This pumpkin vinaigrette dressing is the perfect fall salad dressing!! This vinaigrette has pure pumpkin puree and spices in it which makes the dressing creamy and taste delicious. It also is SO easy to make (it just takes a few minutes!) and uses pantry staple ingredients. Stay tuned for next week when I share an amazing recipe that features this pumpkin dressing!
Ingredients and Substitution Ideas
Olive Oil
You can definitely substitute in another oil here, although I prefer using olive oil in homemade salad dressings. Make sure it’s a liquid oil at room temp (i.e., avocado, canola, etc.) as a solid fat like coconut oil wouldn’t work well here.
Pumpkin
Well, you can’t have a PUMPKIN dressing without pumpkin 😉 The pumpkin adds a creamy texture to this dressing without adding any mayonnaise or sour cream or anything similar. You could likely sub mashed sweet potato puree if you don’t have/can’t find pumpkin, although I haven’t tried. Here’s a recipe to make your own pumpkin puree if you can’t find any in stores!
Apple Cider Vinegar
Just like with this kale harvest salad, I really like using apple cider vinegar with the other flavors going on here in the vinaigrette. That being said, you could likely sub in red or white wine vinegar in place of the apple cider vinegar.
Pure Maple Syrup
Honey or agave would work in place of the pure maple syrup! Although I feel maple and pumpkin flavors go together SO well. 😊
Dijon Mustard
I honestly use Dijon mustard in almost all of my homemade vinaigrette dressings!! I also use it in my shredded brussels sprouts salad and the kale harvest salad. Not only do I like the flavor, I appreciate how the mustard works as an emulsifier to combine the olive oil and vinegar together. You can use any type of mustard, but Dijon is hands-down my favorite in homemade salad dressing recipes.
Garlic
Lately I’ve been buying either pre-minced garlic or fresh garlic paste (both found in the produce section at my grocery store) instead of garlic cloves because it’s convenient. You can also use dried garlic powder (I wouldn’t recommend garlic salt!) in place of the fresh garlic cloves. I’d start with ½ teaspoon and add more to taste.
Spices
When I was testing this pumpkin vinaigrette dressing, it initially just seemed to be missing something. While garlic is typically the only spice I use in homemade dressings, pumpkin honestly has a very mild flavor on it’s own so I decided to add in a bit of sage and pumpkin pie spice to bring all of these flavors together!!
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup pumpkin
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ teaspoon dried sage
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 tablespoon water, optional, as needed to thin
- Freshly ground sea salt and pepper, to taste
- Blend everything in blender or small food processor until creamy and combined.
- Makes approximately 1 cup dressing.
- Store any leftovers in refrigerator for up to a few days.
This sounds right up my alley with the pumpkin puree and the pumpkin pie spice. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome; hope you enjoy it! I just saw your recipe for roasted delicata squash posted today; ironically I just yesterday bought my first delicata squash and can’t want to make it tonight with your instructions!! Perfect timing. 🙂