Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

At a glance

What stands out: Sweet and tangy honey mustard vinaigrette has become our go-to salad dressing. It comes together quickly with household staples and is a major crowd-pleaser! From-scratch vinaigrettes are straightforward to mix.

How long it takes: just 5 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: small jar with lid OR small bowl and whisk
Servings: makes 9 oz.

Salads are our go-to lunch. We often have lunch with our neighbor and it’s usually a joint effort. We'll text her and say, we have salad and dressing. She comes over armed with feta and pita chips to top the salad. It’s a pretty awesome arrangement if you think about it. We always tell her we hit the neighbor jackpot, and we did.

The first time we made this vinaigrette, we didn’t measure any of the ingredients or write down the recipe. Since then, we've made this vinaigrette more times than we can count. In fact, we have a jar of honey mustard vinaigrette in our refrigerator right now (we pretty much always do).

We find myself throwing away pre-made dressings when we buy them because we never finish the bottle. It’s much easier to reach for our olive oil and dressing jar and shake up our own concoction.

Straightforward Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Works well on lots of salads. This honey mustard vinaigrette goes great on a fresh green salad and since it’s on the sweet side, it works well for salads that include fruit, too. We love it on warm salads or bowls made with grains and roasted vegetables, like this roasted cauliflower salad with arugula & sweet potato, or warm kale salad with roasted root vegetables. When we cook beets, we dress them up with a drizzle of this dressing.

Only 4 ingredients! To make this dressing, you only need honey, mustard, vinegar and olive oil. We season it with salt and pepper so we guess technically, that’s 6 ingredients. You probably have all the ingredients already in your pantry and fridge. Straightforward peasy.

So much better than store-bought. Once you try from-scratch vinaigrettes, you’ll never go back to store-bought. In fact, just for grins, we took a look at the ingredient list for a popular brand of honey mustard dressing. It’s pretty grim. Let’s just say that the first ingredient is water, the second is soybean oil, and it gets worse from there.

Just the beginning! Start your salad dressing adventure with this honey mustard vinaigrette recipe. You won’t be sorry. And don’t worry, we have lots more recipes for you to try so be sure to check out our list of straightforward salad dressing recipes.

What goes in

• Olive Oil: Choose a good quality olive oil for vinaigrettes since it’s a pretty major component. Did you know that olive oil has lighter benefits? It’s high in monounsaturated fats (the good kind of fat), and contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. No soybean oil here.
• White Balsamic Vinegar: You may be more familiar with regular dark balsamic vinegar. White balsamic vinegar is made from light colored grapes so it’s a beautiful golden color. It’s lightly sweet and tangy. If you prefer, apple cider vinegar can be substituted.
• Dijon Mustard: We usually choose a smooth Dijon although sometimes we mix it up with a grainier mustard. Both are great. This is not the place for plain yellow mustard.
• Honey: If your honey happens to be stiff or crystallized, put it briefly in the microwave to loosen it up. The vinaigrette has a fair amount of honey so it’s on the sweet side. While the photos have it styled with a fresh green vegetable salad, it goes well with salads that contain fruit, too.
• Salt and Pepper: Season the vinaigrette, to taste.

How it comes together

Put all of the ingredients in a small clean jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake the jar vigorously until the the vinaigrette is blended.

Alternatively, you can put the ingredients into a small bowl, and then slowly add the oil while whisking until the vinaigrette comes together. This method is best for emulsifying the vinaigrette.

Check the seasoning before you serve the dressing. Add more salt and pepper, if needed.

P.S. If you prefer a creamier honey mustard dressing instead of a vinaigrette, try our honey mustard dressing. It’s great for dipping! Our honey mustard chicken marinade is popular, too.

Keeping leftovers

Store the vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to a week. You may notice that the oil congeals because of the cold temperature. Let the vinaigrette set at room temperature for 15 minutes or so before you use it. A faster method is to remove the lid of the jar and microwave the vinaigrette for 10 to 15 seconds, replace the cover, and shake.

• Yield: 9
• Prep: 5 minutes
• Total: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ cup white balsamic vinegar
• ¼ cup honey
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

Method

1. Add olive oil, vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper to a small jar or container with tightly fitting lid. Shake well to combine.
2. Alternate method: Measure the vinegar, honey, mustard, salt and pepper into a small bowl or measuring cup. Add olive oil slowly while whisking until dressing emulsifies.
3. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if necessary. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Notes

Storage: Vinaigrette will keep in the refrigerator for up to a week. If the olive oil congeals because of the cold temperature, allow the vinaigrette to come to room temperature (15 minutes), and shake well. Another method is to remove the lid, microwave for 10 to 15 seconds, replace the lid, and shake well.

Yield: Makes a little more than a cup of dressing, about 9 ounces.

Serving suggestions: This versatile vinaigrette goes well with green lettuce salad, salads with fruit, grain bowls, or to drizzle on roasted vegetables.