This Maple Balsamic Dressing recipe is easy to make and amazing on leafy salads, grain salads, and even roasted veggies! Just mix up olive oil, balsamic, vinegar, pure maple syrup, and a few simple ingredients. It keeps fresh in the fridge all week long!
I love how versatile this dressing is! My favorite use is drizzled over Roasted Brussels sprouts, in this Apple Pecan Harvest Salad, Chicken Apple Sausage Mason Jar Salad, or drizzled over roasted or air fried butternut squash.
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⭐Why I Love It:
- Simple Ingredients - You likely have them all on hand!
- Just Shake Up - Just add the ingredients to a mason jar and shake up to emulsify! No blender or food processor needed.
- Flavorful and Versatile - I love keeping a jar in the fridge to use on salads, veggies, and more!
🥘Ingredients and Equipment
- Olive Oil - You can use any olive oil, but for salad dressings I recommend using a higher quality olive oil. When cooking, using a more expensive olive oil isn't as noticeable, but in 'cold', 'raw' applications like a dressing it makes a big difference.
- Balsamic Vinegar - Also a good time to use one of your better aged balsamic vinegars. But anything you have in the pantry will work!
- Pure Maple Syrup - Use the good, pure maple syrup. Not the table maple syrup that is often used for pancakes. Another great recipes that uses maple syrup is this easy holiday appetizer recipe - Candied Bacon Crackers!
- Dijon Mustard - This helps emulsify the dressing and makes it creamier
- Spices - Garlic Powder, Dried Thyme, Dried Rosemary, Kosher Salt, Ground Black Pepper
- Glass Jar (optional) - Although you can mix up the dressing in a bowl with a whisk, I LOVE to use a jar so I can easily shake it up and then store right in the jar.
📖Variations
- Maple Syrup - If you don't have maple syrup, you can swap in honey. The flavor will be different, but the honey version is still delicious. Either version is great in this Copycat Sweetgreen Harvest Bowl.
- Fresh Herbs - Instead of the dried rosemary and thyme, you can swap in about ½-1 teaspoon each of very finely chopped fresh thyme and rosemary.
🔪Step by Step Instructions
Using a jar to shake up the ingredients is my best trick for easily making homemade salad dressings. You can make this maple balsamic dressing in just a couple of minutes!
Photo 1 - Add the dressing ingredients to a small jar with a lid (or to a bowl with a whisk).
Photo 2 - Shake the jar vigorously to combine the dressing - it should look creamy and the oil and vinegar should not separate. You can also whisk up in a bowl.
🍽Leftovers and Storage
Leftover dressing can be stored in an airtight container, or sealed jar, in the fridge for up to one week. Note that the olive oil will solidify in the fridge so you'll need to let it sit at room temp, or run the jar under warm water, to warm up before giving it another shake or stir to re mix.
💭Recipe Tips
- Shake it Up - I find this to be the easiest way to emulsify any salad dressing or vinaigrette. It combines so much better then if you just mix it up by hand.
- Adjust to Taste - This maple balsamic dressing is easy to adjust to your taste preferences. Want it sweeter? Add a little more maple syrup? Want more of a tang? Add more vinegar. Less tang? Add more oil.
👩🍳Recipe FAQs
A vinaigrette is a blend of fat and acid (oil and vinegar) that is emulsified - the oil breaks up into tiny droplets so it combines with the other ingredients instead of separating. So a maple balsamic vinaigrette is a spin on the classic balsamic vinaigrette but uses maple syrup as the sweetener.
A vinaigrette is a type of salad dressing. A vinaigrette is going to be vinegar based (balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, etc.). While a salad dressing is a broader term that includes vinaigrettes.
Balsamic glaze is made from balsamic vinegar, but it has been cooked down and reduced. Balsamic glaze is thicker and sweeter than regular balsamic vinegar.
🥗Related Salad Recipes
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PrintRecipe
Maple Balsamic Dressing
This Maple Balsamic Dressing recipe is easy to make but amazing on leafy salads, grain salads, and even roasted veggies! Just mix up olive oil, balsamic, vinegar, pure maple syrup, and a few simple ingredients. It keeps fresh in the fridge all week long!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup
- Category: Salad
- Method: No Cook
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- ½ tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add Ingredients - Add the dressing ingredients to a small jar with a lid (or to a bowl with a whisk).
- Shake - Shake the jar vigorously to combine the dressing - it should look creamy and the oil and vinegar should not separate. You can also whisk up in a bowl.
- Serve or Store - Either use the vinaigrette right away or you can pop it in the fridge for later.
Notes
This recipe makes 1 cup of dressing which is 6-8 servings
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 184
- Sugar: 4.6 g
- Sodium: 105 mg
- Fat: 18.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 5.4 g
- Fiber: 0.1 g
- Protein: 0.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Katie says
Loved this! I used it in a salad with spring mix, chicken sausage, and apples.