Tangy, sweet, and flavorful Champagne Vinaigrette is a salad dressing you’ll want to keep on hand.
Have you ever tried Champagne Vinaigrette? Made with slightly sweet and tangy champagne vinegar, champagne vinaigrette strikes different notes than your everyday vinaigrette.
I was inspired to try my hand at this type of salad dressing while eating lunch at The Arrogant Butcher a few years ago. I chatted with the waitress about how much I enjoyed the dressing and she told me that she’d been trying to copy it at home herself.
Champagne Salad Dressing
The server told me that their dressing is basically a 2:1 ratio of champagne vinegar and sugar. Starting with that valuable information, I headed home with a mission: to recreate this a perfect light, tangy champagne salad dressing.
After playing with the recipe a bit, I came up with this version that tastes very close to the dressing we enjoyed at the restaurant. I’m excited I managed to duplicate it and know this is bound to become a staple salad dressing in my house.
Champagne Vinaigrette Recipe
The champagne vinaigrette recipe starts with a full cup of champagne vinegar. If you’ve never used with this type of vinegar before, you’re in for a treat. It’s similar to standard white wine vinegar but lighter and milder.
White sugar is added to the vinegar to balance the tartness, followed by minced shallots, the slightest amount of cumin and olive oil. Blend everything together until well combined then pour into a glass jar or bottle until you’re ready to use it.
It’s easy as that!
The first time I made this, I drizzled champagne vinaigrette over a simple salad of chopped greens, cucumber and tomato. The dressing elevated the basic salad to something special.
Try it over mixed greens, your favorite garden salad or tossed with cooked chicken in a wrap for a light lunch. Champagne vinaigrette is delicious in any recipe that calls for a tangy, sweet and flavorful vinaigrette salad dressing.
This salad dressing can be made ahead of time and then stored in the fridge until you need it. I like to make a double batch for weeks when I know I’ll be eating a lot of salads for lunch. It’s also an ideal dressing to keep around to toss over any side salad at dinnertime.
Simply shake the jar of dressing before serving to make sure all the ingredients recombine.
Once you get into the habit of whipping up your own homemade salad dressings, you’ll never buy store-bought again. It’s almost unbelievably easy!
Champagne Vinaigrette Recipe
- Combine all ingredients in the blender and puree until emulsified and slightly thickened.
- Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Drizzle a small amount onto salad and toss well to coat. Store remaining dressing in the refrigerator.
Cook’s Note: If you can’t find champagne vinaigrette in your grocery store, white balsamic vinaigrette will also work nicely.
Salad Dressing Recipes
Homemade salad dressings are so easy to make and often much more cost effective than the store-bought stuff. With the amount of salads we eat in this house, I’ve acquired quite a large repertoire of dressing recipes over the years.
There’s a special place in my heart for balsamic vinaigrette recipes. This Balsamic Vinaigrette is my favorite so far and I try to always keep a batch around for making a quick salad or wrap.
If you like this champagne vinaigrette recipe, you’re also bound to enjoy my White Balsamic Vinaigrette. Made with white balsamic vinegar, we especially love it served on Orange Parsley Salad.
Another favorite for salads containing fruit is our Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing. I enjoyed this sweet dressing served over a Blueberry Apple Walnut Salad.
Those who love a little heat with their sweet should also bookmark the Honey Lime Jalapeño Vinaigrette I shared. It’s a honey vinaigrette that leaves just a bit of lingering heat to make the spice lovers among us happy!
If it’s a creamy dressing your after, give our Homemade Ranch Dressing or Bacon Chipotle Ranch Dressing a try. You might also like this Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing by Valerie’s Kitchen.
Champagne Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 cup champagne vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon very finely minced shallots or sweet yellow onion
- 1/6 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup light flavored olive oil
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in the blender and puree until emulsified and slightly thickened.
- Pour into a glass jar and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Drizzle a small amount onto salad and toss well to coat. Store remaining dressing in the refrigerator. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
{original recipe published 10/27/12 – recipe notes and photos updated 1/8/21}
Taylor says
I love champagne vinaigrette!! I actually have a bottle of champagne vinegar so I am definitely going to try this so I can stop buying the store bought kind!
Sue/the view from great island says
This sounds really similar to a salad dressing that we have every spring when we visit my dad in Florida–it's a champagne vinegar based dressing with shallots and I'm always trying to recreate it. The one we get is slightly pink and I haven't figured out what makes the color yet.
Carolyn Milschewski says
Way too much vinegar. Could not eat.
Mary Younkin says
I’m sorry to hear that, Carolyn. How much vinegar did you end up adding to the vinaigrette? Regardless, I hope your next recipe turns out more successfully.