Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

This Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing is what you’ll want to add to all your salads! It’s easy to whip up, tastes way better than any of the bottled stuff and you can even make it ahead to always have some on hand!

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette

We always have a jar of homemade salad dressing in the fridge, and this here is a classic I make again and again, just like my Honey Mustard Dressing! Balsamic vinaigrette goes with so many different salads – cherry tomato salad, spinach salad, a tossed salad, tomato salad… So versatile, it never has to get boring.

• It’s so easy to make at home! There really is no need to buy bottled salad dressing once you know how easy it is to make your own! A matter of 5 minutes, tops.
• It’s meal prep friendly. I usually make a batch and store it in the fridge. This recipe makes 1 cup and that amount easily lasts us for a week. I’ll often make half batches of two different dressings to switch it up a bit – my Lemon Poppy Seed Salad Dressing would be a good candidate!
• It‘s sooo tasty! I may even have eaten it with a spoon before. That’s how delicious it is!

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Olive oil and balsamic vinegar: These are the two main ingredients of the vinaigrette, so I recommend to buy the best quality you can afford. For the balsamic vinegar, there are many, many different qualities and varieties out there to buy. This recipe uses regular balsamic vinegar, not the thicker balsamic cream – so be mindful of that. The acidity of your specific balsamic will also greatly affect the outcome of this recipe. I use a sweeter balsamic for dressings, if yours is very acidic you may need to add more honey to balance it out.
• Honey: A runny, mild-tasting honey is best in this recipe. You need it to thicken the dressing and to sweeten it. But you don’t want a strong honey that overpowers the vinaigrette.
• Mustard: I used Dijon mustard, but yellow mustard works really well, too.
• Garlic powder: I much prefer using garlic powder over freshly minced garlic in a salad dressing. The reason being that fresh garlic can be really hard to gauge, and if you make the dressing ahead, it will get stronger over time. Garlic powder is much more mild and will not develop the same sharp flavors as fresh garlic tends to.

How to make a Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

This is a walk-through of the recipe with step photos. Skip to the printable recipe card at the bottom for exact times and temperatures.

1. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

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Either store in the fridge or use immediately on a salad.

Can you believe it’s THAT easy to make your own homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing? Ridiculous.

Recipe tips

• If I’m only making one batch to use immediately, I’ll whisk it up straight in the salad bowl (no need to dirty another dish!).
• If I want a large batch for storage I just add all ingredients to a lidded jar, close the lid, shake and place in the fridge labelled with the date for up to 5 days.

By the way, I love using small Weck jars to store my salad dressings. Their lids are not THE most convenient ones, but I far prefer them over the metal lids Ball jars come with, because those lids get rusty very quickly when in touch with the acid from the vinegar. The Weck jars have glass lids (I don’t put a rubber seal when I just keep salad dressing in the fridge!) that can be washed indefinitely.

You can find the small Weck jars from the photo above (affiliate link; I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through) here on Amazon, but there’s also large ones available if you want to store a larger amount of dressing.

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Recipe first published on 03/28/2018. Updated with new photos and text on 04/05/2021.

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