This light and refreshing Citrus Salad Dressing will be a perfect vinaigrette recipe to brighten up your salad! Made with just a few simple ingredients, like olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon and orange, it has a perfect balance of tangy and sweet.
I am a big fan of making salad dressing at home using simple fresh ingredients. Though it might be more convenient to buy from a local store, it never tastes the same as a homemade vinaigrette.
Another reason is if you look at the ingredient’s labels of store-bought dressings, you will see a lot of added ingredients that shouldn’t be there, like sugar, preservatives, and many others. When you make it at home, you can control the ingredients and overall quality.
I love adding this Citrus Vinaigrette to my Roasted Beet Salad, Farro Salad, and Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad.
Ingredients and Subtitution
This Citrus Salad Dressing is similar to my Maple Dijon Dressing and Lemon Salad Dressing and will take you no more than 5-7 minutes to make and all you need is just a few basic ingredients:
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. Good quality extra-virgin olive oil is essential in any vinaigrette. It creates the base and helps to “marry” all the flavors together.
- White Wine Vinegar. This is my favorite type of vinegar to add a touch of acidity for a classic vinaigrette.
- Dijon Mustard. It helps to emulsify the dressing to get the right consistency and adds another layer or flavor. My favorite brand for Dijon mustard is Grey Poupon (not sponsored). Although, you can use any other brand.
- Citrus. To get a perfect balance of acidic and sweet citrus flavor, I use zest and juice of fresh lemon and orange.
- Maple syrup. Adds a nice sweet touch to balance the acidity.
- Garlic. I prefer to use garlic powder in my vinaigrette that provides a touch of aroma without having pieces of garlic in it. If you want, you can just use minced garlic for bolder flavor.
- Salt. Just a pinch of salt will help to balance all the flavors.
How to make it
This easy recipe will take you just a few minutes to put together.
Add all the ingredients to a mason jar, close with a lid and shake it well until all the ingredients are well combined.
Tips for best results
- It is very important to use good quality Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. If you use a cheaper one, it might have a bitter aftertaste. To fix it, you can try to add more orange juice and maple syrup.
- Also, if your olive oil is not the best quality and your vinaigrette is too oily, try adding more Dijon mustard.
- We all have different tastes. So, after you make this vinaigrette, taste it. You can adjust the flavors and the acidity by adding more white vinegar or Dijon mustard.
- When zesting the lemon and orange, zest only the very yellow/orange part of the fruit. Try to avoid the white pith under it, as it has quite bitter taste.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can refrigerate it in a closed jar for up to a week.
Absolutely! You can easily double all the ingredients and then make any adjustments if needed.
No. Store bought lemon and orange juice are not going to work in this recipe. To get the right flavor, you need to use zest and juice from fresh lemon and orange.
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
Citrus Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- ¼ cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons White Wine Vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- lemon zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- orange zest from 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- â…› teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a mason jar (Olive oil, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, lemon zest and juice, orange zest and juice, maple syrup, garlic powder, and salt).
- Close the lid and shake it up to mix everything together.
Notes
- It is very important to use good quality Extra-Virgin Olive Oil. If you use a cheaper one, it might have a bitter aftertaste. To fix it, you can try to add more orange juice and maple syrup.
- Also, if your olive oil is not the best quality and your vinaigrette is too oily, try adding more Dijon mustard.
- We all have different tastes. So, after you make this vinaigrette, taste it. You can adjust the flavors and the acidity by adding more white vinegar or Dijon mustard.
- When zesting the lemon and orange, zest only the very yellow/orange part of the fruit. Try to avoid the white pith under it, as it has quite bitter taste.
I don’t care for the flavor of maple. Is there something else I can use?
Honey
This is awesome! I made it to replicate a salad at a local restaurant, which includes quinoa, grilled chicken, cucumbers, quartered grapes, and slivered almonds with a citrus maple dressing. This dressing is even better than what they serve at the restaurant! So good!
One of the best vinaigrette recipes I have had. Perfect on a lettuce, blueberry, orange, pecan and blue cheese salad.
Yaay! Thank you, Cindy! So happy you liked it!
This looks so good! Crosslinking on my blog 🙂 flowerbungalow.com/arcadia-inspired-tuscan-kale-salad
Summer salad and this amazing dressing is going to be favorite for a long time. I love simple delicious dressing like this. Looks so amazing
I always make my own dressings at home, there is just something about it that is too special, Even though we don’t have our pictures on a bottle like Paul Newman we can still pack the same flavor 🙂
You can’t beat a homemade dressing! It’s so much better than anything you’d get in the store. I love all the citrus and touch of maple for a depth of flavor in this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
You’re right. Nothing can beat a homemade vinaigrette and the store bought ones don’t even come close. I love the sunshine yellow colour of your citrus vinaigrette salad dressing. I’m sure it tastes like heaven!
This sounds delicious, healthy, and easy. I love the addition of orange to put a fun twist on this vinaigrette!
This sounds like such a refreshing vinaigrette, perfect for summer! I hate buying store bought dressings, will be trying this soon!
I love making my own dressings & vinaigrette. This sounds so good, and very versatile to use on different dishes as well!
I love the simplicity of a summer salad and a lovely dressing like this!
I love a good salad dressing! Perfect timing for summer!
I love homemade salad dressings. Right now I have lots of citrus in the fridge. With so many bbq parties this summer, I know this salad dressing would be a hit with the guests.