All-Purpose Vinaigrette Recipe
Everyone should have a recipe for an all-purpose vinaigrette in their back pocket. Whip this one up for a quick and delicious salad dressing. With ingredients like Dijon mustard and honey, it's a little bit sweet and a little bit zingy, pairing well with most vegetables and salads.
This dressing is a great recipe to use on virtually anything, though. You can use it as a dip for a chicken wrap, serve it on pasta salad, or even use it to marinade steak.
Recipe developer and registered dietitian nutritionist, Kristen Carli, MS, RD, brings us this highly versatile recipe. You can get creative with the ingredients you have on hand to add variety to the sauce. Feel free to substitute other types of vinegar, such as white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar, if you don't have red wine vinegar. You can even substitute lemon juice, should you need to. Let's dive in and make this vinaigrette.
Gather your ingredients for all-purpose vinaigrette
To make this all-purpose vinaigrette, you can start by gathering your ingredients. You'll need olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
The honey is used as an emulsifier
In this recipe, honey is added for a hint of sweetness. It is also used as an emulsifying agent, helping to combine the oil and vinegar, stabilizing the dressing. This results in a creamy texture.
Add the ingredients to a small Mason jar
This recipe could not be any simpler. While you could use a food processor to mix these ingredients, or even whisk the ingredients in a small bowl, Carli recommends using a Mason jar, instead. This way, you can assemble and store the dressing in the same container. We love a dish-saving hack! Start by adding all the ingredients into a Mason jar.
Seal the jar and shake
Cover the Mason jar with an airtight lid. Then, give the jar a good shake. This will help to thoroughly mix the ingredients. And just like that, you're ready to pour the vinaigrette over your favorite salad or store the dressing in the fridge for future use.
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- Pour the olive oil and red wine vinegar into a small Mason jar.
- Add the honey and dijon mustard, then the garlic, salt, and pepper.
- Close with an airtight lid. Shake until the mixture is emulsified.
| Calories per Serving | 555 |
| Total Fat | 54.3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7.5 g |
| Trans Fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 mg |
| Total Carbohydrates | 18.8 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0.6 g |
| Total Sugars | 17.3 g |
| Sodium | 266.9 mg |
| Protein | 0.5 g |
