Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
by Sommer Collier — last updated on Oct 13, 2025 The Very BEST Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe – This tangy Balsamic Dressing will make your salads sparkle, and takes only 5 minutes to prepare!
Sommer’s Recipe Notes
Is there anything more satisfying than skillfully whipping up your own balsamic dressing right at home? It makes you wonder why you ever bothered buying the bottled stuff at the store.
Why This Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe Is The Best!
This homemade salad dressing recipe for the Best Balsamic Vinaigrette is one I’ve tweaked over the years to be perfectly tangy-sweet and silky in texture.
The tantalizing flavor is based on good quality aged balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, honey, a touch of Dijon mustard, and herbs. It is fabulous over robust spinach and kale salads, romaine salads, and even over roasted vegetables!
And, like my lime vinaigrette, you can easily make larger batches of balsamic dressing and keep it in the refrigerator for several weeks.
Ingredients You Need
With just a handful of ingredients, you can make a balsamic dressing recipe that rivals any store-bought brand in taste and cost.
- Aged balsamic vinegar – It’s important to buy very good aged balsamic vinegar. The longer the vinegar has been aged, the sweeter, milder, and richer it becomes.
- Extra virgin olive oil – My personal favorite for making vinaigrettes, but you can substitute it with avocado or any other light-flavored oil you prefer.
- Honey – You’ll need less honey in this recipe if you use an older vinegar and/or if you prefer a more savory and less sweet dressing.
- Dijon mustard – For that perfect tangy element that brings out the boldness of the balsamic.
- Dried thyme – This balances the sweet and zesty notes of the dressing with a mild earthy flavor.
- Minced garlic – Because every good vinaigrette needs garlic!
How To Make Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Place all the ingredients in a jar and seal tightly.
- Shake vigorously. The mustard will help emulsify the vinaigrette and give it a thick, luxurious quality. Alternatively, you could whisk the ingredients together in a small bowl!
Find the full Balsamic Dressing Recipe with ingredient proportions, detailed instructions, and a video tutorial in the printable form at the bottom of the post.
Serving Suggestions
Use this homemade balsamic dressing on all of your favorite green salads, over freshly sliced tomatoes and mozzarella, or as a dressing on top of roasted veggies! Here are some of my favorite things to pair with it:
- Italian Pasta Salad
- Cucumber Dill Salad
- Oven Roasted Vegetables
- Fried Goat Cheese Salad
- Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
- Bell Pepper Salad
- Easy Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower
Tips & Tricks
- Olive oil and vinegar will separate after sitting in the fridge! When you use it after storing it, be sure to give it a good shake. High-quality olive oil will even solidify sometimes, so give it a few minutes to warm up and then shake again.
- Use high-quality ingredients! High-quality ingredients go a long way in creating a homemade balsamic dressing that tastes amazing. However, you don’t need the most expensive balsamic vinegar either! Just use one that you know you like the taste of.
- Adjust to taste! Everyone likes their vinaigrettes a little bit different. Taste it and adjust it with extra vinegar, more oil, or perhaps more honey if you want it a little sweeter!
Frequently Asked Questions
This dressing will keep well for 2-3 weeks, if you place it in an airtight container in the fridge. Just give it a good shake before serving.
Balsamic vinaigrette dressing is delicious, drizzled on cold salads loaded with fresh greens and veggies, and on warm salads with quinoa, chickpeas, and/or cooked stone fruits like grilled peaches or poached pears.
It adds a wonderful depth and tanginess to hearty roasted veggies, such as carrots and Brussels sprouts, as a balsamic glaze after cooking.
Try a bit of this balsamic vinaigrette recipe with fruits like watermelon and strawberries for a terrifically savory and sweet treat. Adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream turns the salad into an instant dessert.
You can even use it as a marinade over proteins like steak, pork, and chicken.
You absolutely can. Use whatever mild flavor oil you prefer (like paleo-friendly avocado oil, sunflower oil, or canola oil), substitute maple syrup for the honey to make it vegan, and it’s perfectly okay to use other mustards like stone-ground or yellow mustard if you don’t have Dijon.
Authentic balsamic vinegar is made in only the cities of Reggio Emilia and Modena, Italy. It is highly regulated for quality, so the traditional methods and production process is monitored by a special certification agency in Italy.
Traditional balsamic vinegar begins with grape must, which is a thick juice or mash made of whole pressed grapes, including every component from skin to seeds and stems. They must achieve the perfect balance in flavor after cooking to concentrate the liquid, then fermenting for several weeks. It is then aged in barrels made of chestnut, oak, cherry, mulberry, and juniper wood to create unique flavor notes.
More Delicious Dressing and Salad Recipes
Best Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup aged balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2-3 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Pour the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, 2 tablespoons honey, Dijon mustard, dried thyme, and garlic clove in a jar. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper.
- Place the lid on the jar and shake vigorously to combine. Once smooth, taste. Then add more honey or salt if needed.
Hi, is this dressing too heavy for a pasta salad? If so, how would I thin it? Can I dress the pasta salad with this the day before? I need to make 25 servings. Thanks!
Hi Joanne,
I think it would be delicious on pasta salad. Adding it a day ahead will give it time to flavor all the other ingredients well. :)
Don’t think I’m ever going to buy readymade balsamic dressing again. Loved it! Thanks!
This dressing is appropriately named. It is the best balsamic dressing. I ran out of balsamic dressing and needed it for dinner with friends. I took a chance and I am so glad I did. I will never buy balsamic vinaigrette again. Thank you for this recipe!
Yes and it came out great
Made it exactly to the recipe with the 2 tbs option of honey. It is PERFECT. Been looking a long time for this dressig and just took a chance because of the reviews.
We love making homemade vinaigrette! Adding the mustard adds a nice flavor to this!
This is my new favorite salad dressing! So delicious!
This dressing is amazing! I love how thick it is; because of that, a little really goes a long way. Even my husband loves it. Thank you for sharing it!
It turned out so good! A new staple at my kitchen!
As everyone says, this dressing is truly amazing. Cannot believe how easy it is to create something so divine. Thank you for sharing.
I love homemade salad dressing and this one is amazing!! Such a great recipe!
You are absolutely correct, this is the BEST! My kids love it too!
I will definitely try this✨
We have one that my mother in law got from some special restaurant.
It seems the only difference is that we add ketchup!
Would you believe ketchup.
And the funny thing is you’ll never taste the ketchup
Plus sweet basil & oregano.
Blessings ✨✨
This was, hands down the best! I used 2 Tbsp of honey and a very large clove of garlic and the result was such a deliciously intense flavor. It was almost too thick after refrigeration tho, so I have to let it come to room temp again before using again. Next time I’ll use a jar for it rather than a bottle.