Name: Apricot Vinaigrette Dressing (straightforward recipe!)
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 4 tablespoons apricot preserves; ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard; 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar; ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil; ¼ teaspoon kosher salt; ⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper, more to taste

Apricot preserves sweetly flavor this bright apricot vinaigrette. It may become your favorite dressing!

At a glance

What stands out: It’s a great way to use up leftover jam!

How long it takes: 5 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: a jar or measuring cup
Servings: 4

Apricot salad dressing in a small glass pitcher.

A simple salad dressing that you can whisk up in just a couple of minutes, this apricot vinaigrette is full of happy flavors and goes evenly with so many salads.

We like it on a simple green salad with cucumbers, sliced dried apricots, candied pepitas, and a sprinkling of cheese, as pictured. It’s equally at home on a spinach salad with fresh apricots, or a grain salad (quinoa, couscous, or bulgar) with roasted butternut squash and kale. Top your salad with air fryer chicken breasts or shrimp, and you’ll find apricot vinaigrette complements those as well.

salad with dried apricots, cucumbers, pepitas.

We guess you could say it’s a multipurpose dressing. Apricot vinaigrette has elements of sweet fruitiness and tang, with just a hint of Dijon. We think you’re going to love it!

Trivia Time!

The Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has a book of short stories titled Apricot Jam and Other Stories? We haven’t read it, have you? We wonder if he ever used apricot jam to make rich apricot vinaigrette. We're guessing probably not, considering his other works.

About this salad dressing

Really, you can whip this dressing up in about 3 minutes. Simply microwave the preserves a few seconds to liquify it, add the rest of the ingredients, and either shake them up or whisk them together. Just a bit of Dijon mustard helps emulsify the dressing. Don’t be tempted to add more; the mustard can easily overpower the dressing.

Dressing in a small glass jar next to a small cutting board with apricots.

Ingredients you’ll need

Apricot Preserves: We like to find a variety without high fructose corn syrup, but use what you like best!
White Wine Vinegar: Apple cider vinegar would also work in this recipe.
Olive Oil: We love the flavor of extra virgin olive oil, but a lighter one will work if that’s all you have. Other decent choices are grape seed oil or avocado oil.
Dijon Mustard: Just a touch of mustard ties it all together and helps the dressing emulsify (so it doesn’t separate).
Seasonings: All you need is salt and pepper! Taste the dressing and add as much as you like.

Change It Up

Like any from-scratch salad dressing, you can easily substitute ingredients, add some of your own, or leave one out. That’s the beauty of from-scratch! Here’s a few ideas:

Use a different vinegar. Substitute white balsamic vinegar, champagne vinegar, or sherry vinegar for the white wine vinegar. Each type of vinegar will change the flavor profile of this dressing so use the one you like best.
Make it sweeter. Like sweet dressing? The preserves are quite sweet but add honey or agave if you have a sweet tooth.
Add lemon. Add a squeeze of lemon juice to brighten the flavor.
Embellish with fresh herbs. Enhance with chopped fresh herbs such as rosemary, sage, or thyme.
Try it with other fruit. Substitute a different fruit preserve, such as cherry, blackberry, or orange marmalade. We love this raspberry vinaigrette recipe which is made with lots of fresh raspberries.
Looking for an apricot glaze for grilling? Try these grilled pork kabobs with apples. The lemony apricot glaze is so, so good!

Make-Ahead Ideas

You can easily make this dressing ahead. If you’re using it within a day, just keep it on the counter in a covered jar or bowl until you’re ready. If you’re planning on using it tomorrow, refrigerate the dressing. Let it set out at room temperature for an hour or so because olive oil has a tendency to solidify when refrigerated. Give the dressing a good shake before using.