This lemon vinaigrette pairs extra virgin olive oil and champagne vinegar with fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, Dijon mustard, and maple syrup to create a crisp citrusy salad dressing perfect for summer. This light dressing is quick and easy to whip up when your salad is in desperate need of a little tang, your power bowl needs a little extra pizzazz, or you want a new marinade for your next outdoor barbecue.
What is a Vinaigrette?
Building a vinaigrette is really very simple. By definition, a vinaigrette is simply a dressing made up of oil, vinegar, and seasonings. But you can make it so much more than that if you want. Once you have the pattern down you can make countless variations depending on your mood, in-season produce, or even just the ingredients you have in your kitchen!
We love this lemon vinaigrette, peach vinaigrette, and agave citrus vinaigrette during summer months, and turn towards balsamic, poppy seed, and apple vinaigrettes during the fall and winter.
Vinaigrette Ingredients
Vinegar & Oil: The base of a vinaigrette is generally made up of a 1:3 ratio of vinegar to oil. This ratio gives the dressing the right amount of body without letting the acid or oil overpower the flavor.
We prefer olive oil because of its nutty flavor. Some recipes suggest using more neutral “salad” oils like canola, grape seed, or vegetable oil. This recipe calls for champagne vinegar because it has a crisper, lighter flavor, but white wine vinegar works just as well.
Plus, I like to think I’m fancy. *clinks imaginary glass of champagne. 😉
Emulsifier/Binder: You should include an emulsifier for binding purposes. As you know, oil and vinegar do not mix. That is where emulsifiers (aka “binding agents”) come in. They help keep the oil and water within a mixture finely dispersed within each other, resulting in a smooth, non-separating dressing.
The most common binding agents are egg yolk, mayonnaise, tomato paste, and mustard (Dijon or ground mustard). For our recipe, we are using Dijon mustard, but feel free to swap in ground mustard or vegan Dijon mustard to keep this recipe vegan.
Seasonings/Herbs/Produce: Add some herbs, juices, fresh produce, and seasonings to give your vinaigrette more oomph. This recipe uses lemon juice and zest as well as salt, pepper, and a hint of maple syrup/date syrup for sweetness. Since both vinegar and lemon juice are an acid, we will step down our vinegar proportion ever so slightly.
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How to Make Lemon Vinaigrette
The trick with getting your dressing to become well blended is getting the oil droplets well suspended within the vinegar. You can do this using the three easy methods outlined below.
Whatever method you choose, you’ll still end up with a tasty, (mostly) blended dressing.
This recipe is small batch and yields roughly 3/4 cup of dressing. This recipe is easy to scale up, based on your need.
Method 1: Blending
Let a blender do all of the work for you. Simply combine all the ingredients in the blender and blend several minutes until smooth. The vigorousness of blending will definitely create the small oil droplets we are looking for. From my experience, the blender creates the most consistent and emulsified results.
Method 2: Mason Jar
Combine all of the ingredients in a mason jar and vigorously shake for a few minutes until you’re positive the ingredients are well mixed. It’s slightly easier than whisking, but still gets you an arm workout. Also, since you added the oil all at once, rather than in the slow thin stream, your dressing will likely be loosely blended and will likely separate over time.
Method 3: Whisking
Vigorously whisk your dressing while slowly adding oil to the mixture in a thin stream. The whisking breaks down the oils into small droplets that are then suspended within the vinegar with the help of the mustard.
And now that you have the formula for making a vinaigrette, you can swap out your choice of oil, vinegar, herbs, juices, and emulsifiers switch it up for every season. The options really are limitless!
How to Store Lemon Vinaigrette
Store any unused vinaigrette in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I don’t generally recommend keeping fresh dressings much longer than that. Fortunately this is a small batch recipe, so you shouldn’t have too much leftover dressing to worry about.
Please note, that separation is fairly common with vinaigrettes. Bring to room temperature about 20 minutes before using and vigorously shake to remix the ingredients..
What to Eat with Vinaigrette Dressings
- Summer peach pasta salad
- Pasta salad (swap out avocado dressing)
- Greek pasta salad (swap out lemon herb vinaigrette)
- Coconut shrimp bowls
- Herb chicken and peach bowls
- Summer strawberry couscous
Lemon Vinaigrette: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What are the ratios for traditional vinaigrette – traditionally, vinaigrettes use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. We like to use 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar in our recipes to cut back a little on the fat content and to add a little extra sharpness.
- Is vinaigrette healthier than salad dressing – vinaigrettes are typically healthier/lighter than other creamy dressings, like Caesar or ranch, especially if you’re making your own as you can control the oil: vinegar ratio as well as added sugars and sodium.
- What is the shelf life of vinaigrette – we typically keep our vinaigrette in the refrigerator for 5 days, especially if it contains fresh herbs or garlic.
Check out some of our other dressing recipes:
Let us know what you think about this recipe for lemon vinaigrette by dropping a rating and/or comment on the recipe card below! We love to hear from you! Also, please share on Pinterest and social media if you enjoyed this recipe (it means a lot to us when you share!!).
Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ½ c extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp champagne vinegar
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp Dijon or ground mustard
- 3 tsp maple or date syrup
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Method 1 (Blender): Blend all vinaigrette ingredients in a blender at high speed for several minutes until smooth.
- Method 2 (Mason Jar): Combine all ingredients in a mason jar and shake vigorously for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until smooth.
- Method 3 (Whisking): Combine all ingredients, except the oil, in a small bowl. Slowly add the oil in a thin stream while vigorously whisking the mixture.
- Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Vigorously shake before using if separation has occurred.
Notes
- Blending the vinaigrette will yield the smoothest emulsified vinaigrette. Whisking by hand will also result in a well emulsified vinaigrette, but with less consistent results, depending on how quickly you add the oil, how thoroughly you whisk, etc. Shaking the vinaigrette in a mason jar will loosely emulsify the vinaigrette and the oil and vinegar layers will likely separate over time.
- To keep this recipe vegan, use a vegan Dijon mustard or ground mustard.
FAQ
- What are the ratios for traditional vinaigrette – traditionally, vinaigrettes use 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. We like to use 2 parts oil to 1 part vinegar in our recipes to cut back a little on the fat content and to add a little extra sharpness.
- Is vinaigrette healthier than salad dressing – vinaigrettes are typically healthier/lighter than other creamy dressings, like Caesar or ranch, especially if you’re making your own as you can control the oil: vinegar ratio as well as added sugars and sodium.
- What is the shelf life of vinaigrette – we typically keep our vinaigrette in the refrigerator for 5 days, especially if it contains fresh herbs or garlic.
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