Name: *Best* Balsamic Vinaigrette
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar; 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 1 tablespoon maple syrup (or honey); 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 6 tablespoons olive oil

This balsamic vinaigrette recipe is one of the best salad dressings you’ll make! It’s classic, tangy, and easy to make at home.

There’s something special about this balsamic vinaigrette recipe. It’s creamy, tangy, a little bit sweet, and has that “something” that keeps you coming back. When we’re not sure what to drizzle on a salad, we make this. It’s fantastic on a classic strawberry salad or a simple green salad. It has one of the shortest ingredient lists of all our dressings, and comes together in less than 5 minutes. So why ever buy store bought dressing again?

Also try: Fan favorite Creamy Balsamic Dressing or our Top Salad Dressing Recipes!

Why make salad dressing at home?

This balsamic vinaigrette recipe is the perfect easy salad dressing for all sorts of salads, both sweet and savory. Homemade salad dressings are absolutely worth the effort, because they are:

Incredibly delicious
Skip preservatives or added ingredients
Fast and easy to make!

How to make balsamic vinaigrette dressing

This balsamic vinaigrette recipe is incredibly simple. The flavor is zesty and bright, tangy from the balsamic vinegar and balanced with a touch of maple syrup. Then of course it’s mixed together with extra virgin olive oil to form a creamy emulsion. We’ve also added a touch of Dijon mustard to give a little more zing; it also helps with the emulsion.

To make an emulsion for this balsamic vinaigrette recipe, you can simply whisk it by hand. Here are a few tips:

Use a medium sized bowl. In order to get the oil and vinegar to incorporate well, we use a medium-sized bowl to allow for enough movement of the whisk. (Trust us, we’ve done it in small bowls before and it’s almost impossible to get the oil and vinegar to meld.)
Add olive oil gradually. The other tip for reaching an emulsion is adding the olive oil little by little. We typically add it tablespoon by tablespoon and whisk in between until the oil fully incorporates.
Use mustard. Interestingly, the Dijon mustard also helps to form and lock in the emulsion. This technique works in a few other vinaigrette recipes, like our Classic Vinaigrette and Italian Dressing.

How to serve this balsamic vinaigrette recipe

This balsamic vinaigrette recipe is perfect on any type of salad that you throw together, especially salads with a sweet element like apples, berries, or sweet potatoes! Here are a few ideas of how to use it:

How would you serve this balsamic vinaigrette recipe? Let us know in the comments below!

Strawberry Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette | Balsamic vinaigrette recipe

More homemade salad dressing recipes

There are so many delicious salad dressing recipes to try! After this homemade balsamic vinaigrette recipe, here some favorites to try:

Go for Homemade Ranch Dressing (or Vegan Ranch)
Grab creamy Caesar Dressing Recipe (or Vegan Caesar)
Try Mediterranean-style vinaigrettes like Italian Dressing, Easy Vinaigrette, Red Wine Vinaigrette, Greek Dressing, or Lemon Vinaigrette
Opt for retro Blue Cheese Dressing Recipe or Thousand Island Dressing Recipe
Go green with Creamy Avocado Dressing or Healthy Green Goddess Dressing
Try fan-faves like Easy Honey Mustard Dressing or Raspberry Vinaigrette
Get all our tips on How to Make Healthy Salad Dressing

Caesar Dressing

Homemade Italian Dressing

Easy Honey Mustard Dressing

Red Wine Vinaigrette

This recipe is…

This balsamic vinaigrette recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.