Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
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Last updated on Jan 08, 2025
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Healthy homemade salad dressing recipes that are super easy to make — from a basic balsamic vinaigrette to peanut, honey mustard and cilantro lime. All dressings are gluten-free and vegan-friendly.
Regular readers know that I could practically live on salads because I love them so much. They’re such an easy option for healthy eating because you can literally toss a protein and healthy fat over a bed of greens with a ton of veggies or a whole grain and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal. (Check out my tips here –> how to build a meal-sized salad.)
And honestly salads are all about the toppings! Yes, the greens are important, but if you have a ton of flavorful toppings you might not even need a dressing. A drizzle of good balsamic vinegar, a scoop of hummus or even hot sauce will do the trick. Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but I put hot sauce on everything… even salad.
That said, there are definitely times when I’m in the mood for a salad with actual dressing. For times like this I like to whip out one of my homemade salad dressing recipes. The six I’m sharing are my go-tos. I make them all the time, but they’ve never really been featured on the blog because they’re all hidden within different salad recipes. Now they’re all are in one spot for easy reference.
Why Make Homemade Salad Dressing?
Many store-bought dressings are loaded with processed ingredients, preservatives and sugar so making your own dressing is much healthier. Plus, it’s cheaper! And once you get started making your own you’ll figure out what ratios you like best and it becomes so easy to whip up different variations.
As you’ll notice most of these healthy homemade salad dressings I’m sharing have recurring ingredients — garlic, apple cider vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, sea salt and pepper. So once you have these items in your pantry/fridge you can make a bunch of different dressings!
All of the dressings are made with whole ingredients and yield about 3/4 cup, which is about 12 Tablespoons and 6 servings. Each serving size is 2 Tablespoons. Oh, and if you’re looking for sugar-free options, check out the zesty tahini and the apple cider vinegar dressings.
How to Make a Salad Dressing
Each of these recipes are made with minimal ingredients. There are a few ways to mix up homemade salad dressings:
- Put all of the ingredients in a mason jar and shake it up! I like using this method for oil-based dressings like vinaigrettes.
- Put all of the ingredients in a high powered blender and blend! I like using this method for creamier dressings that use ingredients like avocado but it also works great for vinaigrettes!
How to Store Salad Dressings
I recommend storing your homemade dressing in a glass container in the refrigerator. I like to use mason jars! One thing to note: homemade dressings made with olive oil tend to harden and separate when stored in the fridge. This is completely normal! Take the dressing out of the fridge about 20 minutes before using so it can come to room temperature and then give it a quick shake to recombine the ingredients.
What’s the Best Salad Dressing Container?
I store all of my favorite homemade salad dressings in Ball jars. The 8-ounce capacity is just the right size for holding several portions of dressing, and they’re dishwasher-safe and reasonably priced at about $12 for 12 jars. I also like these Kinto Glass Salad Dressing Bottles because you can use them to shake and store dressings, but they look pretty for serving, too. A set of two costs around $35. For an all-in-one option, the OXO Salad Dressing Mixer is a good choice, and costs about $23
How Long Does Homemade Salad Dressing Last?
When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, your homemade dressing will last about two weeks.
Garlic Tahini Dressing
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 84 calories, 5g fat, 5g carbs, 0g sugar, 2g fiber, 6g protein, 30mg sodium
Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing
My go-to apple cider vinegar salad dressing recipe. If EBF has a house dressing, this would be it! Get all the health benefits of apple cider vinegar with this delicious dressing! Use it for this Brussels Sprout Chopped Salad or as a marinade for grilled chicken.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 163 calories, 18g fat, 1g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 434mg sodium
Cilantro Lime Dressing
One of my favorite zesty dressings to use for Mexican themed salads. Try it on my Deconstructed Guacamole Salad or as a marinade for grilled shrimp.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 87 calories, 9g fat, 2g carbs, 1g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 394mg sodium
Basic Balsamic Dressing
Everyone needs a go-to balsamic vinegar dressing and this one is absolutely delicious and works on just about any salad imaginable. Try it on my Detox Salad or for a Salad in a Jar.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 103 calories, 9g fat, 5g carbs, 4g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 217mg sodium
Honey Mustard Dressing
One of my favorite salad dressings growing up was honey mustard and I still love it to this day. This version is lighter than regular honey mustard but still just as flavorful! Try it as a dipping sauce for my Baked Paleo Chicken Tenders.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 106 calories, 9g fat, 7g carbs, 6g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 219mg sodium
Peanut Dressing
The most amazing peanut dressing to use for Asian salads! Try it on my Kale Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing, Kale Sweet Potato Brown Rice Bowls and as a dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 107 calories, 7g fat, 13g carbs, 6g sugar, 0g fiber, 3g protein, 345mg sodium
Everything You Need to Make Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
OXO 3-Piece Angled Measuring Cup Set
Buy Now →
Mini Tulip Jelly Jar with Glass Lids, 6 Count (Pack of 1)
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Spring Chef Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons Set of 7
Buy Now →More Salad Dressing Recipes?
- Mexican Goddess Dressing
- Maple Dressing
- Avocado Ranch Dressing
- Lemon Vinaigrette
- Turmeric Tahini Dressing
- Avocado Caesar Dressing
- Chili Almond Dressing
- Blueberry Tahini Dressing
- Raspberry Vinaigrette
My Best Salad Recipes
No time to make your own dressing?
Be sure to check out all of my healthy salad dressings as well as my favorite healthy store-bought salad dressings.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
Ingredients
Apple Cider Vinegar
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon sea salt + more if needed
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper + more if needed
Zesty Tahini
- ¼ cup tahini
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ¼ cup low-sodium tamari or soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- ½ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
Peanut
- ¼ cup peanut butter
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons low sodium tamari , or soy sauce
- 2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- Pinch cayenne pepper, optional
- water, to thin
Honey Mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 Tablespoons honey, or maple syrup for a vegan version
- 2 Tablespoons dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon minced garlic
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ground pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup olive oil
Cilantro Lime
- ¼ cup olive oil
- juice of 2 limes
- 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- ½-1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
Balsamic
- ½ cup balsamic vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil and/or thyme, optional
Instructions
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Equipment
- 8-ounce Mason Jar (the 8-ounce size is perfect for storing dressings)
What’s the point of using sea salt? It lacks iodine, so I prefer to use iodized salt.
Can you recommend salad dressings without vinegar?
it causes me to choke sometimes, so I avoid it.
You can totally use iodized salt instead of sea salt in any recipe, Susie. I have tons of dressings on my site, but most of them contain vinegar, are there any specific flavors you are looking for? You could try my Avocado Ranch Dressing which is great for a salad dressing or veggie dip!
Hi Brittany, I have multiple food and medication allergies. I use a lot of Coconut products. Allergic to Almonds, need a substitute for flour. Rice flour is too dense. No chocolate, I can use butterscotch or peanut butter chips, no Black pepper, I use cayenne.
No Red meat, No Seafood. I use Coconut milk on almost all of my dishes that call for dairy. I don’t know how to sub Coconut Flour, less flour more liquid.
Hi Helen! What specific recipe are you referring to? I am happy to help, just let me know!
This has charged me up for eating healthy, and I love to cook/bake/assemble.
Thanks for sharing your gift.
Most sincerely,
Hope you enjoy!
Excellent cider and olive oil recipe. thank you. Does it have to be refrigerated? I ask because it gets extremely thick in the jar in the fridge. It’s delicious.
Hi Chris! So glad you’re enjoying this recipe. I would recommend keeping in the fridge, bit when you are ready to use, you can either leave out for a bit or run it under warm water to re-liquify the oil. Enjoy!
Thank you, thank, thank you! I have just started getting your emails, and I am so glad I did! I have been needing some good some tahini and peanut dressing recipes and I am tired of scrolling through Pinterest to find them. Now I have even more recipes to choose from. Thank you for your time to send out emails!
Yay! I am so glad that you are enjoying my recipes, Danni. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Im excited to find this web site. I wanted to thank you for your time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and i also have you book marked to check out new stuff in your website.
Of course, I appreciate you being here!
I really need to start making dressing at home.
Hi! I noticed in the nutrition facts for each dressing the sodium count was missing. Do you know how much sodium is in each dressing?
Hey Krista,
So sorry for the delay! The nutritional info has been added to this blog post for each of the dressings. 🙂
Love all your dressings! Does tahini dressing need to be refrigerated? If so, how long will it last in fridge? Thank you kindly.
Hi, Susan. I suggest storing the tahini dressing in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should last for a week or two!
I’ve been making my own dressing for many years. I have such a distaste for store bought because they taste like a chemical concoction. I can always tell if someone has used a store bought dressing. Homemade is easy to make and tastes so good! I especially like controlling what goes into my food. I generally make everything from scratch. Homemade soup is right up there with homemade dressing. The homemade versions are too good to give up.
Thanks for the recipes. I can’t wait to try the peanut dressing.
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Wendy! Let me know how the peanut dressing turns out!
Love all of these! Made the tahini tonight!
Yay! So glad you are enjoying these dressings, Lindsay! Thanks for leaving a review. I really appreciate it!
I made the cilantro lime dressing and ate it on a homemade taco salad. It was delicious!
So glad you enjoyed the cilantro lime dressing, Francie! Thanks for making it and coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it!
made it and love it!!!
I make the apple cider vinegar dressing all the time. My family loves it
I’m so glad this dressing it a hit with your family, Renee. Thanks for coming back to leave a review. I so appreciate it. 🙂
Hi there! To start with, I love your website, and I think the recipes you post are amazing!!! I have been wanting to try out tahini for awhile now, and I was wondering what brand you use for your recipes?
I usually use the Whole Foods brand. 🙂
Do you have a recommendation for a coconut curry dressing.
Love love all of these!! Where do you buy your little salad dressing jars!!
I think they were from World Market! 🙂
Thank you for all the lovely recipes. A wonderful blend of talent, herbs and spices. Kudos!!
I am going to try them all. Thank you so much for sharing.
Would love to have print!
How do I print these recipes? I don’t see an option to print individual dressings WITHOUT all the pictures!
Hey Paula – If you click the recipe links to head over to the recipe page for each dressing, there is a print button. Let me know if you need help finding them.
These are literally the BEST dressings of all time. I love them all. I think my fav is probably the tahini but I have loved them all. Thank you for sharing these!
Yay!! That makes me so happy to hear Tiffany. Thanks for coming back to leave a comment, I really appreciate it!
We do not use oil. Can we just leave it out, maybe use water instead?
Love all of these!! Where do you buy your little salad dressing jars!!
Is there a print option for these recipes?
Yes, if you click the recipe link(s) to head over to the recipe page for each dressing, there is a print button. Let me know if you need help finding them.
Hahaha, tricky girl! Worked, thanks! 🙂
Made the Honey Mustard today! So easy and delicious. The kids helped and they loved it too. I had all the ingredients in my pantry and fridge. Winning 😃
How long do the salad dressings keep in the fridge? They all look so delicious will make a few. thank you
I am doing a detox workshop on friday and looking for an easy salad dressing. Thank you for a lovely article and easy to read ingredients plus love the video ! 🙂 I am a health coach too and feel so happy with what you are sharing to the world . Definitely opting for both the apple cider vinegar and cilantro lime one.
Do any of these salad dressings need to be refrigerated?
Yes, they all need to be refrigerated.
Brittany have tried 3of your dressing and loved them .eating more salad do to u
Thank u send more.
Ahh!! This makes me so happy. Which has been your favorite so far?
I made the Peanut Dressing. Wonderful. I served it over a tossed salad. I also tossed it with spaghetti and matchstick Carrots.
Love these dressings! I make the apple cider vinegar often. How big is a serving size?
Awesome! The serving size is 2 Tablespoons. 🙂
I just made the Apple Cider Dressing, it is amazing! So full of flavor. Thanks for the recipe.
Hooray! It’s one of my favorites. So glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
I just made the honey mustard for a veggie salad and it’s so good!! Definitely saved this page for future reference to try the others as well!
I love that they are all dairy free. I’v tried the honey mustard and apple cider ones a few different times. they are delicious. Thank you
Just made the honey mustard and love it! I plan to work my way through the different recipes :). Is there any issue with the honey getting hard if stored in the fridge? Should I store it on the counter?
I made the Tahini salad dressing tonight because I had all those things in my pantry. I haven’t found a Tahini salad dressing that I like very much but this one was really great. The only ingredient I changed was the tamari. I used coconut aminos instead. Very nice balance of tastes. Thank you for putting these out here. I intend to try the other ones too.
Yay! I’m so glad you enjoyed the tahini salad dressings. That is one of my absolute favorites. And I’m sure it was good with the coconut aminos. I bet they added a little hint of sweetness. YUM!
LOVE these awesome salad dressings! I stopped buying salad dressings because as you said they are not healthy. Thank you so much for these incredible dressing recipes, which I will definately be making. Love the Cilantro Lime!
Hi! I’m going to make the apple cider dressing today. How do you store it after it’s made? Can I leave it out on be counter or should I refrigerate? The oil will usually harden when I refrigerate so I figured I’d ask what you do! Thanks!
I’d definitely store the acv dressing in the fridge. The oil might harden… just take it out of the fridge about 20 minutes before serving and shake it well. This will warm up the oil and allow it to become liquid again.
Thanks for sharing! How long do they last?
They should last at least a week in the fridge!
That honey mustard one looks delicious! I love a nice dressing that uses a great dijon mustard. Thank you for sharing! Can’t wait to make this one for my family.
These look great? Is there a particular kind of apple cider vinegar you use?
Yes, I really like the Bragg’s unfiltered organic apple cider vinegar.
I tried last night the Apple cider vinegar salad dressing and OMG! so incredibly delicious!! So glad I found this blog. Can’t wait to try the rest. I do have one questions (since I track everything I eat) how much is 1 serving? a tablespoon? Thank you!
1 serving is 2 Tablespoons. 🙂
Thank you for posting good easy recipes for dressing. My diet is limited to very fre things, so this help me alot. I would love to try the cilantro lime, but cilantro is one of the no no things for me. What other herb can I use in it place! I will make the regular recipe for my daughter…she will love it.
Maybe parsley? Different taste but I sub cilantro all the time, I hate it. Parsley I love.
This is the most beautiful and delicious blog post I have ever seen! Bookmarking for the dressing recipes : )
These all look very tempting. In your nutritional facts, the sodium isn’t listed. I’ve recently been put on a low sodium diet and finding hidden sodium everywhere. I know I can leave out salt altogether but was wondering if you had any suggestions what to replace it with. And maybe if you know the sodium content of any of these. Thanks so much!
I tried the Apple Cider Vinegar one. It was good, but it felt like it was missing something. So I squeezed about 1/4 lemon in it and that was it, it turned out really amazing and it actually brought up the salt & pepper flavors!
Super simple and delicious, thank you!
Thank you for these recipes. They all seem so simple to make.I love making my own salad dressing (haven’t bought bottled dressings in years) and intend to eventually try all of these, but right now I’m stuck on the Apple Cider Vinegar one. It is so delicious!
Thank you, Karen. I’m so glad that you’re loving the ACV dressing. Definitely try the peanut and tahini. They’re both awesome too!
Great Great recipes Brittany!! Thank you so much! My husband and I are on a very strict food plan and we have only eaten Tahini dressing or lemon and olive oil and we needed a change! Thanks ????
Awesome recipes! I would love your take on Ranch, Caesar and Italian!
I have an avocado ranch recipe that you can check out now, but I’ll add Caesar and Italian to my list of dressings to share. 🙂
I’m allergic to garlic????Should I just leave it out or do you have a suggestion for a replacement?
Oh shoot! Can you do shallots? That might be a good sub.
Shallots no, but chives could work?
I think chives would be a nice substitute. Let me know how it goes!
Oooh no Susie! I’ve never heard of anyone being allergic to garlic????What happens when you eat it if you don’t mind me asking?
Do these have to be refrigerated?
Oops, nevermind… just saw the above post
I love the Apple cider vinegar recipe! Do you refrigerate after? I noticed the consistency changed when refrigerated and I’m wondering if it’s necessary.
Hi Meg. Yes, I refrigerate this dressing. The olive oil might solidify a bit, but if you take the dressing out the fridge a bit before you want to use it, the oil will become liquid again and you should be able to whisk and use it regularly.
Tried the honey mustard one last night. It was fantastic!!!
Yay! So glad you liked it, Renee.
Just finished making the Peaut Dressing and it was AWESOME.
What’s the serving size for these dressings?
The serving size is 2 Tablespoons.
How long would these last in the fridge after you make them?
I’d say they last about 5 days in the fridge.
I made the apple cider vinegar dressing and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. The problem is that after two days in the fridge it is was all clumpy. Any idea why that happened?
Love these! I’m trying to get in the habit of making dressings to have on hand. These will definitely help – thanks for sharing!
These all look great! Question about the tahini dressing recipe: you list the lemon juice as “1/4 cup Tablespoons lemon juice” – do you mean 1/4 cup or 1/4 tbsp? I imagine that would make quite a difference, and I’d love to make this soon!
It should be 1/4 cup. Sorry for the confusion and thanks for pointing out this error. Enjoy the dressing. 🙂
Is this the same for the tamari? Is it really 1/4 Tablespoon or should it also be 1/4 cup?
This is a great resource. Thank you!!
Yes, 1/4 cup. So sorry about the confusion.
Very simple and certainly healthy! Thank you
Great go-tos here! Love making homemade dressing. These are fab!
I don’t know why more people don’t make salad dressing from scratch? So easy and no processed stuff or HFC! This is a great collection for a variety of salads.
CILANTRO LIME PLEASE!! I’m all about those salad toppings for sure!
Love homemade dressing and I’m always looking for fun new flavors to try! These will be perfect! 🙂
Awesome recipes and great photos!
Rebecca
xx
http://www.peppermintdolly.com
I can’t wait to try the peanut dressing this week- if I add a little more peanut butter, maybe it will be a great faux pad thai or would make a good dipping sauce for chicken skewers. Yum! Thanks Brittany!
Thanks Leah! Everyone LOVES the peanut dressing and I think it would work great as a pad thai sauce — just use less water and keep it thicker! I use it as a dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls all the time.
Love your site! Can’t wait to try all the dressings.
I always look forward to finding new recipes that
you post.
Thank you, Susan! So glad you found my site. Enjoy the dressings.
I’ve been looking for healthy salad dressing for awhile now so I’m very happy to see these recipes and cannot wait to try them.
Love all of these! x
Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com
This is perfect! Thank you for putting these all together in one place!
Beautiful post! I love making my own dressings – not only are they much healthier, but taste even better too!
All of these dressings look amazing, but the cilantro lime would definitely be my favorite!!
Does anyone know how much “one serving” is? Is it a table spoon or how big?
Yup! 1 serving is 2 Tablespoons. 🙂
My favorite as well.