Looking for a delicious Honey Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe? This homemade dressing is perfect for all of your favorite salad recipes. It's simple to make, with so much flavor, and a great way to dress up a simple green salad. Made with staple ingredients, and ready in no time!
Please note: This recipe was originally published in April of 2018, but it has been rephotographed and updated in May 2022. We hope you enjoy it!
Does it get better than homemade salad dressings? In our opinion, making your own salad dressing is one of the simple ways of taking your salad to the next level.
Green salads are no longer boring with delicious homemade vinaigrette dressing! You only need a few minutes and ingredients to make this simple recipe.
Try this easy lemon vinaigrette on this simple arugula spinach salad, strawberry goat cheese salad, this steak salad, or even on this keto shrimp salad. The options are endless!
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❤️Why we love this recipe
- Made with simple ingredients - You most likely have everything you need for this lemon vinaigrette dressing at home already. Anything you don't already have can be picked up at any grocery store!
- Quick and easy - This dressing is ready in under 15 minutes, and that's including the prep time!
- Super-versatile - The options are endless with this recipe. Use it on nearly any salad you can think of for a great pop of flavor. Make perfect spring and summer salads, or everyday salads any time of the year.
- No special equipment needed - While our preferred method for making this dressing quick and easy is in a food processor or high powered blender, it can also be made by hand with a whisk, or shaken up in mason jars!
- Healthier option - This recipe is refined sugar free, since it's sweetened with just a little bit of honey. It's naturally gluten free, low carb, and dairy free. To make it vegan, you could swap the honey for your favorite substitute.
🍯Ingredients
Below are the ingredients used in this recipe. We will provide ideas for substitutions further on in the post. You can find nutritional information and full quantities in the recipe card.
✏️Ingredient notes
- Fresh garlic - Mince up some garlic to bring the flavor of this dressing to the next level. You could substitute for garlic powder if you prefer.
- Apple cider vinegar - You could also substitute for some red wine vinegar.
- Dijon mustard - Adds a nice zing flavor to the dressing.
- Honey or honey substitute - Honey is what we use to make this dressing, and it adds such a lovely flavor and natural sweetness.
- Kosher salt & black pepper- Pretty standard seasoning wise, add to taste.
- Dried oregano - You could also add in some other herbs like dried thyme, basil, rosemary, or really whatever you like. Oregano is perfect and versatile for us, so it suits a lot of different salads.
- Extra virgin olive oil - Use something high quality here. Again, this is the base of your dressing and will add a lot of flavor.
- Fresh lemons - Fresh lemon juice is obviously the base flavor of this dressing. Feel free to add in lemon zest, too!
📖Instructions
Add olive oil and apple cider vinegar to a food processor.
Now add the oregano, black pepper, salt, dijon mustard, honey, garlic, and lemon juice.
Food process until smooth, and chill in the fridge before time to use to allow the flavors to combine.
Serve and enjoy! Try it with this cabbage carrot & herb salad, or a simple spinach arugula salad (coming soon).
🍋Other uses for this dressing
- To dress a pasta salad.
- As a quick marinade for fish or chicken.
- Use it on proteins in the slow cooker to season it.
- Cook it with proteins on the stovetop for extra flavor!
💭Frequently asked questions
Yes, you can definitely make this dressing with a whisk or in a mason jar, but you will just need a bit more elbow grease. A dressing made with this method will probably separate in the fridge, and you will likely need to re-shake or whisk it each time before using.
Here are a few tips:
- Mince the garlic up really fine before adding it to the dressing.
- You could potentially heat the honey for a few seconds to help the dressing emulsify easier.
- Whisk or shake vigorously until emulsified.
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🥗More salad dressings to try
🥣Storage
Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 10 days. Do not freeze.
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📖 Recipe
Honey Lemon Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 4 ounces olive oil
- 1 whole lemon (juiced)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor.
- Food process, whisk or shake in a mason jar until everything is emulsified.
- Now, simply taste, adjust seasonings if need be, then serve with whatever salad you want. You can store this dressing in the fridge for about 7 days in an airtight container.
Notes
- Feel free to swap honey with your favorite substitute to suit your preference.
- Use as a marinade, in the slow cooker or on the stovetop with proteins, or on pasta salad!
- Use a food processor, whisk, or a mason jar to make this dressing.
- Champagne or red wine vinegar can be used in place of apple cider vinegar.
Tan says
It’s very tasty dressing. I like spicy so I put in 5 big cloves of garlic and 1 tablespoon of spicy vinegar with 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. It turned out great for me. Thank you!
Briana says
That sounds delicious Tan, thanks so much for your review! 🙂
Veronica says
This is a fabulous recipe. The only thing I do different is add fresh basil instead of oregano. It’s so fresh and everyone asks for the recipe.
Briana says
Fresh basil sounds so good in this! We're so happy you enjoy it so much, thank you so much for the awesome comment! 🙂
Chellie Lynn says
Absolutely delightful! I am on a keto diet so this is perfect for a healthy diet, PLUS it's truly delishous!
Briana says
Aww yay!! We're so glad to hear this, Chellie! Thanks for the comment 🙂
Heather B says
This is absolutely delicious and my go to dressing for pasta salad…. well any salad!
Briana says
This is so great to hear Heather! Thanks so much!! 🙂
Dina Alley says
Best lemon vinaigrette I’ve made! I’ve swapped this for all others. Thanks so much!
Briana says
You made our day, Dina! So glad you enjoy it and thank you so much for the kind review! 🙂
Elena Murphy says
I wanted a special dressing for my homegrown lettuce and this was perfect! It will be my new favorite!
Jaime says
How big is a serving if it makes 12 servings? Looks so good!
Briana says
Hey Jamie, We're not exactly sure, but to find out, you could weigh the entire amount of dressing with a food scale, and then divide by 12. We didn't actually do it ourselves, but we feel like it's a very solid amount of dressing when we make it!
Penny says
Love it!
Briana says
Thank you so much Penny!