This Honey Balsamic Dressing recipe is one of my family’s favorites. It has the perfect balance of sweet and sour flavors, and uses a little less oil than traditional vinaigrette recipes to lighten up the calories.
How to Make Honey Balsamic Dressing
To make this dressing, all you need is a handful of ingredients that you probably already have on hand, and a blender. If you don’t have a blender, you can simply mince the garlic and shallot finely and use a whisk to stir the dressing together, but I find a blender works to get the dressing a little thicker, since we’re not using as much oil.
Paired with fresh shallot and enzyme-rich honey, I think this dressing is just as good as any restaurant’s version. I hope you’ll enjoy it just as much!
Honey Balsamic Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (preferably aged 3 years)
- 2 tablespoons chopped shallot
- 1 garlic clove , or 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon raw honey
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Combine the vinegar, shallot, garlic, salt, honey, olive oil, and water in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Taste and adjust any seasoning to taste. (You can add a little extra honey if your vinegar is too sour.)
- Allow to chill for 4 hours before serving, for best flavor and texture. Shake well before serving each time.
- This dressing should keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
Per 2 tablespoons: Calories: 110, Fat: 10g, Carbohydrtes: 4g, Fiber: 0g, Protein: 0g
Recipe Notes:
- I find the flavor is best when I use a balsamic vinegar that has been aged at least 3 years. If you use a cheaper balsamic vinegar, add a little more honey to balance the flavor, since cheaper vinegar is more pungent and acidic in flavor.
- To make this recipe vegan, you could use maple syrup instead of honey to taste, or even try using dates as a natural sweetener if you have a really good blender.
—
Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite salad dressing?
When I make my own dressing I usually mash an avocado and add it to plain Greek yogurt for a healthy creamy dressing! Yours looks delish as always!
Looking forward to trying this! How long will this keep in the fridge?
Mine keeps in the fridge for a week, and by then, it’s usually all used up anyway!
Sounds yummy! Thank you for sharing!! We need another good dressing in our home. Right now we just have a delicious honey mustard one. Will be nice to have another choice, though we do LOVE the honey mustard!
Thanks again 🙂
~Melissa <
What is a good brand of Balsamic vinegar to buy? I have read that it has sulfites in it. Is that ok?
People with a sulfite intolerance would definitely have to avoid most vinegars, but sulfites naturally occur in many foods, especially those that are fermented, like wine and cheese. Since balsamic vinegar is a fermented grape product, there will naturally be sulfites from the grapes. There are some individuals that believe consuming vinegar, in general, can lead to an acidic environment in the body, but since most vinegar-based dressings actually encourage people to eat MORE veggies (by making them taste good!), I’m all for it.
As far as brands go, I always buy organic. Grapes are often on the “Dirty Dozen” list, so non-organic brands could contain pesticides.
Thank you so much for the information. My husband loves this kind of salad dressing and I want to make it for him! Yum!
Yum this looks delicious! Do you just store it in a plastic container or what?
You can store it in any sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.
That looks amazing! I tend to just put olive oil on most things. I always request dressing on the side at restaurants and rarely touch it.
YUM! I’m worried about making “smelly” things in my vitamix – the smell won’t stick to the plastic??
Loved this dressing–it hit the spot!! Thank you!! I served it up with your balsamic roasted brussels sprouts over a green salad–it was awesome!!
This dressing is a big hit in our family. We have tried it on many salads and it’s the most requested dressing made now. I do love healthy fats so I tend to add a little more oil than water to the recipe.
Obsessed with this dressing (:
This is absolutely delicious! It will be a go to dressing in our household. Thank you!
This is my favorite salad dressing. It’s so good I could almost eat it on its own. I’m vegan, so I use maple syrup instead of honey.
Love this salad dressing!
What brand honey do you recommend?
I’m not partial to a certain brand, but I prefer to look for local honey when I can.
Delicious! This recipe is a favorite in our house. I make it all the time.