Best Summer Salad Dressing Recipes

Summer and salad always go hand in hand. It is the perfect solution to those warmer days when a heavy, hot meal just isn’t manageable. But there’s a key element to a good salad that is often hiding in the background – the salad dressing!

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There are lots of variations and hundreds of ways to adapt them. Without them, a salad is just a pile of green leaves and a few odd ingredients! So to help you upgrade your salad, here are some of the best summer salad dressing recipes and ideas of what salads to serve them with.

Salad dressing or vinaigrette?

There are two main categories of dressing that are used to add to salads. Both have their benefits, but it is never a bad idea to understand the difference.

Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette is a mixture of an oil with something acidic and be used with a salad or as a marinade. Olive oil is often the most popular to be used but any type of oil will work. The acidic ingredient can be any of the types of vinegar such as balsamic, rice, wine, apple cider, red wine or more. Citrus juice such as lemon or lime can also be used.

If you are making a vinaigrette, the simplest ratio to remember is:

1 part vinegar to 3 parts oil

Dressing

A dressing is more like a sauce – it is usually cold and is the same kind of thing that is added to cold pasta salads or used in something like coleslaw. It can have a base of mayonnaise, buttermilk, yoghurt or even an oil base. You can add a vast range of ingredients to the base to give it flavours.

Dressings don’t always have a ‘perfect ratio’ in the way vinaigrettes do. Many recipes will just call for 1-2 tablespoons of the made up dressing. But you can vary this as much as you want to get the right balance of ingredients to dressing. And you can definitely have plenty of fun mixing them together in the dressing.

What gear will you need?

When you make a dressing or vinaigrette, it can be a good idea to make more than you need and store it. Otherwise it can be quite time consuming to mix enough for one meal at a time.

Your best friend when it comes to storing dressings in particular is the mason jar. With their glass base and screw lid, they are perfect to store leftover dressing in the fridge for a period. You can even get different sizes depending on how much leftover dressing you have.

For vinaigrettes, you can also use a bottle or even a special vinaigrette bottle. These often have a pouring spout to make it easy to drizzle over the salad while keeping the ingredients fresh in the fridge. Swing top bottles are another style that work well to store your vinaigrette leftover.

Vinaigrettes

So how you have a basic understanding of dressing types and the gear to store what you make. Now let’s dive into some of those best summer salad dressing recipes and their matching salad.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Serve with apple walnut salad

This is a strong salad that has peppery arugula, tarty apples and sharp blue cheese so may not be one if you don’t like strong flavours! But the maple vinaigrette actually works to sweeten the salad a little and offer a great balance.

Ingredients:

4 c. arugula, rinsed and patted dry
6 oz. chopped walnuts
2 T. white sugar
1 T. cinnamon
2 tart apples, cut in half, core removed, and cut into thin slices
1 T. fresh lemon juice
4 oz. blue cheese crumbles
½ small red onion, cut into thin rings
Salt and pepper, to taste

Vinaigrette:

¼ c. balsamic vinegar
1 T. fresh lemon juice
¼. c. maple syrup
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely minced
2/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To remove sharp taste from red onion, place the slices in a small glass bowl filled with cold water. Soak for 10-15 minutes. Remove from water and place on folded paper towels to dry.

In a small bowl, toss walnuts with sugar and cinnamon. Arrange walnuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To make the vinaigrette, combine the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and garlic in a small glass bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until well combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Adjust other flavours, as desired.

Add sliced apples to large glass salad bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice. Toss with your hands until well coated. Add arugula, seasoned walnuts, and blue cheese to bowl and gently toss to combine all ingredients.

Drizzle salad with a little vinaigrette right before serving and toss to combine.

Arrange salad on individual plates and top each with 2 – 3 red onion slices. Serve with additional dressing on the side.

Balsamic Honey vinaigrette

Serve with chicken and peach salad

This is a simple warm chicken salad that gets loads of flavour from the vinaigrette as well as from the peaches. You can use leftover chicken and add the garlic to it if you want or make from scratch as below.

Ingredients:

Grilled Chicken:

1 Pound boneless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and Pepper

Vinaigrette:

1/3 Cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Salad:

2 Cups spinach
1 Cup Arugula
1 Pound peaches, sliced
2 Cups corn kernels
½ Cup pecans, chopped
1 Small red onion, sliced
4 Ounces Feta Cheese

In a large sealable bag and chicken, olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Place in fridge and let marinate for 30 minutes or longer if time is allowed.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Once the chicken has marinated place mixture in a baking dish and cook for 25 minutes, flipping the chicken breasts halfway through.

While the chicken is cooking add olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper in a small bowl and whisk until well combined. Place in fridge.

In a large bowl add spinach, arugula, peaches, corn, pecans, red onion and toss together lightly. Then sprinkle feta cheese on top.

Slice the chicken, add on top of salad and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette when ready to serve.

Citrus vinaigrette

Serve with orange fennel salad

The combination of orange and fennel makes for an interesting flavour as they are very different, but the simple vinaigrette brings things together. Make the vinaigrette ahead of serving so the ingredients can really blend together.

Salad Ingredients:

3 blood oranges (or regular navel oranges), cut into thin slices with rind removed
1 bulb fennel, washed, dried and thinly sliced, bottom and green leaves removed and discarded
1 head Romaine or other leafy green lettuce

Citrus Vinaigrette Ingredients:

1 t. fresh orange zest
2 T. fresh orange juice
1 t. fresh lemon zest
1 T. fresh lemon juice
1 t fresh lime juice
1 T. fresh lime juice
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup really good extra virgin olive oil
1 T. honey
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, finely minced
salt and pepper, to taste

Wash the fruit thoroughly and pat dry. Zest each piece of fruit with a microplane and add the specified amount to the bowl.

While you are at it, continue zesting the entire fruit and freeze the excess amount in a plastic bag for future use. Another option is to collect the remaining juice from each piece of fruit and store in ice cube containers along with the leftover zest.

Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a glass bowl and whisk together thoroughly to combine. The Dijon mustard will ask as an emulsifier to bind the oil and acidic components together.

Arrange the Romaine or other lettuce leaves on each plate and top with alternating slices of fennel and orange. Drizzle entire plate with citrus vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve immediately.

Salad Dressings

If you are more of a sauce than a drizzle person, then salad dressings will be just what you need.

Poppy Seed dressing

Serve with avocado strawberry spinach salad

A classic summer salad using strawberries gets extra flavour from either blue cheese or feta and some slivers of almond. The versatile poppy seed dressing can also be used on simple green salads to add extra taste.

Ingredients:

6 Cups baby spinach
1 Pint strawberries, sliced
1 Avocado, diced
4 Ounces blue cheese or feta cheese
¼ Cup slivered almonds
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Poppy seed dressing:

1/3 Cup olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
2 Teaspoon dried mustard
salt and pepper

In a small mixing bowl add olive oil, red wine vinegar, honey, poppy seeds and dried mustard and whisk until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste and set in the fridge.

In a large bowl add spinach, sliced strawberries, diced avocado, feta or blue cheese, slivered almonds and sliced red onion and toss.

When ready to serve, add poppy seed dressing and toss.

Lemon Tahini dressing

Serve with roast fennel and fig salad

Fennel is never one of my favourites but there’s no denying that it makes a tasty salad with its slightly sweet flavour. Make the dressing beforehand to let everything mix together well where possible.

Salad Ingredients:

1 large fennel bulb
1 large red onion
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. balsamic vinegar
Salt and black pepper, to taste
3 T. fresh thyme leaves
2 c. arugula, washed and patted dry
2 c. baby spinach, washed and patted dry
3 medium ripe figs, cut half, then sliced

Lemon-Tahini Dressing:

3 T. tahini
3 T. hot water
3 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. preserved lemon rind, rinsed and chopped
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 large clove garlic, peeled
¼ t. ground cumin
Dash cayenne pepper
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Prepare dressing by combining ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth, scraping the sides with a spatula to ensure the tahini is thoroughly incorporated. Taste and adjust seasonings, as desired. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425°F degrees and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat. Set aside.

Remove the stems and bottom from the fennel bulb, then cut into ½” thick slices from top to bottom. Place slices in a large bowl and reserve the fronds for garnish, if desired. Set aside.

Remove ends and outer skin of red onion. Cut in half from root to stem and then cut each half into ½” thick slices. Place half-round slices into bowl with fennel.

Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar to bowl and season with salt and black pepper, to taste. Gently toss until the fennel and red onion is evenly coated.

Transfer vegetables to prepared baking sheet and arrange in a single layer without overcrowding. Sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and place in pre-heated oven. Roast for 30-35 minutes, turning once. Once vegetables are golden brown, remove from oven and set aside.

Place arugula and spinach in a large bowl and add 3 tablespoons of lemon-tahini dressing and toss to combine. Arrange greens on serving platter and top with roasted fennel, red onion, and fresh fig slices. Garnish with fennel fronds, if desired.

To serve, drizzle additional dressing on top, if desired, and pass the remaining amount for those who prefer more.

Tasty homemade summer salad dressings

These are just a few of the tasty homemade salad dressing recipes you can find to add to your salads and enhance their flavours. Don’t be afraid to mix them up or even try different ingredients in the mix – if you are more of a raspberry fan than a strawberry one, give it a try for example!

More salad ideas

Want a few more salad ideas to try out those dressings? Check these out!

Asian Cabbage Salad with Warm Spicy Peanut Dressing

Best Summer Salad Dressing Recipes