Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

We love this balsamic vinaigrette dressing recipe! It’s tangy, sweet, and so easy to make.

I’m a big fan of homemade salad dressings, and this balsamic vinaigrette dressing is the one I make the most! I always have what I need to make it in my kitchen, and it goes really well with just about anything.

Definitely don’t miss my tips for adding a bit of jam or turning this into a creamy dressing with mayo or sour cream. I love this dressing on our balsamic strawberry salad! For more homemade dressings, see our honey mustard dressing, creamy ranch, or this easy Italian dressing.

Key Ingredients

• Balsamic Vinegar: Use what you have. Most of us have the less expensive bottles with thin, pretty tart vinegar inside. That’s what I’ve assumed in our recipe below. If you have thicker, aged balsamic vinegar, it will still be lovely in our recipe. We recommend that you taste it before using it to make the dressing. If it tastes sweet without anything added, you will not need any sweetener. If it’s tart and acidic, you’ll want to add a little sweetness with maple syrup, honey, or jam.
• Dijon Mustard: I use mustard in a lot of my salad dressing recipes and love it for this balsamic dressing. It helps the ingredients emulsify and makes it taste more like what you are served in nicer restaurants. Whole-grain mustard is a good substitute.
• Olive Oil: Use your favorite extra-virgin olive oil. I like fruiter, lighter olive oils, but use what you have or love.
• Sweetener: Maple syrup and honey are lovely (I only add a little bit) and balance the tartness of balsamic vinegar. If you want a little more flavor, try jam. I especially love strawberry or fig jam.
• Mayo or Sour Cream (Optional): If you prefer creamy dressings, add a spoonful of mayonnaise, sour cream, or crème fraîche.

Find the full recipe with measurements below.

Tips for Making the Best Balsamic Vinaigrette

Tip 1: Slowly add your oil. When making vinaigrettes, the idea is to slowly stream in oil and vigorously beat it into the base of the dressing — often vinegar or lemon juice. In this case, we used olive oil and slowly added it to balsamic vinegar.

Tip 2: Adjusting your vinegar. Depending on the quality of your balsamic vinegar you may only need to add salt and pepper for a thick, slightly sweetened vinaigrette. Most of us don’t have high quality balsamic vinegars at home (or if we do, we don’t want to use a 1/4 cup of it in dressing).

Joanne and I buy relatively low-range balsamic vinegar (around $15). Then, we adjust it’s flavor with some extras — Dijon mustard and a little brown sugar. The brown sugar adds sweetness, often found in the higher quality stuff and the mustard adds complexity.

Tip 3: Make it creamy (optional). If we’re feeling like something different, we’ll make the dressing creamy. We add a little mayonnaise and it works like a dream. We’ve also tried sour cream and crème fraîche — both are a nice touch and add a little bit of sour to the mix.