It’s so simple to make your own salad dressings at home! You simply need 4 main ingredients to make this fresh and vibrant lemon basil vinaigrette dressing. While obviously this fresh lemon basil vinaigrette is great for salads (stay tuned!), this dressing is delicious on grilled meats, roasted veggies, etc. This basil vinaigrette dressing is PACKED with tons of flavor and will definitely add life and delicious flavor to anything you add it on!
A few weeks ago, I received some fresh basil from our pastor’s garden. I’ve grown basil in past years in our own garden, but I didn’t this year. I was so excited to receive fresh, home-grown produce (like always), but I was going out of town just a day or two after I received the fresh basil so needed to use it soon. Hence, this lemon basil vinaigrette dressing was born!
I initially was planning on using the basil to make homemade pesto, but then had some other produce that needed to be used up in my fridge, and I had a fun salad idea. While pesto sounds like a delicious salad dressing, I thought of using the basil in a little different way to try making a homemade vinaigrette dressing and I’m so happy with how it turned out!
Ingredients and Substitution Ideas
Fresh Basil
I really don’t have a substitution for basil in lemon basil dressing haha. However, as evidenced in this green onion vinaigrette, I’m sure you can substitute in any fresh herb of your choice! Just note the flavor will obviously change. Dried herbs wouldn’t be a good substitution for this recipe.
Olive oil
I love using extra virgin olive oil in vinaigrette dressings. However, you can use a light olive oil, or really any oil of your choice for this recipe.
Lemon juice
An acid is needed for vinaigrette recipes. Often this acid comes in the form of vinegars, such as white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, etc. However, after testing a couple of variations, I came to the conclusion that I like lemon best for this recipe! Feel free to use a red or white wine vinegar instead if you want though.
Garlic
I used minced fresh garlic for this lemon basil vinaigrette. You can easily substitute ½-1 teaspoon garlic powder in place of fresh garlic, depending on what you have on hand at home and how strong of a garlic flavor you want.
Honey
I found a little bit of sweetness is needed to balance out the rather strong basil and garlic flavors! You will just need 1 tablespoon of honey for this recipe. You could likely substitute pure maple syrup or sugar, although I haven’t tried these variations.
As I previously mentioned, stay tuned for an upcoming salad recipe that features this lemon basil vinaigrette! Hope you give this recipe a try ?
- 2 cups fresh basil
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 large or 2 small cloves fresh garlic, minced (optional)
- Freshly ground pepper and sea salt, to taste (about ¼ teaspoon each)
- 1 tablespoon honey, to taste
- In a blender, add all ingredients. Blend until combined!
- Store leftovers in fridge for 3-4 days. Give the dressing a shake/stir before using.
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