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This Balsamic Vinaigrette recipe is perfect. You heard me correctly. Perfect. And I don’t use that word lightly. The recipe I’m sharing with you today is truly worthy of that descriptor. You don’t think I’d call something the “best” if I didn’t mean it, do you?
I’ve tried numerous recipes for balsamic vinaigrette over the past few years and while they have been decent, they were not quite what I was searching for. Some homemade vinaigrettes would end up a little too oily, while others were too sweet for my tastes. This dressing has the perfect balance of tang and sweetness, vinegar, and oil.
Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette
After a lot of experimentation, trial and error, I am thrilled to be sharing this balsamic vinaigrette recipe with you today. I found this winning recipe for Balsamic Vinaigrette over at Chinese Grandma.
I served this balsamic vinaigrette last week on a salad while we had family visiting us. Everyone who tried the dressing immediately requested the recipe. It’s miles better than any store-bought salad dressing and as easy as whisking together a few ingredients.
Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
There’s a reason I consider this particular balsamic vinaigrette the absolute hands-down best. The dressing has plenty of tartness and bite from a generous portion of balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, and garlic with just a touch of sweetness and honey flavor to balance it all out.
With enough extra virgin olive oil to coat every bite of your salad with rich flavor without making the salad too greasy, oil or soggy; it’s everything you could want in a vinegar-oil based dressing!
While I whisk the vinegar, oil, dijon mustard, garlic, and olive oil by hand with a sturdy kitchen whisk, you could also use a blender if you prefer. Mixing the ingredients with a blender gives the recipe a slightly thicker consistency.
I prefer the consistency of the balsamic dressing when mixed by hand but feel free to experiment with both methods to figure out what you prefer.
Balsamic Vinaigrette
This dressing is so versatile, I serve it on salads, on roasted vegetables and drizzled on chicken in a wrap. It’s a wonderful addition to whatever dish I’ve used it on.
There are so many ways to enjoy this dressing that you’ll always want to keep a jar or two handy for whenever the craving strikes.
The sourness of the balsamic is such a great complement to salads with apples, oranges, grapes, peaches, pears, and berries. It absolutely sings on Fuji Apple Chicken Salad and Strawberry Spinach Salad and would make a lovely addition to a Mixed Green, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad, too.
Of course, it also elevates everyday salads into the realm of extra tastiness. Toss your favorite garden salad in this dressing, try it on a Simple Spinach Salad, or drizzle it over a fresh Cucumber Tomato Salad.
Try it on pasta salad or in your favorite wrap for a way to jazz up your lunch staples.
Storing Balsamic Vinaigrette
Because vinegar-based salad dressings like this one have such a high acidity content, they keep for a good long while if stored correctly. After preparing the dressing, pour it into a mason jar and secure the lid tightly.
Store the dressing in the refrigerator where it should keep for several months. You can store it at room temperature as well, but I try to use it much more quickly when it is stored that way. Of course, you’ll find yourself reaching it for it so often that it’s bound to be gone long before then.
The oil and vinegar may separate during storage so just give the jar a nice shake to get everything all mixed together again before using. If you have a leftover bottle from store-bought salad dressing, you can totally wash and reuse it as a vessel for your homemade dressing!
Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, balsamic, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic. Add the oil and whisk thoroughly to combine. Continue whisking until the dressing is fully emulsified. Store in a jar with a lid and refrigerate or store at room temperature. Shake well before serving.
Balsamic Dressing
While this is truly a perfect go-to salad dressing recipe for any food that calls for a vinaigrette, I’ve made tons of variations on the recipe for different types of salads.
White Balsamic Vinaigrette is a take on balsamic vinaigrette that uses white balsamic and light olive oil that I love on an Orange Parsley Salad. When I’m in the mood for a slightly sweeter take on this recipe, I make Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette and for garlic lovers try Garlic and Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette, and spice lovers must give my recipe for Honey Lime Jalapeño Vinaigrette try.
This balsamic vinaigrette is a staple recipe you must add to your cooking repertoire. It’ll never steer you wrong and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Kitchen Tip: I use this whisk and this jar to make this recipe.
Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly crushed black pepper finely ground
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the honey, balsamic, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic. Add the oil and whisk thoroughly to combine. Continue whisking until the dressing is fully emulsified.
- Store in a jar with a lid and refrigerate. Shake well before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 3/22/12 – recipe notes updated 3/12/21}
Hi Mary! I made this dressing 3 days ago and am in love!!I stored it in the fridge in a mason jar with a lid. I used it the first night and it was fantastic! I used it last night and it was quite a bit thicker. Tonight I got it out and the oil/honey, maybe(?) have solidified. Is this normal? Thank you for your response!!
I’m so glad you like the dressing! It will separate again as it warms and you’ll be able to shake it together. I just keep it on the countertop these days, as we go through it so quickly and there are no ingredients here that will spoil at room temp.
First let me say, this is a great balsamic vinaigrette recipe Mary has developed!!! My main goto salad dressing since finding your recipe here!
Not to mention it can be made with all natural healthy ingrediehts balsamic, raw honey, spices. The health benefits of just those first two is quite extensive. I strongly recommend using a good quality salad balsamic (it should be in a tinted glass bottle) and a good local raw honey.
To comment and add those by Mary about thickening, separation, and food safety, I too, leave it on the counter. It is room temp safe, IME. I make it in larger quantity, quart size amounts which are left @ 70°F, my average kitchen temp, for over a month with no issues. I have been doing this with similar basic vinaigrettes for over 25 yrs now. Never an issue. It can thicken a bit after the first few hours but stays fairly consistent in viscosity after that. It can still and likely will separate (it’s oil and water after all with no emulsifier) but the honey part should not solidify/gell, unless it’s very cold . If you find after shaking it becomes thicker than you find ideal, I would simply add a tiny bit of water to get the viscosity I am after. The following time, I adjust for a bit more vinegar or simply include the added water, if taste intensity is where I want it.
As with any basic vinaigrette, it will need to be shaken, as it will keep separating over time. If you want a permanent solution to the separation, you can add a tiny pinch (⅛ tsp/0.5-1 gram) sunflower or soy lethicin powder to the intial recipe. Lethicin is a strong emulsifier and will keep this dressing from separating. Unlike egg yokes its room temp safe and tasteless without needed heat sterilization or activation. It’s the main emulsifier used in most all commercial recipes in need of an emulsifier.
If you have used or recall Viva Italian Vinaigrette spice packs that also come with the glass shaker bottle that were first super popular in 80s & 90s. They always thicken up considerably after a couple hours because of the addition of soy lethicin in their ingredients.
I recommend sunflow lethicin to soy. Amazon carries it and it can be quite handy to have in your pantry if you cook from scratch a lot and make up your own recipes. The smallest bag (a few ounces) will last a very long time for home use.
If you want to intesify the balsamic profile do a slight reduction of the balsamic in a sauce pan low-med heat prior to combining ingredients.
Again, a fantastic vinegarette!! Thank you for sharing it!
I’m thrilled you love it and I appreciate the detailed comment with your tips too!
Quick, easy, and yummy!
I’m glad you like it!
Delicious! I made a mixed green salad with goat cheese, walnuts and unsweetened dried cranberries. This dressing was perfection made just as directed. The only mustard I had on hand was Coleman’s brand though – a hot tangy English blend. But next time I’ll try with Dijon. However I’m loving it as is!
I’m so glad you love it!
I added some finally grated Asiago cheese, and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you like the dressing!
Super solid recipe. Had to use a T of agave and a T of Honey because I was low and it still turned out great. The balsamic wasn’t too overpowering either. Thanks!
I’m glad you like the dressing!
What is the serving size? Thanks!
The recipe will make approximately 20 tablespoons worth of the dressing.
This is a wonderful recipe! I absolutely love it. Had it on salad, vegetables and drizzled on roasted chicken. This will be my go to recipe from now on. Thank you!
I’m thrilled that you’re enjoying the dressing!
Made it with all ingredients listed in the original recipe. Yum! Thoughts on using Avocado Oil instead of Olive Oil?
I’ve never tried that. If it doesn’t have a strong flavor, it should work pretty much the same.
This is an absolutely delicious dressing. We used it on a spinach salad with feta cheese. It will now become my go-to balsamic vinaigrette! Thank you so much for sharing!
I’m happy to hear that you’re enjoying the dressing so much.
So delicious! I took it to friends to dress a apple, blueberry, candied pecan salad and was asked about the delicious dressing!
Mmmmm bet that was delicious, Cathleen.
Hi Mary, what ingredient would you use to make this creamy? Mayo? I love this recipe but also love balsamic creamy too. Thank you!
Cyn
A bit of mayo would do that, Cyn.
Being a New Englander – we use maple syrup in place of the honey – best dressing ever!
mmmmm sounds great!
I used maple syrup, too!! and I had white maple balsamic vinegar so I also used that!! incredible flavor! fantastic dressing!!
I’m thrilled you’re enjoying the dressing.
In love with this recipe!
I’m so happy to hear it, DaNae!
This is the absolute best and perfect recipe. Thank you for sharing!!
I’m thrilled you like it!
This is the absolute best and perfect recipe. Thank you for sharing!! I come back to this page time and again and printed it to my official kitchen binder.
I’m so happy to hear it!
This stuff is delicious!!
I’m thrilled you love it!
Best dressing ever!
I’m so glad you like it!
This is fantastic vinaigrette!! I’ve made it several times, and it is always delicious. this time I used two tablespoons of maple syrup instead of the honey, and I used a white maple balsamic vinegar. my sister and I were talking about how many ways we could use it! thank you for the recipe!!
I’m so glad you like it!
This is my go-to favorite dressing. I have been making it a long time. I was having problems with it solidifying (running warm water over bottle until I could shake). I just reread your post…I believe I will leave it out now. Is only me using it so sometimes I skip a few days.
Sometimes I add a bit of finely chopped red onion-but will probably not for fear it will turn if I leave it sitting out.
I’m glad you like it so much, Susan!
I made this tonight for a watermelon salad, exactly as written. OMG! I could drink the dressing!
This will be my Balsamic Dressing forever!! Why buy!
Thank you for sharing!
I’m thrilled it’s a hit!