This lemon vinaigrette recipe has bold, citrusy flavor with just a handful of ingredients! Everyone will love this quick salad dressing.
Looking for a killer citrusy salad dressing? Here’s a favorite that’s quick to put together and tastes like a million bucks. This lemon vinaigrette tastes like pure lemon. It makes gives all salads a refreshing zing, with only 4 ingredients! (Plus salt, of course.) This easy lemon salad dressing is just begging for you to make a salad. Come, we’ll show you how it’s done!
The ingredients you’ll need
You only need 4 ingredients for this lemon vinaigrette: plus salt, which we’re assuming you’ll already have on hand. It’s hard to get big citrusy flavor in a vinaigrette, since other flavors can overpower the delicate lemon flavor. Though we typically make vinaigrette with vinegar, we’ve landed on a great way to make this lemon vinaigrette sing without using added vinegar. The ingredients you’ll need are:
- Fresh lemon: do not substitute purchased bottled lemon juice! The flavor is not comparable.
- Olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic
How to make lemon vinaigrette
This lemon vinaigrette recipe is genius in its simplicity. Whisk together the ingredients, and you’ve got a pure lemon flavor. Here’s how to do it:
- Whisk together lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, and salt. Use a medium bowl and whisk together the non-oil ingredients first. We love using Dijon mustard in our homemade salad dressing recipes. Not only does it add great flavor, it helps to create a creamy emulsion.
- Whisk in olive oil gradually until thickened. Just whisk in the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time until that creamy emulsion forms! The resulting lemon salad dressing is so zesty and delicious, you’ll want to put it on every salad you make.
Want more with lemon? Try these 15 Zesty Lemon Recipes.
Best salads for serving lemon salad dressing
The best thing about this lemon vinaigrette recipe? It’s so versatile! It pairs with a variety of different cuisines: Mediterranean, Italian, American, French, and more. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use it in salad recipes:
- Drizzle it over classic Nicoise Salad for a zingy flavor
- Substitute in Kale Salad or Best Tossed Salad to make it deliciously fresh
- Try it on a berry salad, like Strawberry Spinach Salad, Blackberry Salad or Blueberry Salad
- Spoon it over Avocado Salad or Tomato Salad
- It even works on a pasta salads, like Antipasto Salad
More vinaigrette salad dressings
The vinaigrette is our top type of homemade salad dressing: ever! Though we love creamy dressings like Ranch and Caesar, the vinaigrette is the most versatile for salads of all kinds. Here are our top vinaigrette salad dressings to try:
- Try the pristine and tangy Balsamic Vinaigrette (fan favorite!)
- Opt for popular Dijon Vinaigrette or Shallot Vinaigrette
- Go for simple Red Wine Vinaigrette
- Go fruity with Strawberry Vinaigrette or Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Try other citrus with Easy Lime Vinaigrette or Citrus Vinaigrette
- Use summery produce with Quick Tomato Vinaigrette or Fresh Basil Vinaigrette
This lemon vinaigrette recipe is…
Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, and dairy-free.
Print
Easy Lemon Vinaigrette (4 Ingredients!)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: About ½ cup 1x
Description
This lemon vinaigrette recipe has bold, citrusy flavor with just a handful of ingredients! Everyone will love this quick salad dressing.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1 small garlic clove, minced
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, and kosher salt.
- Gradually whisk in the olive oil 1 tablespoon at a time, until creamy and emulsified. If desired, season with additional salt (or add ½ teaspoon dried oregano for an herby spin).
- Category: Salad Dressing
- Method: Whisked
- Cuisine: French
Keywords: Lemon vinaigrette, Lemon salad dressing, How to make lemon vinaigrette
Last updated: February 2020
This lemon vinaigrette is heaven. Seriously. I’m obsessed. I crave it. I can’t wait until summer produce is in full swing to find more uses!!
Oh we’re SO glad to hear it! We are too :) Thank you for making it!
How should I store the dressing?
We recommend storing leftover vinaigrette in the refrigerator in a jar or container with a lid. Refrigerating usually makes the dressing go solid. If this happen to your homemade vinaigrette dressing, just run it under warm water for a minute and stir it up prior to using. We keep it for 2 weeks.
You mention a lemon zest paste under the bullet point, “Whisk in olive oil gradually until thickened.”, however nowhere in the recipe do you actually indicate we should zest lemons or make a paste. Could you please clarify?
Thank you! We revamped this recipe and that sentence should be deleted. We’ve done so now – thank you!