Honey lemon vinaigrette is a quick, easy and healthy salad dressing that require only 6 every-day ingredients and takes only 2 minutes to make. You can use it in simple healthy salads like this roasted carrot salad or dress salt-roasted beets to name just a few.
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Ingredients needed
- Lemon - Unwaxed lemons for this recipe as we are also using the zest for added lemony flavour.
- Honey - Use clear runny honey with a mild flavour like this wildflower honey.
- Oil - Most of the oil used in this recipe is neutral-tasting canola oil. The rest is a good quality extra virgin with green grassy notes and low bitterness.
Useful equipment for this recipe
How to make it
- Zest the lemon using a Microplane or fine grater.
- Cut the lemon in half and juice using a citrus juicer or squeeze out the juice through a sieve to make sure no pips fall in.
- Place the zest and juice along with the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl or jar with a lid.
- Vigorously whisk or shake the jar until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
- Use straight away or store in airtight containers in the fridge until needed.
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Variations
This vinaigrette can easily be modified by taking the following steps.
- Change the citrus - Use lime instead of lemon or substitute for a mild vinegar like apple cider or champagne vinegar.
- Add spice - Use sparingly, but ground cumin, fennel seeds, and cinnamon make this vinaigrette perfect for dressing Middle Eastern and North African salads.
- Change the honey - If you are strict vegan then change the honey for maple or agave syrup. Otherwise, choose interesting flavoured honey like buckwheat or heather.
- Garlic or chilli- Roasted garlic or grate a small amount of fresh garlic for an extra punch. For some heat add a teaspoon of homemade sriracha sauce or freshly chopped chillies.
- Dijon mustard - Add mustard for a delicious dressing you can use with barbecued pork belly.
- Add herbs - I recommend you add mint. It's a delicious combination perfect for seasoning couscous salad or a simple green leafy salad with rocket, mozzarella and grapes.
- Asian aromatics - Add finely chopped lime leaf, lemongrass, or grated ginger for a delicious South-East Asian salad dressing.
- Change the oil - Substitute the olive oil for truffle oil or pumpkin oil.
Serving suggestions
This is a very versatile dressing that can be used on any salad or with warm dishes and can be served all year round.
- With vegetables - Use it to dress roasted pumpkin, carrots, beets or baby potatoes.
- Fried cheese - Sear some halloumi in a pan and dress it with this vinaigrette. It's fantastic.
- In salad - Use this vinaigrette as a simple healthy dressing in a green salad with romaine hearts, corn salad and soft herbs like parsley, mint, and chives. Alternatively use for a roasted vegetable salad like this pumpkin and pecan salad.
- With seafood - Some seafood like seared scallops, shrimps and oysters taste delicious when dressed with a light sweet and sour vinaigrette like this.
- To season fermented foods - The saltiness of fermented cucumbers, fermented carrots or sauerkraut goes extremely well with this lightly sweetened dressing.
Frequently asked questions
Seal airtight in a plastic or glass jar and store in the fridge until needed.
It will easily last for up to 3 weeks in the fridge.
Simply place in a freezer-safe sealable container and it will happily sit in your freezer almost indefinitely
Vinaigrette is not 100% an emulsion so it will slowly split. To emulsify it simply shake or whisk vigorously and it will come back together.
Other recipes you might like
If you are looking for making delicious sauces, condiments and dressings at home to use in salads and other dishes then you will find the following recipes useful.
- Chimichurri
- Italian salsa verde
- Balsamic glaze
- Caesar dressing
- Homemade Mayonnaise
- Mushroom and garlic butter
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Recipe
Ingredients
- 50 grams (3.38 tbsp) honey
- 30 grams (2.03 tbsp) olive oil extra virgin
- 70 grams (4.73 tbsp) canola oil
- 50 grams (3.38 tbsp) lemon juice freshly squeezed
- zest of one lemon
- 4 grams (0.81 tsp) sea salt fine
- 1 gram (0.2 tsp) black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Zest the lemon using a Microplane or fine grater.
- Cut the lemon in half and juice using a citrus juicer or squeeze out the juice through a sieve to make sure no pips fall in.
- Place the zest and juice along with the rest of the ingredients in a mixing bowl or jar with a lid.
- Vigorously whisk or shake the jar until the vinaigrette is emulsified.
- Use straight away or store in airtight containers in the fridge until needed.
Notes
- See post for interesting variations and serving suggestions
- Seal airtight in a plastic or glass jar and store in the fridge until needed.
- It will easily last for up to 3 weeks in the fridge.
- Can be frozen for many months
- To emulsify it, simply shake or whisk vigorously and it will come back together.
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