Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette
This is the best balsamic vinaigrette. It is easy to make, uses ingredients you likely have in your kitchen, and perfect on salads as well as other dishes!
I make many different salad dressings and you can find plenty of these recipes here on the website. It is surprising that it has taken me this long to share my homemade balsamic vinaigrette, since it is the salad dressing I make most often.
Balsamic vinaigrette is one of my favourite dressings for salad because of its simplicity and versatility. This recipe uses ingredients I always have on hand and can make this in a matter of minutes.
The vinaigrette is great in many salads that have quite different ingredients. It is excellent with greens, raw vegetables, dried or fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, and even meats. I do not know of any other dressing that is as versatile.
Ingredients You Will Need
The ingredients for homemade balsamic vinaigrette are likely items you already have in your kitchen. This is one of the reasons why I generally do not buy this type of salad dressing but make it at home instead.
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- honey
- dijon mustard
- garlic
- salt
- black pepper
How to Make Balsamic Vinegar at Home
It is very simple to make this salad dressing.
There are two steps:
- Add the ingredients to a bowl.
- Whisk until well combined
That’s it. Put everything in a bowl large enough to mix and then whisk until the dressing has emulsified. Once you make this, don’t be surprised if you decide to make homemade salad dressings more often because it is so easy.
How Long Does it Take to Emulsify?
Emulsification is the process where you take two liquids that will not combine and mix them together in a way that they have merged. Oil and vinegar will stay apart from each other (pour them together in a glass and see how quickly they separate), but the dijon mustard allows these two liquids to come together and emulsify.
The emulsification process for this balsamic vinaigrette is quick and simple. Once you put all the ingredients in a glass bowl, use a whisk and stir quickly. Immediately, you will see the salad dressing come together. It should take no more than about one minute of whisking for all the ingredients to emulsify into one vinaigrette.
Once made, this homemade balsamic vinaigrette is ready to be drizzled and tossed into a salad! I love it with fresh greens, dried fruit and nuts. That is my go to salad, and I will often switch up the type of fruit (cranberries, raisins, apricots, blueberries and more) and nuts (almonds, pecans or cashews). Sometimes, I will even throw in some crumbled feta, goat cheese or chunks of extra old cheddar. This vinaigrette goes so well with all these ingredients!
Here are some of my favourite salads and other recipes that are excellent with this balsamic vinaigrette.
Other Salad Dressings
If you are looking for some other great salad dressings and vinaigrettes, then check out these recipes!
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 3 tsp dijon mustard
- 3 tsp honey
- 4 cloves garlic , minced finely
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a medium sized mixing bowl.
- Whisk until all the ingredients are combined and the salad dressing is emulsified.
- Drizzle on a salad, brush on grilled vegetable skewers or use in other recipes.
- Store in the fridge, in a jar or other sealed container.
Nutrition
Per serving:
