Moroccan Vinaigrette—For Salads, Sides, and More
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This Moroccan Vinaigrette is the perfect blend of cumin, paprika, parsley, garlic, and a dash of cayenne. It's so good, you'll want it on your table for every meal.
And it's not just for salads. It's great on sides & main dishes too.
It might sound strange, but this salad dressing recipe is simply one of our overall favorite recipes.
It's a homemade wonderfully-seasoned salad dressing that frankly, is on our table for every meal.
This Moroccan Vinaigrette is modified from the recipe of the same name in Lorna Sass' Complete Vegetarian Kitchen, one of my many Lorna Sass cookbooks. I highlighted this cookbook in my post about pressure cookers. Please note that when I referenced this cookbook in the pressure cooker post, it was under the title of Recipes from an Ecological Kitchen. This new title is a more recent version of the same book, but it's still not available new on Amazon. Unfortunately, these great books are no longer in print. (I am no longer a vegetarian, but this book is a keeper regardless of your “dietary status”!)
As I said, we have this on our table at almost every meal and when you are really in a bind, you can just pull some of your prepared beans out of the freezer, combine them with some cooked whole grains (rice, millet, buckwheat) and top with this vinaigrette and you have yourself a fast meal. For more protein and/or for those of you concerned about copper toxicity (which I will post about in the future), top with some small pieces of healthy animal protein or pumpkin seeds. Yum!
Whenever we make a meal for a sick friend or a family with a new baby, this vinaigrette tops a vegetable medley or Moroccan Carrots. And it goes fabulously with Pakistani Kima, our favorite when having company for a meal (again, post to follow in the near future).
Why Make Your Own Homemade Salad Dressing?
Control over the ingredients
No disodium EDTA or high fructose corn syrup and you can make the whole thing organic (if you care to) for a fraction of the cost of bottled organic dressings.
Saves Money
And as I mentioned in my post about making your own vegetable broth mix, by making your own spice blends, you can save money by purchasing dressing ingredients (spices, lemon juice, and olive oil, in the case of this dressing) in bulk and using them up before they spoil or lose their flavor. You also make fewer trips to the grocery store, saving gas and time, since you have the raw ingredients in your kitchen to make what you need! With the price of gas these days, you really end up saving!
Save Time
How do you save time making your own? Well, I know making your own dressing takes time, but so does going to the store. Maybe it's a wash, but the way we eat dressing, I still think I'm saving time.
So, here's how to make this dressing. And, as with almost all of my recipes, I recommend at least doubling the recipe so that you can save time!
Other Homemade Salad Dressings
I have a thing for homemade salad dressings. If you do too, here's a list of some others on my site that I think you'll like.
Honey Mustard Vinaigrette – delicious and has a low-carb option, too!
Vegan Ranch Dressing – in my fridge all the time. Makes a great dip!
Zingy Dairy-free Avocado Dressing – another one that makes an amazing dip.
Nutritional Yeast Dressing – so easy kids can make it.
Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette – with five different variations!
Recipe Notes
Lemon Juice: I LOVE this lemon juice. We use it for EVERYTHING including morning lemon water, this Sesame-free Savory Hummus, and this Sugar-free Lemonade. I'd love to squeeze my lemons, but this is one area where I choose convenience. The juice keeps in the fridge for up to eight weeks. I buy it in huge packs of two glass bottles at Costco. Definitely check it out!
Moroccan Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (freshly squeezed or organic bottled)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 clove garlic (finely minced, or 1/8 teaspoon garlic granules)
- 3/16 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley (tightly packed, minced) (or 4 teaspoons dried parsley)
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients and mix well.
- Taste and adjust seasonings adding more lemon juice or vinegar if you like.
- Store unused portion in refrigerator. Keeps well up to two weeks.
- You may wish to add additional lemon juice, cumin and parsley after a few days in the refrigerator.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It may vary depending on ingredient brands, substitutions, and preparation methods. Optional ingredients are not included. Net carbs are typically calculated by subtracting fiber and sugar alcohols (such as erythritol) from total carbohydrates. This information should not be relied upon for medical or nutritional purposes.
Do you make your own salad dressing? What kind?
You can find the Good Seasonings bottles in the grocery store. I just toss the packaged dressing that comes with them!
I might just get one – thanks!
I’ve taken to using either vintage looking bottles or old wine bottles and putting those pouring spouts in the top – makes great dispensers! The spouts are easy to find at Kroger or Bed Bath & Beyond. If I want to restrict the flow, I take some pliers and pinch the spout. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Thanks for the suggestion! I should get something like that – it would look a little nicer than my Ball jar :-).
I’ll be trying this very soon. If not tonight, then definitely this weekend.
I’ll probably opt for the garlic powder over the fresh garlic, tho. In a vinaigrette, I find raw garlic a bit to overpowering.
Thanks for sharing!
I agree with you on the garlic point, but I have never found it too overpowering in this recipe. My kids love it too and one of them is very much an “I don’t like anything spicy” type. Hope you like it!
This looks awesome! Will definitely have to try this.
We really put it on almost everything. Hope you are well!
That dressing looks delicious – and I love the idea of using it on beans/grains, as opposed to just on leafy greens! Thanks for the inspiration!
A dressing recipe that I’ve been making (again and again – my husband loves this one) is this asian-inspired one (loads of fresh garlic and ginger – yumm!)
(sadly site is gone so link was removed by Whole New Mom)
This looks fantastic! I just got a beautiful head of butter lettuce from my CSA and I think I have all of the ingredients on hand! We love homemade ranch dressing (recipe from Heavenly Homemakers) around here, except I add a little dried dill to mine!
Hope you like it – I’ll have to try the Ranch Dressing. I was working on my own here since one of us has a severe milk allergy….but my plans got sidelined when I misplaced my notes on the recipe ingredients. 🙁
Check e-bay for good seasons bottles – they even have vintage ones, and they are only a few dollars!
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=good+seasons+bottle&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Thanks! I am off to check now!
Just FYI: 2025, those bottles are ranging. from $7. to almost $20.!!!
Yikes. $7 is ok. $20? No thanks!
Yes, I have that same salad dressing bottle with the white plastic lid with the pouring spout. It came with the Good Seasons salad dressing packet mix.It’s great! You just add all of the ingredients to the bottle shake and pour and store what you don’t use.
Great idea! I hadn’t even thought of that! I don’t want the dressing, but I could use the bottle :-)! Maybe a garage sale ???
I have Lorna Sass’s Pressure Perfect cookbook and really like it. This salad dressing sounds great, and I bet it is good on many things. Thanks for submitting it for this month’s salad challenge.
I like the Eva Solo dressing shaker but was taken aback at the price. I use one of the bottles that came with the packets of salad dressing mix from the grocery store. It’s nicer than a canning jar and has a white plastic lid with a pouring spout. It’s not as classy looking as the Eva Solo one though.
Thanks for the encouragement and thanks for the idea about the salad dressing bottle too! I will have to keep my eye out for one.
The dressing sounds terrific, but with Candida issues i completely avoid vinegar. I wish there was a safe vinegar to consume. More than a few times when i’ve mistakenly ate vinegar in a salad dressing and became so unbelievably tired and discombobulated. The best salad dressing i’ve found without vinegar is olive oil and lemon with minced garlic.
I find that I seem to be OK with apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg’s organic), but some people are not. You can substitute more lemon juice for the vinegar. It still is quite good that way. I make that substitution all the time.