Zesty Lemon Dijon Dressing
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This creamy and zesty Lemon Dijon dressing is so delicious, and it only takes 5 minutes to make! Blend together a few ingredients for a fantastic lemon vinaigrette for spring or summer dishes.
This lemon Dijon dressing is one of my all time favorite healthy salad dressing recipes. It’s got such a unique, bright lemon flavor that is SO delicious.
Honey, lemon, mustard, olive oil, and fresh herbs come together in the most delicious way. In about 5 minutes, you can create a creamy lemon salad dressing you’ll absolutely love.
Store bought dressings are filled with additives to keep them shelf-stable for longer periods of time. They are also often filled with low-quality ingredients to make them cheaper to produce. This dressing has simple, healthy ingredients that you can pronounce.
This tangy honey mustard dressing is amazing on this kale salad, but it goes well on any greens. It can even be used as a marinade on chicken, fish, pork, or veggies!
liz’s tips for the Best lemon Vinaigrette
- Always use fresh lemon juice! Bottled lemon juice is too bitter and will not taste the same.
- Separation is to be expected with vinaigrettes. Over time, the oil and lemon juice will separate—this is perfectly natural. Whisk together or cover and shake the jar again to remix the dressing.
ingredients
A citrus juicer and citrus zester will also be helpful to have!
Substitutions
Olive Oil: You can substitute avocado oil for extra virgin olive oil.
Lemon Juice: Do not use bottled lemon juice. Always use fresh lemon juice. Bottled lemon juice is too bitter and will not taste the same. We haven’t tried making this with lime juice, but I think it would taste great.
Mustard: Any form of ground mustard or Dijon mustard will work in this recipe. You can try using yellow mustard, but the flavor will be quite a bit different.
Herbs: You can substitute fresh herbs for dried herbs. If so, double the amount of fresh for dried herbs, and be sure to mince them well.
Honey: You can use maple syrup or agave syrup instead of honey, but because honey is sweeter than maple syrup, you may not need to use as much.
Tahini: If you want a nutty flavor, try our Lemon Tahini Dressing.
How to Make Lemon Dijon Dressing
This is just a summary of the steps involved in making the recipe. Scroll down to the recipe card for the full instructions, or click on the Jump to Recipe button, below.
- In a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
storage
Refrigerator: This will last in the refrigerator for up to a week, as long as it’s in an airtight container. For easy blending, we like to store homemade dressing in mason jars. Separation is to be expected, and with a mason jar, you just shake it to recombine.
Freezing: We haven’t tried freezing this vinaigrette, and we don’t recommend doing so. The ingredients will separate (as all vinaigrettes do) and we suspect the dressing will be difficult to recombine after freezing and thawing.
Serving Ideas
This dressing tastes great on pretty much anything, including salads and cooked proteins. You can also use it as a marinade for Grilled Chicken or Grilled Vegetables in Foil.
Here are some salads we toss the creamy dressing with:
Zesty Lemon Dijon Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest zest of 1 lemon
- ½ cup lemon juice juice of 2 lemons
- 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard or dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoons honey
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- In a food processor or small blender mix together olive oil, lemon juice/zest, dijon mustard, honey, salt, pepper and parsley until smooth.
- Store in an airtight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Always use fresh lemon juice! Bottled lemon juice is too bitter and will not taste the same.
- Separation is to be expected when storing. Whisk together or blend again to remix the dressing.
Nutrition Facts
other healthy dressing recipes
For more ideas checkout these Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes!
This recipe was sooooo good with the perfect mix of lemon and mustard. I will be making it again.
I love this recipe!
Very tasty and soooo easy to make using healthy ingredients. Making this you know exactly what is in your dressing!!
Definitely recommend making it!
I love this recipe!
Very tasty and soooo easy to make using healthy ingredients. Making this you know exactly what is in your dressing!!
I just tried this recipe,we love it,I made chicken fingers & french fries and a salad.thank you for your wonderful recipes