Creamy Balsamic Dressing
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This Creamy Balsamic Dressing Recipe is SO delicious! Made with NO mayo, it’s easy to make and delicious. Perfect on any salad!
Homemade salad dressings are the secret to taking any salad from boring to totally delicious.
This creamy balsamic is one of my absolute favorite salad dressings, and I almost always have a jar of it in my fridge alongside our Greek Salad Dressing and Lemon Basil Vinaigrette.
Made with only 6 ingredients in about 5 minutes, it couldn’t be easier to make!
While many use greek yogurt, sour cream, or mayo to make a creamy dressing – here’s my secret – you can use your blender and get a creamy texture with your dressing, all while keeping it totally dairy-free!
liz’s tips for creamy balsamic dressing (no mayo)
- You need a high speed blender or a food processor. If you’re looking for a small, powerful blender, this one is awesome! Some people like to whisk their dressings, but I prefer to blend them! The blending is what gives the dressing that creamy texture without using any mayonnaise.
- If your dressing separates in the fridge, just shake vigorously to combine it. If it solidifies, pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds or leave it on the counter for a few minutes before enjoying.
This tastes delicious on basically any salad (especially a spinach salad!) You can also use it as a marinade for baked chicken breasts.
Ingredients
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil but we don’t recommend it. Olive oil adds a nice flavor here! You can also use flavored or infused olive oils.
Balsamic Vinegar: I haven’t tried making this with anything besides balsamic vinegar. I think it would work with red wine vinegar, but I can’t be sure how it would taste. Don’t substitute balsamic reduction; this recipe calls for plain balsamic vinegar.
Basil: This recipe is best made with fresh basil, but if you don’t have it, don’t worry! You can skip the basil entirely, or substitute the fresh basil leaves with 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves.
Honey: You can skip the honey in this recipe or replace it with maple syrup. The honey helps cut the acidity of the balsamic vinegar, so we recommend using it!
Salt/ Black Pepper: Add more or less to taste. Sometimes I’ll add a pinch of garlic powder to the dressing too; it adds a little extra flavor!
How do you thicken balsamic vinaigrette dressing? You can usually thicken balsamic vinaigrette dressing simply by keeping it cold in the fridge. When oil is chilled, it gets much thicker. You can try adding in mayo if you’d like, but we don’t recommend it.
How to Make Creamy Balsamic Dressing
- Blend all ingredients until smooth.
- Serve over a salad or enjoy as a marinade.
How to serve
This creamy balsamic vinaigrette goes well with so many things! Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy it:
- On a green salad: this goes great on our Strawberry Spinach Salad or Simple Peach Salad
- Greek Salad: Use it in place of the dressing on this Traditional Greek Salad
- Marinade: Use it as a marinade on Balsamic Grilled Chicken
- Drizzle it on Mediterranean Quinoa Salad or a Caprese Salad – it’s so good with tomato and mozz!
- As a pasta salad dressing, like our Grilled Veggie Pasta Salad
Storage:
Refrigerating: This will last for 5-7 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I like to use a mason jar. The dressing might separate, just shake vigorously to combine it. It also might solidify. Pop it in the microwave for 5 seconds or leave it on the counter for a few minutes before enjoying.
Freezing: We don’t recommend freezing this dressing. It’s meant to be enjoyed fresh.
Other healthy salad dressing recipes:
For more ideas checkout these 11 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes or grab our free salad dressing printable cookbook!
Creamy Balsamic Dressing (No Mayo!)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- ½ cup fresh basil OR 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth.
- Serve over a salad or enjoy as a marinade.
The best flavor ever. My family really loved. Will not be buying this dressing again.
We LOVED this dressing! Will definitely have on repeat!
I looked through the recipe, but did not see what type of olive oil you use, i.e, extra virgin, regular, or light? TIA for your attention.
Any will work! We prefer extra virgin olive oil though.
Oh. Em. Gee. Why did I wait so long to make this dressing?! I made it for the first time tonight (still eating my salad as I write this review) and I swear I could eat a whole tub of salad with this dressing. The flavors are absolutely divine and it was super quick to make! HIGHLY recommend. This will be a constant in my fridge from this day forward. Thank you!!!
We have fresh basil right now and this is the perfect way to use it! We had it on a salad but I’m excited to try it as a marinade for chicken. Thank you for another great and easy recipe!
I saw this post and had all the ingredients on hand , so I whipped it right up , it’s absolutely delicious , highly recommend!
I just made this dressing and I will definitely be making it again. So much better than store bought!
I have been looking for a homemade balsamic and this nails it. It’s so easy to make and store. I used a food processor versus a blender so it’s not as creamy looking at hers but I use that basil in a tube stuff and it mixed just fine. Delicious dressing!
Awesome dressing! So flavorful!
I did this recipe with dried basil leaves and it looks nothing like the picture of yours. Mine is nothing like the color. Yours is a golden color and mine is dark brown. And not creamy.
Did you blend it? It needs to be blended to be creamy, not whisked together.
I had the same issue, maybe it’s because of the dried basil?
Did you blend it? It needs to be blended, not whisked. Could be a little darker if you used dried basil, but the color won’t affect the flavor!
Same with mine, id like to know why
Did you blend it in the blender? It’s ok if it’s a darker color. Different olive oils and vinegars can be lighter/darker 🙂 Just because it doesn’t look exactly the same doesn’t mean it won’t taste delicious!
I made this recipe for the first time tonight and while it is delicious, mine too is dark. I used a Ninja blender and fresh basil – perhaps I used too much basil. It isn’t clear to me whether it is tightly or loosely packed. I will definitely make again.
Dressing was tasty, so easy to put together quickly.