Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette–5 Ways

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This Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette is a family favorite with 5 different versions-- It's vegan with low-carb (THM S) and AIP options too!

I’ve been meaning to get this Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe to you all for awhile now.

Life has been crazy and things really get in the way sometimes, you know?

Anyhow, this one is a real keeper.  And it’s a great homemade salad dressing for those with food allergies as well – no dairy and some substitutions that should make this work for anyone.

It’s wonderful and has been on our table for basically every meal for–well–I don’t know how long.  It’s just that great.

I love having homemade seasonings and such on the table to dress up even the most bland simple meal.

You know – like we’ve got a plate of whole grain, a protein source, beans, and some veggies –

Kind of blah-

But when you add some amazing toppings like

you can turn Blah into Wow. It may not be the prettiest meal, but your taste buds will surely thank you!  And when you make these seasonings and dressings yourself, your wallet will thank you too!!!

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Where This Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Originated

Awhile ago I thought I’d try to shake things up a bit with a new dressing to grace our table and I went searching through my cookbooks and even put a shout out to readers on my Facebook page asking for the best salad dressing recipes.  (If you haven’t become a fan yet, you really should.  I share tons of great things I find on the internet that I don’t have time to blog about – and I also post reader questions so we can help each other out.  Good stuff.  Great community!)

A Favorite Cookbook

Well, one of the cookbooks that I turned to is an old favorite of mine, Cybele Pascal’s The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook.

I LOVE this book.  Cybele’s book is basically the first cookbook I bought when we knew we were dealing with food allergies in our household (if you haven’t read it yet, check out my posts on Eczema and Food Allergies – From Despair to Healing).

Some of the recipes in this book have become family favorites (like Raf’s Cuban Rice and Beans, Four Bean Stew, and yummy Coconut Squares) – it’s one of those cookbooks that you will turn to again and again. – Note, it does use gluten (barley) and a fair amount of sugar, but I just adapt to our family’s needs.

Well, anyway, once I read the description of Cybele’s recipe, My Favorite Dressing, I just knew I needed to make it.

And boy, am I glad that I did.  You will be too.

Cybele is the wife of Adam Pascal, a famous Broadway actor.  And they live in a very “posh” area of New York (I used to date someone from the town where they live, and you could see Billy Joel’s house from my boyfriend’s grandmother’s backyard.  Really.  That kind of “posh” :-).  Anyway, if this dressing is Adam’s favorite – you can bet it’s a winner.

Here’s the quote from the book:

This salad dressing never wears out its welcome.  I’ve been making it for 15 years and every single time I have dinner guests they say, “Yum!  What’s in this dressing?!”  My husband refuses to eat his salad with anything else.

Sounds good, right?  Well, let me add that if this balsamic vinaigrette is on the table, our old favorite, the Moroccan Vinaigrette mentioned above, takes a back seat.

Enough, right?  Let’s get on with the recipe.

This Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette is a family favorite with 5 different versions-- It's vegan with low-carb (THM S) and AIP options too!

The only thing I’ve changed is one ingredient — and I’ve doubled Cybele’s recipe and I’ve added some dietary options.  We eat this so fast you’ll want to at least double it.  Truth is, I make a quadruple batch each time :-)!

Before we get to the recipe for the Balsamic Vinaigrette, here are some tips to help you have the best tasting vinaigrette possible.

This Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette is a family favorite with 5 different versions-- It's vegan with low-carb (THM S) and AIP options too!

Ingredient Tips

1.  Olive Oil 

Cybele recommends using only high quality olive oil. I concur. I mean, of course who wants to use fake olive oil, but in case you didn’t know, there are a lot of them out there.

I currently purchase mine from Costco but I’m hoping to try out more later. The Kirkland brand has been tested and it’s quality has been verified.

2. Balsamic Vinegar

Cybele specifically mentions using a brand of balsamic that’s been aged at least 10 years.  At the time of writing this post, the highest-rated balsamic on Amazon was priced over $40 for 8.5 ounces – ouch! This one is waaay cheaper and still gets great ratings – even high ratings from Cooks Illustrated apparently (see the ratings). So that’s one good choice.

However, since balsamic is made from grapes and they are often sprayed a lot, I would go for organic over the “10 year” rule and choose a good organic brand.

This balsamic seems to be pretty good. This one seems to be higher quality for a bit more money.

2.  Love using fresh herbs?  See my post on The Easiest Way to Preserve Herbs

Want some more ways to add flavor to your table?  You for sure should check out:

Recipe Notes

  • Substitute 1/4 cup apple cider or red wine vinegar plus 2 teaspoons xylitol or a dash of stevia for the balsamic vinegar for low carb / Trim Healthy Mama – S.
  • The original recipe called for unseasoned rice vinegar but I use apple cider vinegar instead for it’s extra health benefits.
  • You could use about 2 tablespoons dried basil instead of fresh basil.
  • I use xylitol, vegetable glycerine or 1 scoop stevia extract instead of honey for a low-carb option.

Variations

  • Dill Dressing – Substitute 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill (or 1 tablespoon dried) for the basil.
  • Oregano Dressing – Substitute 4 teaspoons fresh or 1 teaspoon dried oregano for the basil.
  • Parsley Dressing – Substitute 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tablespoon dried) for the basil.
  • Shallot Dressing – Substitute 1 small shallot, minced, for the garlic and omit the basil.
This Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette is a family favorite with 5 different versions-- It's vegan with low-carb (THM S) and AIP options too!

Easy Healthy Balsamic Vinaigrette – 1 Recipe 5 Ways — vegan, low-carb option

This Honey Healthy Balsamic Vinaigrette sure to be a family favorite with 5 different versions. It's vegan with a low-carb option.
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dressings, Seasonings, etc.
Cuisine: Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Keto, Low-Carb, Paleo, Vegan, whole30
Keyword: honey balsamic vinaigrette
Servings: 8
Calories: 268kcal

Ingredients

  • 2 small garlic cloves (minced very fine)
  • 20 fresh basil leaves (chopped or torn)
  • 2 tablespoons honey (see Recipe Notes for alternatives)
  • 4 teaspoons Dijon mustard (see below for substitutions)
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (see Recipe Notes for low carb alternative)
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Prepared Mustard Substitute

Instructions

  • Blend garlic, basil, honey, and mustard into a paste.
  • Add apple cider vinegar and balsamic and mix completely.
  • Add the olive oil slowly, blending while adding.
  • Serve.

Alternative “Quick” Method

  • Simply mix all ingredients in a glass container.
  • Serve :-).

Notes

  • Substitute 1/4 cup apple cider or red wine vinegar plus 2 teaspoons xylitol or a dash of stevia for the balsamic vinegar for low carb / Trim Healthy Mama – S.
  • The original recipe called for unseasoned rice vinegar but I use apple cider vinegar instead for it’s extra health benefits.
  • You could use about 2 tablespoons dried basil instead of fresh basil.
  • I use xylitol, vegetable glycerine or 1 scoop stevia extract instead of honey for a low-carb option.

Nutrition

Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 31mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 56IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 1mg | Net Carbs: 5g

Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.

Now, truthfully, I typically don’t even bother to blend this dressing and it is still wonderful. But of course, blend away if you’d like. I think you will love it either way!

I look forward to seeing what you think of this dressing!
Do you have a favorite salad dressing to share?

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49 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    EASY & YUM!
    Your site is usually the first I go to for recipes. Thank you!
    True confession: I didn’t figure out until the next morning that “Blend garlic through mustard into a paste” meant the last four ingredients. I had no idea how the get the garlic to go through the mustard. 🙂

    1. Hi Joann! Oh gosh that’s such a nice compliment. I need to start getting more recipes up! I just edited the recipe – sorry for the confusion. That’s really funny! I wrote that eons ago and need to actually redo the whole post. I need a clone! Hope you are well!

  2. What would you add to any of these variations to make them a ‘creamy’ version? Coconut milk, perhaps? plain milk kefir? Homemade mayo? Guess I can experiment!

  3. Hi Adrienne ~ This sounds wooonderful and I will for sure make—but just curious if this has to be refrigerated or not. I make a balsamic vinegrette that I’m tired of it solidifying on me once I put it in the fridge so I started leaving it out (it’s simply, EVOL, balsamic vinegar, Dijon, garlic and salt). Just not sure that’s a good idea especially if it sits day after day. Would appreciate your thoughts. … Like if it COULD safely be stored at room temp … how long will it last, approx. before it’s not good anymore. Many thanks.

    1. I am sorry but I can’t make shelf stability statements. The salt will preserve but you should store in the fridge b/c of the garlic (if you use it). I don’t but that isn’t recommended due to botulism risk.

      1. Gotcha. I actually ended up tossing what I had sitting on the counter (after googling and reading about the potential botulism risk, I didn’t want to chance it– there wasn’t that much left anyway. Better safe than sorry). Thanks for getting back to me … Oh, and made your Five-Ingredient Salad Dressing tonight. LOVED it. Thanks so much … 🙂

  4. This dressing is AWESOME! Thank you so much. I’ve been using a simple EVOO & ACV combo for over a year now and finally burnt out on it. This is such a nice difference! I’m sure it’s even better in the blender, but I’m also burnt out on washing dishes, so I just shook all the ingredients together in the same jar I’m storing it in. Result – delish!!

  5. Does this need to be refrigerated and how long is it good for? I just made some and looking forward to trying it!!!!

    1. I haven’t put mine in the fridge always but I will in warmer months. I can’t make claims about shelf life b/c of variations in how folks make / use it but it lasts for me quite awhile – thanks!