and is tough to replicate even when she tells me how to do it. Thanks very much, there’s no going back to the bottled stuff now… :)
How would it be without the honey? I can’t have honey.
You can try maple syrup. You will want a little sweetener otherwise, it will be quite tart.
I’d never heard of adding sweeteners to a vinaigrette until this recipe. With balsamic, especially, it seems like it’d just be cloying. Try it if you want, but the idea that an unsweetened vinaigrette would be inedibly tart is absurd.
Made the basic vinaigrette, stunning, will certainly be making this again, highly recommended
Thank you for your review, Robyn!
This is by far the best homemade recipe I’ve ever made. So flavorful, creamy, so good!
I love all of your recipes! I tried this salad dressing because I had none at home and I loved it! I did it 3 times this week! Thanks.
You’re welcome! Thanks for sharing, Charlene.
Would you please let me know how to make your dressings without oil?
Thank you very much.
Hi Leora, sorry I don’t have a recipe for you! I design my dressings with oil so I don’t have an alternative.
Not a review but a question: Has anybody ever tried adding a bit of citrus zest or juice, like lemon, lime, or orange, to their vinaigrette, in place of some of a heavier variety, or with a lighter flavoured vinegar? I know it sounds a little strange, but I am hoping to make a roasted red pepper salad with feta cheese this weekend for my Mom’s holiday party, and want to try to keep things balanced and exciting. Please let me know of any thoughts you may have. Merry Christmas!
Hello dear Kate and Cookie of course, just made your vinaigrette and even before putting it onto my home grown salad leaves, it tastes soooo good. I bought your lovely book for myself and then gave it to my son and his wife because I knew they would love it – and they do. Only problem is, it has fallen apart in certain sections. This happened quite some time ago and because they live in another state and I don’t see them that often I had forgotten. I told them I would let you know because if you don’t know you can’t fix it. Anyway, we love it and share the recipes; green goddess hummus, enchiladas, etc. etc.
Great recipe! I adjusted it to what I had on hand, using herbes de Provence, balsamic vinegar, a high quality olive oil and a touch of honey. I love that this recipe can be so individualized!
Thank you for sharing, Teresa!
No one wants the bottled stuff anymore now that I’ve made your recipe! I used white wine vinegar and opted for honey for the sweetener. It is simple to make and tastes absolutely wonderful. Now we look forward to salad for supper.
That’s what I love to hear! Thank you for sharing, Kim.
Oh my gosh delicious!
I’m happy you think so, Mary!
I tried it without honey and it tastes so great. I squeeze some lime in it for extra sourness. This remains my salad dressing for life. Lol.
Thank you for sharing!
Can one use vegetables oil in place of extra virgin olive oil?
I wouldn’t recommend it, but you could if you desired. It will be different taste and result.
Thanks
Love the variables. Plan to do it all ways and look forward to doing a vinaigrette in place of mayonnaise for a modified Waldorf Salad.
I always ate salad begrudgingly, until I tried your homemade vinaigrettes. I tried both the red wine vinegar and balsamic vinegar variations and they are both delicious.
Being a senior and living alone, my cooking has gotten very basic and simple. Plus I have forgotten some of my old recipes. As Spring comes, I will prepare more salads. And what I have missed most is my old vinaigrette. Your recipe duplicates my old recipe. As I tried to remember my recipe I had trouble with the proportions. Your proportions are perfect, well balanced! And I’m very happy to have the variations. Great job, Ladies!! Thanks!
I only tried a bit on my finger so far, but I think I’ll really like this dressing! I was out of garlic so used garlic powder and sugar free syrup (I’m diabetic) and it’s really good. I also used apple cider vinegar. Thanks for this recipe!
My only wish is we knew how much one serving was for tracking purposes.
Wayyy to much olive oil
I’m really helpless in the kitchen–but this vinaigrette worked for me! Tried it with white wine vinegar, will be attempting other variations later. Particularly helpful was this recipe’s suggestions about the sorts of recipes each type of vinegar would work with best. I don’t (yet–I hope!) have enough of an imagination in the kitchen to have guessed which one would have worked for me today, so the recommendations definitely helped!
I made the Red Wine Vinaigrette exactly as instructed and it was perfect. Thank you.
If I were to pair white wine vinegar with olive oil, I would either choose a lighter-tasting olive oil or I would add a touch more vinegar to balance it out. Otherwise the delicate flavor of the vinegar will be overpowered by the robust flavor of a typical olive oil. Standard ratio is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, but here I would use a a 2.5-2.75:1 ratio.
Red wine vinegar is the traditional pairing for olive oil, but balsamic is excellent too if you like it sweet.
A basic vinaigrette does not take mustard, garlic or sweeteners. It’s just oil, vinegar, salt and pepper (and tastes just fine that way if your oil and vinegar are good quality and complement each other.) Once you add dijon it becomes a dijon vinaigrette, and so forth.
I made it to day. I use seasoned rice vinegar for the vinegar and it turned out absolutely wonderful. My kids love it. The whole family loves it. We will be using this recipe from now on for our vinaigrette.
Great to hear it was a hit with everyone, Lisa! Thank you for your review.
Thank you so much for sharing this!!!! I have tried the balsamic vinaigrette and also the apple cider one. Love them both!!!!!!
That’s great to hear, Andrea!
Great recipe! I paired it wiyh your lentil and mushroom “meatballs” on top of a bed of spinach. Thank goodness for you and your recipes.
This dressing is amazing and so easy. I used horseradish dijon as that is all I had. Thank you!
I have been trying to find a wonderful salad dressing for a long time. This is it.
Hooray! I’m happy you love this staple recipe, Donna.
Great recipe. Used combo of horseradish and plain yellow mustard
with red wine vinegar. Will try the carrot ginger dressing next.
This was the absolute most delicious basic vinaigrette I’ve had, and that’s saying a lot. It is creamy and emulsified with just the slight undertone of sweetness. The honey takes the edge off of the vinegar, which for me can sometimes be too much. I used it on last nights’ Tuna Nicoise and my husband commented more than once that he really enjoyed it. A home run. Thanks.
Hi
Can you please advise if there is any substitute for Dijon Mustard please? this ingredient is not so commonly available in India
Hi there! You could try one teaspoon of ground mustard seed, or just omit it.
So surprised at how much i love this recipe. I thought dressings were all the same. Thank you for this
This is, by far, the BEST vinaigrette I have ever eaten, let alone, made myself. It is so far superior to anything bottled, it’s not even in the same universe. Thank you for helping me to enjoy salad again! Great recipe.
I made such a good vinaigrette dressing because they were on your site.
Only thing I changed was to put in 3 T of red wine in the mix. Really really good.
It always makes me wonder what is meant when a recipe calls for Dijon Mustard. Usually I use dried mustard powder. Is there a reason prepared mustard would be better?
HI David! I like the texture and flavor of dijon vs a powder. I don’t find the powder mixes as well. I hope that helps!
The oil and vinegar keep separating if is sits for more than a few seconds. When I use it as a dipping sauce, I usually end up with little more than the olive oil on the vegetable I’m dipping. I’ve kept adding more and more (balsamic) vinegar until the dressing is about 75% vinegar (I started out with 25% vinegar, and a small amount of Dijon mustard), but I still have the problem with the oil separating out. I don’t like eating my raw vegetables with little more than olive oil on them.
How do I fix this problem?
P.S. I loved your recipies for homemade granola, so I was very disappointed with this one for the vinaigrette dressing.
Hey Guy, your dressing isn’t reaching a proper emulsification stage. You need to whisk it more/better—try a small whisk in a different bowl. I find that dressings emulsify better when all of the ingredients are at room temp (sometimes the mustard doesn’t want to blend in until it has warmed to room temp). Hope this helps. This is a pretty standard vinaigrette formula. :)
So delicious! Added some dried herbs just as a personal preference, but the ratios for this recipe are spot on! Thank you very much for sharing. :)
I made your salad dressing today with red wine vinegar….it was amazing !
Thank you
I am on a health kick !! :) so no refined foods for me…..
Hi Kate, i have been using your recipe for a while now and have not bought any salad dressing for myself ever since. I have tried other recipes but i keep coming back to this. Thanks so much!
This was my first time making a salad dressing and it turned out great. Super easy and delicious! I used the white wine vinegar and it had a nice tang to it. I can’t wait to try your ginger/carrot dressing.
Thanks so much!
Patti
I was looking for a vinaigrette that wasn’t too peppery or too sweet, which was what I found after searching for italian dressing or vinaigrette. My search is over. This dressing is delicious! I used white balsamic vinegar and honey. I love this vinaigrette on salads and baked potatoes and every veggie I steam.
I’m happy your search is over with this one, Cheri! Thank you for taking the time to comment and review.
Love,love love this vinaigrette!! Made a garbonzo bean salad with celery, cucumber,cherry tomatoes and hearts of palm tossed it in the vinaigrette and WOW!! Served it along side some grilled salmon and it was a huge hit at my party. Thank you so much ❤️ will definitely be using this again and again!!
Tried the basic vinaigrette and added a little orange juice with pulp. Really yummy, thank you.
I made the basic with balsamic and it turned out great! Perfect for a summer salad with shrimp.
Never add any sweetener to a vinaigrette! This is an American disease.
Such a good recipe.
We have been trying out many variation in our house. I always add herbs, mostly Italian Seasoning and sometimes Oregano. At times I also add a dash or crushed red pepper.
The most fun we’ve been having is mixing acids. So far, we love 1/2 red wine vinegar & 1/2 white vinegar. Also, 1/2 white wine vinegar and 1/2 lemon juice.
Lastly, I pulse mine in the Ninja for extra creaminess. It doesn’t separate as much (if at all) when kept in the fridge.
I don’t care for a string vinegar bite to my salad and appreciate the alternatives. How would you adapt this for a Greek Salad,
Made this without the vinegar and used 3tbsp
Of fresh lemon juice and added some Italian seasoning. Yum!!!
Great basic go-to recipes! Finally!!! xoxo
This vinaigrette recipe made me seriously crave salads! Hard to imagine, but true. I feel like I’ve never been able to quite “nail” even a simple vinaigrette until I tried your recipe. Love the ratio as well as the addition of mustard. We made it with apple cider vinegar, and it’s absolutely delicious (and husband approved)!
I loved this recipe! Love how you add all those variations! Tonight, I made it with red wine vinegar, raw honey and added oregano. I did have to add more vinegar because mine tasted a bit too much like olive oil, but it was sooo good! I will be making this again and trying out the different variations. Thanks so much for sharing your recipes :)
I made this with the red wine vinegar and when I tasted it I knew I had found my new go-to vinaigrette. Once I put it on the salad, I wanted more zing so I added a bit more vinegar and it was perfect. Thanks for another great recipe.