Apple Cider Vinaigrette

Bright with a sweet-savory flavor, apple cider vinaigrette is a fantastic autumn-inspired, homemade dressing to bring lots of delectable flavor to your fresh, hearty salads. My apple cider vinaigrette recipe has a kiss of honey, a whisper of Dijon mustard, and a flourish of dried herbs blended with olive oil for a healthy, vibrant way to enjoy your seasonal greens!

A Sweet-Savory Homemade Dressing Fit For Autumn

Friends, when I tell you that I don't know when the last time was that I purchased salad dressing from the market, I am truly not exaggerating.

Because my hubs and I eat a lot of salads during the week to try and sneak in those dark, leafy greens and fresh veggies, I make all of our vinaigrettes from scratch, and I can't tell you how much we enjoy that.

A homemade vinaigrette makes a huge difference in the flavor of our salads, adding lots of tasty nuance without being filled with high fructose corn syrup and other undesirable additives found in many store-bought dressings.

When it comes to preparing a dressing made from scratch, all that's really needed is a few simple ingredients that we typically already have on hand in our pantry!

With this apple cider vinaigrette (which is pretty much on repeat here at our house), we get to enjoy that sweet-savory flavor we love in our vinaigrettes, with an apple-y slant that's absolutely terrific during the autumn and winter months when apples are the theme.

Super easy to whirl up in the food processor, my apple cider vinaigrette has a touch of sweetness from a drizzle of honey to help play up that apple flavor.

I also like to add a pinch of dried herbs and Dijon mustard into the mix, along with a touch of mild shallot for that savory balance, before blending everything up with good quality olive oil.

Healthy, light and bright with lots of the flavors we all love during apple season, my apple cider vinaigrette recipe is not only a terrific choice during the fall, but the perfect homemade vinaigrette anytime you're craving a hearty and healthy salad packed with lots of mouthwatering flavor!

My Apple Cider Vinaigrette Recipe

The key to making a delicious apple cider vinaigrette is good quality apple cider vinegar...

I love to use an unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar (the kind with the cloudy looking “mother” that you see on the bottom of the bottle), as this has lots of flavor as well as some possible health benefits due to the fact that it is fermented, and considered a probiotic food.

And because apple cider vinegar plays so well, flavor-wise, with other ingredients, it makes for a fantastic base for an everyday vinaigrette that can easily be tweaked according to taste. You can make it sweeter or go in a more savory direction depending on the type of ingredients you'd like to include in your salad.

The versatility of apple cider vinaigrette makes it such a great dressing to keep on hand in the fridge, and when you see how easy it is to prepare, you too may decide to skip the store-bought vinaigrettes and make your own from scratch!

Here's peak at how I make my apple cider vinaigrette recipe: (or just jump to the full recipe...)

1. To get started, I add my apple cider vinegar, spices and seasonings into the bowl of my food processor, and process together.
2. Then, with the processor running, I slowly drizzle in my olive oil in a thin stream until the vinaigrette is completely emulsified and well blended.
3. I pour the apple cider vinaigrette into a glass jar with a screw-top lid, or into a dressing bottle, and store in the fridge for up to a month or two...but it never does last that long!

Recipe

Apple Cider Vinaigrette

by Ingrid Beer

Print Recipe

This apple cider vinaigrette is a deliciously bright, sweet-savory dressing that makes your hearty, seasonal salads pop with flavor!

Category: Condiment
Cuisine: American

Yield: 1 ¾ cups (14 servings)

Nutrition Info: 145 calories per serving (2 tablespoons)

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• ½ cup organic, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
• 2 ½ tablespoons honey
• 1 ½ tablespoons finely minced shallot
• 1 ¼ teaspoons Herbes de Provence
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:

1. Begin by gathering and prepping all of your ingredients according to the ingredient list above to have ready and organized for use.
2. Add all of the ingredients, except for the olive oil, to the bowl of your food process, and process for about 30 seconds until well blended.
3. With the processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the apple cider vinaigrette is completely emulsified and smooth. Check seasoning to see if any additional salt/pepper is needed.
4. To store, pour the apple cider vinaigrette into a glass jar or dressing container, and keep in the fridge. When ready to enjoy, remove from fridge 15 to 20 minutes before using, to allow the vinaigrette to come to room temp and liquify.

Tips & Tidbits for my Apple Cider Vinaigrette recipe:

• Unfiltered, organic apple cider vinegar: Opt for an organic, raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar (the kind where there is a cloudy sediment called a “mother” on the bottom of the bottle) to prepare a really delicious vinaigrette, and for some probiotic benefits.
• A touch of spice for seasonal flavor, to change things up: For this apple cider vinaigrette recipe, I'm going a slightly more neutral route flavor wise, but if you'd like to add some spice and give it more fall-like flavor, you can add a small whisper of cinnamon into the mix when processing. This is really nice to use to dress a salad such as my Honeycrisp Apple Salad, which has some sweeter notes in it.
• How to store homemade apple cider vinaigrette: When you prepare your homemade apple cider vinaigrette, simply pour it into a clean glass jar with a tight-fitting screw top lid, or even a glass bottle made specifically for dressing. Then, just store it in the fridge where it will keep well for quite a while, typically a couple of months. If it's a bit thick when you take it out of the fridge, allow it to sit at room temp for about 15 to 20 minutes to liquify it more, then shake well and enjoy.

Hungry for more tasty recipes? Check out this Honeycrisp Apple Salad, this Blue Cheese Dressing, this Crispy Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette, or this Roasted Beet Salad with Orange Tarragon Vinaigrette!