Lemon Vinaigrette (Better Than Store-Bought) | Downshiftology (2024)

Lemon vinaigrette is a staple dressing recipe and instantly brightens any salad or plate of veggies. Made from just a handful of ingredients including fresh lemons, olive oil, Dijon mustard, honey, and garlic it’s incredibly easy to make, and tastes much better than store-bought!

When it comes to dressing recipes I have two favorites – this lemon vinaigrette and a balsamic vinaigrette.

I much prefer simple vinaigrettes over creamy dressings and find that their flavors enhance and elevate the fresh vegetables or ingredients your pairing with them. And did I mention how easy they are to make?

After you make this lemon vinaigrette at home I promise you’ll never buy it from the store again. Because when you make it at home you can tweak the flavor profile to make it a little more tart and citrusy or a little more garlicky or herby. You could even make it a little sweeter with just a smidge more honey. And let’s be honest, fresh is always best.

Lemon Vinaigrette Ingredients

There’s just 5 main ingredients in this easy, homemade lemon vinaigrette, including:

• Lemons: Definitely use freshly squeezed lemon juice, and not lemon juice from a jar.
• Olive Oil: Grab a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
• Dijon Mustard: This helps to emulsify the dressing and adds a hint of spice.
• Honey: Just a smidge of sweetness to help balance the tartness of the lemons. You could also use maple syrup.
• Garlic: Just a couple of minced garlic cloves makes any dressing zing with flavor.
• Salt and Pepper: Season it to you liking.

Tips for Making This Recipe

This dressing is simple to make (it only takes two minutes!), but here are a few tips to make it perfect:

• Always use fresh lemons over a store-bought jar of lemon juice. Fresh lemons will always have a stronger, more vibrant flavor. Jarred lemon juice will fall flat.
• Many vinaigrettes call for a 3:1 ratio of oil to acid. I much prefer a 3:2 ratio, or something closer to that, as I’ve used in the recipe below. It’s a little less oily and far more flavorful. But feel free to adjust to your preference.
• The Dijon mustard adds that hint of spice and helps to emulsify the dressing. If you’d like it a bit creamier you can definitely add more, which would be closer to a Dijon vinaigrette.
• If you’re not a fan of raw garlic, you can swap in finely diced shallot for a milder flavor.

Two Minute Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe

Once you’ve got all your ingredients out, it’s as simple as adding them to a small mixing bowl and whisking them together. That’s it!

You can use this lemon vinaigrette on a variety of salad, including my Lentil Salad,Shrimp, Asparagus and Avocado Salad, Wild Rice and Arugula Salad and Watermelon Radish and Cucumber Salad. But really, it’s wonderful on just about anything.

For More Dressing Recipes and Vinaigrettes

If you love homemade dressings and vinaigrettes as much as I do, make sure to check out these other recipes:

• Champagne Vinaigrette
• Greek Salad Dressing
• Avocado Dressing
• Lemon Tahini Dressing
• Apple Cider Vinaigrette

If you make this lemon vinaigrette, let me know how it turned out!I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.

Recipe originally posted May 2018, but updated to include new photos and info.