Balsamic Vinegar Dressing is my absolute favorite! It goes so perfectly on so many different salads. You will love this easy balsamic dressing recipe made with only 5 ingredients. It is full of flavor and can even be used as a marinade!
Letting Homemade Salad Dressing Rest
This salad dressing can be enjoyed right away, however letting it sit in the refrigerator overnight to rest helps the flavors of the ingredients to marinate and combine which makes the flavor of the dressing even better.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Make sure that you use quality olive oil when you are making salad dressings as it is the bulk of the dressing.Balsamic Vinegar: The dark, rich, concentrated vinegar is so flavorful and blends perfectly with the olive oil to create a decadent dressing.Honey Mustard: This gives a nice subtle sweetness to the dressing recipe. If you don’t have it on hand you can use brown mustard or yellow mustard and add 1/4 teaspoon more sugar or a little honey.Garlic Cloves: Make sure to get this as finely minced as possible. To do this, you could use a lemon zester.Sugar: Just like a little salt enhances a recipe, the tiny bit of sugar in this recipe really balances the rich flavor of the balsamic vinegar.Salt & Pepper: Finally, the salt and pepper in this recipe pull all of the other flavors together.Mayonnaise: The emulsifier for the oil and vinegar, adding a little mayonnaise helps to prevent the dressing from separating. Read more on this below.
Whisk together the balsamic vinegar and mayonnaise. Read more on this below.Add the other ingredients. You can do this in a mason jar with a lid or in a bowl.Mix well. If you make this dressing in a mason jar, give it a good shake until all ingredients are combined and mixed. I think it works really well to whisk the ingredients together in a bowl to make sure the mustard incorporates all the way and the salt and the pepper dissolve.Refrigerate overnight. See why this step is important below.
Mix a small amount of mayonnaise with the vinegar. The mayonnaise works as an emulsifier. Emulsifying is a fun chemistry trick and the emulsifier works to bind the two parts (in this case oil and vinegar) together. The mayonnaise isn’t required, but will hold the dressing together without changing the taste. It will even keep it from solidifying in the refrigerator. Extra virgin olive oil is less processed and more pure than regular olive oil. It is better for you and also has a better taste, making it perfect for a salad dressing. When it comes to cooking, regular olive oil is a better option because it has a higher smoke point and won’t burn as easily.
Mixed greens: You could use kale, arugula, baby spinach, butterhead lettuce, leaf lettuce, romaine, or any kind you like.Feta Cheese: Feta is perfect for salads because while mild, it also has a tangy, slightly salty flavor that gives the salad a little bulk without weighing down the other ingredients. Other great cheese options are goat cheese, mozzarella, or shaved parmesan. Red onion: Onions help pull out the sweetness in salads. Red onions, scallions and shallots all can do this. If you want to make the onion milder, soak it in the balsamic vinegar dressing before adding it.Kalamata Olives: These gorgeous, dark purple olives have a meaty texture that tastes so delicious in this Greek style salad. You can use regular black olives or green olives too.Cucumbers: I really love using the seedless variety, but you can use any kind you like.
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Let me know what you think of this recipe by leaving me a comment below. I love hearing from you! Enjoy!
