The Best Simple Salad Vinaigrette
Looking for a simple salad dressing that’s easy to whip up and tastes like perfection? Look no further! This is the best simple salad vinaigrette you can easily make with only a few ingredients. Olive Oil, Dijon Mustard & Apple Cider Vinegar combined with a few simple seasonings found in your spice cabinet. The tangy, sweet flavors pair well with anything you like to top your salads with.
The Best Simple Salad Vinaigrette
This is the best simple salad vinaigrette you can easily make with only a few ingredients found in your fridge and spice cabinet. The tangy, sweet flavors pair well with anything you like to top your salads with.
Ingredients
- 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
- 1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Tbsp Maple Syrup
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
Instructions
- In a pint jar or small bowl combine all ingredients. Place lid on jar and shake until all of the ingredients are combined.
- While it is nice to allow this dressing to sit for at least an hour or so before using on a salad you don't need to if you're running short on time. It's just as delicious!
Notes
- Any extra dressing stores well in a sealed container in the fridge. In fact, we've found the flavor enhances and the ingredients combine better after it has chilled for several hours or a day or two.
- Salad tip 1: make your salad, toss with dressing, and allow it to sit for 15 minutes before serving. This allows the lettuce to wilt slightly and be infused with the vinaigrette goodness!
- Salad tip 2: no salad is complete around here without a good cheese like parmesan and greek kalamata olives. Both pair so well with this vinaigrette!
Why this is the best simple salad vinaigrette…
I realize many of you may think making your own salad dressing seems like a hassle when you can purchase some at the store already made up. Well, I don’t think I’m going to convince you until you try it for yourself. So I’ll tell you about the ingredients, let you try it, and then you let me know how you like it!
There are many benefits of making your own vinaigrette. You can choose a high quality olive oil over highly processed soybean oils or seed oils. Often this is the first and easiest step for a lot of families to remove fake oils, chemicals, and stabilizers from their diet. Another benefit is the limitless possibilities of flavors. With the foundation of olive oil, an acid like ACV, a little maple syrup, and some dijon mustard you can create dressings for any salad. Just add your favorite herbs! As a young girl, experimenting with the flavors in the spice cabinet to create my own dressing was my favorite task in the kitchen.
Olive Oil
It’s starts here. Once you’ve had good olive oil it’s hard to go back. We have gotten so removed from real food we don’t realize how terrible the imitations are until we’ve had the real thing!
Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Not only does it give this vinaigrette the classic sour twang, it’s loaded with microbial goodness which could technically make this dressing fermented. (?) Ha!
Maple Syrup
The true star of the show here. Maple syrup compliments the salt and the sour perfectly.
Dijon Mustard
Maybe another star of the show! When I started adding mustard to my dressings, it instantly kicked them up a notch.
Dried Oregano, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder
Simple seasoning with big impact. While these seasonings are the foundation of a good vinaigrette, feel free to add to them to create your own herbal goodness.
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Our tips for making an outstanding salad!
- Of course you have to start off with the best simple salad vinaigrette of all time! Prep it ahead so that the flavors can infuse together!
- Use different types of baby greens and lettuces. My dad and brother will hardly touch a salad if it doesn’t include a crunchy lettuce like a romaine. It’s essential to have texture so we often add some finely shredded cabbage to the salad greens as well. This also adds the perfect crunch!
- Toppings are limitless. Throw in whatever you’ve got in the garden or the fridge!
- Remember the two other foundational elements for creating an amazing salad- CHEESE and olives. Nothing beats a good Kalamata Olive with a good vinaigrette!
- Prepare you salad and toss it with dressing at least 15 minutes before serving. This allows the lettuce to slightly wilt and infuse with the amazing flavors in the vinaigrette.
