Strawberry Vinaigrette
This strawberry vinaigrette recipe is made with fresh, delicious ingredients like strawberries. Drizzle this tasty vinaigrette on salads, steamed vegetables, and even use it as a condiment for sandwiches.
I’m a big salad fan. I think I eat a salad every day. I quit buying bottled salad dressings years ago when my Aunt Mary (who is now 98) told me she made her salad dressings at home. My Aunt Mary is like the Martha Stewart of the family so I wasn’t necessarily surprised by this. However, seeing her do it, made me realize I could do that too.
Once you start making your own homemade salad dressings, there’s no going back to store-bought. That’s all I’m going to say about that.
I love to drizzle this strawberry salad dressing over romaine, chopped spinach, and even field greens salads. Of course, I will usually add some sliced red onion, sliced strawberries, and sliced avocados and toppings too.
When it comes to salads, I like to play it big!
What is a Vinaigrette?
A vinaigrette is a combination of oil, like olive oil, with an acidic ingredient, like vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice. To this base, you can add other flavorful ingredients like herbs, salt, pepper, and more.
I was purely into my creamy vegan ranch dressings until I was introduced to the vinaigrette. Although I still love creamy dressings, there’s nothing like a simple, delicious vinaigrette too!
What Makes This Recipe Shine?
- Using fresh strawberries adds intense strawberry flavor to this dressing
- White wine vinegar combined with lemon juice adds tanginess that doesn’t overpower the other flavors in this dressing
- Adding dried thyme introduces earthy tastes that enhances the overall appeal of this dressing.
Key Ingredients
You can find the full printable recipe, including ingredient quantities, below. But first, here are some explanations of ingredients and steps to help you make this recipe perfect every time.
Here are the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, including substitution ideas:
- Strawberries — I use fresh, but you can use frozen strawberries too
- Lemon juice — I’ve mixed this up and used lime juice too. Either way, the citrus adds some zing to the dressing. Using fresh is great, but bottled lemon juice works too.
- Olive oil — I keep the oil minimal while adding enough for flavor. Besides, the oil helps the vinaigrette stick to the salad.
- White wine vinegar — This is my favorite vinegar for salad dressings. However, if you’d like a strawberry balsamic vinaigrette, you can substitute balsamic vinegar here. The color will be darker, but the flavor is amazing.
- Dried thyme — I love the flavor of dried thyme, so adding it to this dressing was an easy call for me to make. That said, you could consider other herbs, such as rosemary or even a bit of dried ginger.
What’s missing? Well, notice I haven’t listed any sugar or sweetener. If your strawberries are tart, or you simply prefer your dressings a little on the sweet side, go ahead and add some sweetener. I recommend the following:
- Maple syrup (or agave nectar) — A teaspoon or two of sweet syrup is all you’ll need..
- Zero Calorie Sweetener — Products like monkfruit or Truvia work here.
- Granulated sugar — Be sure to sure the dressing to dissolve the sugar.
I think a little bit does the trick here, but you can use your own taste buds as the guide.
How to Make Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing
Now, let’s get into the steps to make this homemade strawberry salad dressing recipe.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor.
- Pulse in short bursts until well blended.
- Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Taste the dressing and add more sweetener if needed.
Here are more detailed step-by-step instructions.
Step One: Place Ingredients in a food processor
Place all ingredients in a food processor and then pulse in short bursts until well blended. I like to use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl to get all the goodness together. Then pulse it all again until mostly smooth.
I say “mostly smooth” because I like to leave some of the texture from the strawberries.
Step Two: Adjust the Flavors
Next, taste a bit of the dressing. If you’d like it to be a bit sweeter, add some sweetness as suggested above. It really can depend on your berries and your own personal taste preferences. Or you can add more thyme and/or salt.
But that’s basically it. See? I told you it would be easy.
Storing Homemade Vinaigrette
Storage Tips
Keep any unused dressing in the fridge when not in use. I like to transfer it to a lidded mason jar. It will keep up to 5 days in the fridge when stored properly. The ingredients will settle as it sits, so be sure to shake a little before serving.
Drizzle over green salads, fruit salads, and use as a sauce for other dishes.
Reader Reviews
★★★★★
Emily
I make this dressing all the time now – it’s easy. My favorite!
Vegan Salads & Dressings Favorites
As I’ve said before, I’m a big fan of salad. Can’t seem to get enough of them. In fact, some of that is inspired by Dr. Joel Fuhrman who recommends a daily salad as part of a nutritarian diet. Here are some more of my favorite vegan salads and vegan salad dressings:
This strawberry vinaigrette can be served with just about any salad, adding zing and flavor, but my favorite is to serve it over romaine lettuce. It’s so good!
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Strawberry Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until well blended. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Then pulse again until mostly smooth. Taste a bit of the dressing. If you'd like it to be a bit sweeter, add a tablespoon of maple syrup or a teaspoon of monkfruit or stevia.
- Keep any unused dressing in the fridge when not in use. It will keep up to 5 days in the fridge. The ingredients will settle, so be sure to shake a little before serving.
- Drizzle over green salads, fruit salads, and use as a sauce for other dishes.
Recommended Equipment
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Notes
The nutrition information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
I make this dressing all the time now – it’s easy. My favorite!
This is the kind of dressing that I like on my salad. I never liked the mayo based ones. I’ll try to make this soonest! Thank you so much, Marly!