5 Minute Maple Dijon Basil Vinaigrette – Simple and So Delicious

Basil infused olive oil, sweet pure maple syrup and slightly spicy Dijon mustard combine to create a smooth, bright, tasty and quick dressing for salads or a dipping sauce for bread. Who doesn’t love a quick homemade recipe for healthy, delicious and oh so simple Maple Dijon Basil Vinaigrette?

You’re at home on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. You make yourself a gorgeous salad packed with leafy greens, fresh herbs, maybe some slices of fruit, seeds, nuts, a boiled egg… It is packed full of antioxidants, vitamins, protein, healthy fats and then…. you top it with a layer of sodium-packed, calorie-dense, preservative-filled store bought salad dressing.

Yikes.

Every intention of having a healthy meal to keep on track of your fitness or life goals just went straight out of the window.

Store-bought salad dressings are packed full of added sugars, preservatives, harmful dyes and a whole slew of other ingredients that none of us should have as any part of our diet.

They can take any healthy salad and absolutely sabotage its benefits and your healthy meal.

It is SO simple and SO much healthier to make your own salad dressing at home.

5 Minutes. That’s all it takes to shake up a flavorful dressing with a short list of ingredients. Why sabotage your salad with store-bought when you can control every aspect of it? Salads are the base of a healthy diet, but too often the dressing tanks it.

I think sometimes people are intimidated by “homemade” anything… They assume it takes too much time, too many ingredients or it just won’t turn out right.

Homemade is always better, often quicker and so much healthier.

Salad dressings are one of the best examples of this.

Any one who has perused my site a little bit can tell that I am a huge fan of Maple. I feel like a broken record sometimes with my declarations of its deliciousness, but it really does add the perfect bit of sweetness and balance to this dressing.

Maple and Dijon are two classic ingredients that pair so well together. Add in a bit of basil-infused olive oil, apple cider vinegar and a pinch of both salt and pepper, shake in a mason jar and you have a homemade salad dressing that will blow your mind with its freshness, unique taste and how easy it really is to make in next to no time.

Ingredients for 5 Minute Maple Dijon Basil Vinaigrette

Pure Maple Syrup

Dijon Mustard

Basil Infused Olive Oil

Apple Cider Vinegar

Salt & Pepper

How To Make Maple Dijon Basil Vinaigrette

Measure out all of your ingredients.

I prefer using canning jars with Secure, Leakproof Lids for a vinaigrette like this – not the lids with bands; those are great for a lot of other purposes, but not when I’m planning on vigorously shaking something and potentially causing a mess. 🙂 Plus, I like the way these store in the fridge.

Combine all the measured ingredients in a wide mouthed pint jar, securely fasten the lid and shake for 20-30 seconds until well combined.

And, that’s it! 🙂

It’s as easy as that.

This is honestly one of my all-time favorite salad dressings.

The simplicity of the ingredients is perfect for so many different salad combinations.

I think you’ll also love this as a dipping sauce for bread, a marinade for chicken or even a wonderful hostess gift in a thank you basket.

Tips and Variations

The beauty of homemade breads, pasta sauces, marinades or salad dressings… ?
There are so many ways to make them your own. If you don’t have something, switch it up with something else. Don’t be afraid to take a few new risks in your cooking journey.
This vinaigrette is no different. It is SO customizable.

No Basil Infused Olive Oil? I try to keep a few bottles of this on hand, but if you can’t find it, then add dried or fresh basil. If using fresh basil, I would add this to a food processor to briefly combine, hopefully avoiding oxidation and browning of the basil leaves.

Not a fan of Basil? Experiment with Different Herbs. Dried thyme would be wonderful, as would herbs de Provence.

Switch Up Your Vinegar. You could use white wine vinegar or champagne vinegar in place of apple cider.

Replace Maple Syrup with honey or even a simple syrup if you don’t have/want either maple or honey. You could also add a bit of brown sugar in place of the maple – if you do so, just add a couple tablespoons of water to get your desired consistency.

This really is the simplest recipe that comes together in FIVE MINUTES and once you start making your own homemade dressings, you will never want to buy store bought again.

You’ll start to easily notice all of the unhealthy ingredients, unnecessary dyes, high calorie content and all the extra crap (and there is no other way to describe it) that they add on the “nutrition” label and you’ll be so happy you are in control of what you are topping your salad with.

I promise this will become one of yours new favorites. 🙂