Lemon Vinaigrette
This Lemon Vinaigrette is my favorite homemade salad dressing, and it’s incredibly simple to make. Store-bought dressing truly doesn’t compare!
I went back and forth for years over whether homemade salad dressing is worth making, since you can buy it so easily at the store.
But my answer has undoubtedly become YES!
Even after trying all the fancy, more expensive salad dressing lines, the flavor just doesn’t compare to homemade.
First, none of the store-bought salad dressings use extra virgin olive oil as the primary oil (as far as I’ve seen), and EVOO is not only the healthiest oil, but also the most spectacular in flavor.
Salad dressing is such a perfect example of how freshness can make things a million times better, and even the refrigerated store-bought salad dressings taste old and flat to me. Homemade is the way to go!
The beauty of this lemon vinaigrette is that it can be made in 5 minutes, and is versatile enough to go with just about everything.
Once you learn this as a base, you can add different ingredients to it.
Sometimes I’ll add fresh herbs like minced rosemary, oregano, or chives, or even umami-rich ingredients like anchovy paste, to change up the flavor.
Lemon Vinaigrette Ingredients:
All you’ll need for this recipe is:
- fresh lemons
- garlic
- extra virgin olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- salt
- pepper
I know it seems really simple, but the flavor is fantastic.
How to Make Lemon Vinaigrette:
Combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest, pressed garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper:
Whisk that together, until it has a milky beige appearance, then slowly whisk in extra virgin olive oil:
Doing this slowly will help emulsify the dressing:
Alternatively, you can place everything in a jar and shake it together for a good 30-60 seconds, until combined.
Then the vinaigrette is ready to use for salads, vegetables, drizzling on fish, and more.
Basil Vinaigrette is another of my favorite salad dressings if you’re a basil fan.
Cilantro Lime Dressing is also another favorite, which I pair with my Steak Salad. Enjoy!
Is Lemon Vinaigrette healthy? Yes, this recipe is Whole30 compliant, low carb, keto friendly, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc! It’s suitable for pretty much every eating style I know of.
Does Lemon Vinaigrette need to be refrigerated? Yes, store in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- zest of 1 lemon (1/4 tsp packed)
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 garlic cloves minced or pressed (1 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Or, place all ingredients in a jar, and shake to combine.
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. Enjoy!
Really great! I took another reviewer’s advice and blitzed it in the food processor. Yum!
Where did you buy the dressing jar used in the photo? It looks to be very functional…and I like the way the lid gets attached
Weck
I made this last night but didn’t scroll down far enough and see the amounts for each ingredient until today! Lol. So I winged it but it still turned out great. I did add anchovy paste because I love it. Really good and refreshing.
Love the flavor combination, but way too salty- dijon has plenty of salt so you could cut the salt by half.
This is great, thanks!
This is great, thanks! (Now with star rating!)
Very easy refreshing salad dressing I love how you can have it plain or add basil both are wonderful just depends what kind of salad your making
I’ve been making this every week for the past few months. I love how fresh and bright the lemon is!
I regret reading this and then making the dressing today. It was so good I literally DRANK teaspoons full of the dressing. I’m disgusted with myself, and I still want more. I used it on my grilled asparagus and a salad. It’s addicting and insanely good. I made one change: doubled the garlic. (No such thing as too much garlic.)
LOL thanks for the laugh. We all need more laughs right now 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi Joanne. I love lemon vinagrette. This is the first one I’ve seen that doesn’t call for sugar or honey etc. So excited to whip it up tomorrow.
Lovedddd it!! Just finish dinner with the family and it was a hit! Thank you!
Help! I’m embarrassed to have somehow messed this up??!! Thought it was really bitter and not delectable, and I WANTED to love it! Is my trusty aldi evoo somehow to blame?? 🙁
Ahhhhmaaazzziinnggg!!! I’ve looked for a good lemon Vinaigrette dressing for so long and I finally found it! So delish, doesn’t need any modifications. Perfect as is!
I’ve made this so many times in the last few months! I’m obsessed and have shared with all my friends. It’s just like my fave dressing from a restaurant that recently closed. Thank you!
Great recipe. I made it as written but it was a little too sour/sharp between the lemon and salt. I added 1/2 tsp of honey to balance the flavors.
My new favorite!!!! Very fresh and delicious!
Oh my. This is unbelievable. Definitely wanting to drink this up before even using on dinner! For Leah’s comment that it was bitter – it definitely shouldn’t be. The directions say to zest one lemon or equal to 1/4 tsp. I had a large lemon, so 1/4 tsp zest only took about 1/8 of the surface area of the lemon, so perhaps an entire (large) lemon was zested on mistake in Leah’s recipe? I can’t think of another way this would be bitter. It is silky and utterly amazing! Thanks for the recipe, this is really, really good.