White Balsamic Vinaigrette (The Only Dressing I Ever Make)
Meet your new favorite homemade dressing: White balsamic vinaigrette. Once you make it, you’ll (almost) never go back to store-bought dressing again!
Quick Overview
This white balsamic vinaigrette is my go-to salad dressing, made with just 4 ingredients (extra virgin olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper) in under 5 minutes. You’ll find 11 flavor variations below to mix and match with different oils, vinegars, and add-ins.
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Growing up, I don’t recall my parents making salad dressing from scratch. We pretty much always had a variety of dressings in our fridge. Hands down, Thousand Island was my favorite.
Flash forward many years later, and 90% of the time I make my own dressing. It’s SO easy, and with all the additives in so many bottled dressings, it’s much healthier too.
This easy White Balsamic Vinaigrette is my go-to dressing. When my son was little, he called it my “special sauce”. And, these days my friend always asks me to bring a salad to every potluck, because she really loves my “sauce.” Yes, it’s
Easy White Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
This vinaigrette works with pretty much any diet you may be following, including gluten-free, vegan, low FODMAP, and Paleo, plus it’s easily adaptable to whatever oil and vinegar you have on hand. It has the right ratio of oil to vinegar, and the star of the show, white balsamic vinegar, is lighter than traditional balsamic vinegar, yet adds the perfect hint of sweetness to balance anything savory on your plate.
Check out how easy it is to make…
Ingredient Substitutions, Additions, and Variations
This is my basic, go-to white balsamic vinaigrette recipe, but you can dress it up any way you want. Here are the oil and vinegar options, plus flavor combinations to try.
Oil options: almond, avocado, hazelnut, grapeseed, macadamia nut, peanut, walnut
Vinegar options: apple cider, champagne, fruit, rice wine, sherry, traditional balsamic, or fresh citrus juice
Add-ins: Dijon mustard, garlic, Greek yogurt, fresh or dried herbs, onions/shallots, mashed avocado (for creaminess), nut butter, spices, sweetener (honey or maple syrup), tahini
🥗 Flavor combinations to try:
- Avocado oil, lime juice, cumin, oregano
- EVOO, lemon juice, minced garlic, dill
- Walnut oil, white balsamic vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup
- EVOO, raspberry vinegar, mint, honey
- Almond oil, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika
- EVOO, lime juice, basil, chili powder, mint
- Hazelnut oil, peach vinegar, garlic, fennel
- EVOO, apple cider vinegar, scallions, ginger
- Macadamia nut oil, mango vinegar, cilantro, chili powder
- EVOO, lemon juice, turmeric, coriander, cumin
- Peanut oil, rice vinegar, ginger, tamari
Have fun experimenting, and be sure to tell me what you come up with!
Easy White Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Combine the olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper in a mason jar. Secure the lid tightly and shake well to combine all the ingredients.
- Store the dressing in the sealed mason jar at room temperature in your pantry.
Notes
- Avocado oil, lime juice, cumin, oregano
- EVOO, lemon juice, minced garlic, dill
- Walnut oil, white balsamic vinegar, orange juice, maple syrup
- EVOO, raspberry vinegar, mint, honey
- Almond oil, sherry vinegar, smoked paprika
- EVOO, lime juice, basil, chili powder, mint
- Hazelnut oil, peach vinegar, garlic, fennel
- EVOO, apple cider vinegar, scallions, ginger
- Macadamia nut oil, mango vinegar, cilantro, chili powder
- EVOO, lemon juice, turmeric, coriander, cumin
- Peanut oil, rice vinegar, ginger, tamari
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
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I’ve been making my own vinaigrette for years, but have never seen golden balsamic vinegar. I am on basic low fodmap right now and I cut up the tops of scallions to add to a dressing. It adds that onion-y taste I like. Homemade is so much better tasting and better for you. It’s surprising that everyone doesn’t do this. Love your recipes and the low fodmap suggestions! Thank you!
Hi Alene. Thanks so much for your kind comment! Great idea to add the scallion tops to your dressing. I love adding fresh herbs that I have on hand too. Golden balsamic is tough to find these days, so white balsamic works well too. Cheers!
The chart is fantastic! I prefer the proportions of 1:4 vinegar:oil, however. For 3/4 cup oil I use 3 Tbsp. vinegar. Advising people to add more oil if the dressing is too sharp on the back of their throat is an option so that all of that olive oil isn’t wasted. Or, add 1 tsp. sugar to balance it.
Thanks so much for your post about how (and why) to make homemade dressing. Having read the ingredient labels, I agree that they are way too long and definitely include those suspect ingredients; high fructose corn syrup is not necessary for a dressing. These, among other ingredients, as you mentioned, are simply not needed! The recipe you provided looks delicious, and very simple – I am excited to try it!
Hi Emily~You are most welcome! I agree-so many ingredients in most store bought salad dressings are simply not necessary. And, while I’m all for convenience when necessary, this dressing takes less than 5 minutes to whip up-pretty doable for almost everyone 🙂 Enjoy!
Never seen golden balsamic – will have to look for it! Love the DIY Vinaigrette chart – pinning now! How many servings does the basic vinaigrette make? Also, interesting you keep it out of the fridge – I usually refrigerate and then have to deal w the solidified oil!
I’m absolutely in LOVE with your infographic!! PInning for sure!! Growing up, we always had bottled salad dressings at home. Well, we didn’t really eat a lot of salads..My mom only prepared Korean food. However, whenever I went out to restaurants, I always ordered catalina dressing 😉
That chart is awesome, thanks for sharing!! I definitely need to check out that golden balsamic 🙂
Dear Spicy,
You recipe of the simple salad dressing sounds great. How long does it last and does it have to be refrigerated once made?
Hi Obie-Great question! I usually keep my dressing up to a week out of the fridge. If you want to store it longer, you can keep it in the fridge, but the oil will solidify, so you need to take it out of the fridge ~ 30 minutes before you are ready to dress you salad. Cheers!
Hey,
If you were to substitute the oil for “rapeseed oil” it would not solidify, as it has a much lower freezing point.
I make flavoured chilli, ginger & garlic oil (4 litre batches) for cooking (awesome drizzled over eggs, basting meat, dressings etc) and store it in the fridge for up to two months or longer)
Yes yes yes! Totally agree – definitely make your own salad dressing! I’m going to be on the lookout for golden balsamic.
I’ve seen white balsamic but not gold. I’m on the hunt now! Great post – pinning 🙂
never have i ever seen golden balsamic. is it milder? and i love that chart of flavor combo ideas! just in time for all of the salads i’m craving.
Hi Gretchen! Yes, golden balsamic is milder than regular balsamic, but it still adds a nice hint of sweetness. I don’t see it at many grocery stores, so you may need to order off Amazon. Glad you like the flavor combo chart! Happy {almost} summer 🙂