Summer and salads, two of my favorite things. And a summer salad deserves only the best dressing. Homemade dressings are so easy to make and infinitely better tasting and better for you than store bought. And seriously, most take less than three minutes to make, so why would you ever use anything else? So let’s get to it, here are My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings!
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Mason jars with my Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings on a counter alongside a mango salad

 

The Formula for a Great Dressing:

Salad dressing actually has a formula: two parts healthy oil to one part acid. ‘Acid’ is either fruit juice or vinegar. For those of you that don’t get the “part” thing…this means you use twice as much oil than vinegar or fruit juice. Example: 1/2 cup olive oil and a 1/4 cup vinegar. Or 4 Tablespoons avocado oil and  2 Tablespoons fruit juice. Got it? Good! Then you add flavor enhancers such as: honey, mustard, tahini, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, chili powder, chives, garlic, or green onions and voila! A healthy, delicious salad dressing in just a few minutes!

My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings in mason jars

I chose these five dressings because they are very simple and taste great on a wide variety of salads. (This Mango Salad can be found here) For recipes using these salad dressings please see the bottom of this page.

My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings next to a green salad

So What My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings!?

When it comes to summer these are the dressings I use most: Tangy Lemon Vinaigrette, Sweet Raspberry Vinaigrette, Traditional Balsamic Vinaigrette, Citrus Vinaigrette, and last but not least, Tangerine Dressing sweetened with honey!

My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings

 

Salads I Use These Dressings On:

Grilled Chicken Salad with Honey Lemon Vinaigrette
Greens with Tangerine Dressing
The Organic Kitchen House Salad
Mango Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette 
Summer Berry Salad
Kale Salad with Citrus Dressing

For tips on making amazing salads click here! Happy salad eating ~ Linda Spiker

 

The Recipes: My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings

Tips and what you will need: a hand held juicer or citrus juicer, a good quality balsamic vinegar,  good quality white balsamic vinegar (I highly recommend this one!) and a good quality raspberry vinegar. A good quality sea salt,  mini whisk, and mason jars or any container with a lid. I just try to avoid plastic (affiliate links) When tangerines are in season I make sure to freeze the juice in small portions to thaw and use when not in season, very convenient!

5 from 9 votes
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My Five Favorite Summer Salad Dressings!
Prep Time
3 mins
Total Time
3 mins
 

I use the lemon, tangerine and citrus vinaigrettes on almost any salad! They are very versatile. I save the raspberry vinaigrette for greens with berries, apples, nuts, soft cheeses etc..., the traditional balsamic is great on just about anything too, I tend to serve it with salads heavy with veggies like tomatoes, cukes, and avocado or on my traditional house salad (recipe at bottom of page).

Cuisine: American
Keyword: homemade salad dressings, summer recipe, summer salad dressings
Servings: 6
Author: Linda Spiker
Ingredients
Lemon Vinaigrette:
  • 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon Juice
  • 2 Tablespoons green onions, sliced
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • pinch sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Raspberry Vinaigrette:
  • 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup A'Olivier Raspberry Vinegar. Trust me! You can find it at stores or buy online. See link above.
  • 1 Tablespoon honey
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 Tablespoon chives, chopped
  • pinch sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Traditional Balsamic Vinaigrette
  • 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup quality balsamic vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tablespoons green onions, sliced
  • pinch sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Citrus Vinaigrette:
  • 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • zest of one lemon
  • juice of 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 lime
  • 1 teaspoon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon white balsamic
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon shallot, peeled and chopped
  • pinch sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Tangerine Dressing:
  • 1/2 cup good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh tangerine juice
  • 2 teaspoon honey
  • zest and juice of 1 small lemon
  • pinch sea salt
  • freshly ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Place all in ingredients in a bowl and whisk. Store in mason jars and refrigerate for up to a week.

  2. Alternative method for Citrus Vinaigrette: If you would like a thick creamy version of this dressing (really nice!) put all ingredients in blender except olive oil. Blend, then drizzle olive oil in steadily. Dressing will emulsify and become thick and creamy.

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