This homemade Lemon Vinaigrette recipe is loaded with bright flavor and mealtime versatility. It promises to be one of your favorite fresh dressings of the summer!
This herby Lemon Vinaigrette is a dressing full of sunshine. I like to keep a jar on hand throughout the summer season, and find myself reaching for it for breakfast, lunch, and supper! Bright and tangy, and so pretty, speckled with minced fresh herbs, this lemon salad dressing is perfect for a variety of fresh salads, drizzling over Grilled Red Potatoes, and so much more.
What Makes My Lemon Vinaigrette So Special
I keep this fresh herby lemon vinaigrette on hand for so many more reasons than originally intended. I promise you, it’s going to be one of your go-to dressings!
- Lemon vinaigrette, with a little something extra. At its most basic, a lemon vinaigrette is oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, but I add fresh herbs from my garden for a lovely herbaceousness that pairs well with so many dishes.
- Balanced flavor. The acidity of a lemon vinaigrette perks up the flavor of foods, but I didn’t want it to be all pucker. So I add a touch of honey, which tempers that tartness. You can even add a little extra if you want your lemon vinaigrette to lean sweet.
- Easy to make, impossible to resist. Once you’ve discovered the awesomeness of homemade salad dressings, you’ll never go back to the store-bought bottle. They come together in minutes and the flavor is much more vibrant. (Family favorites include Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinaigrette, and this classic Caesar Dressing .)
What You’ll Need
The beauty of this lemon vinaigrette is that it’s very adaptable, but these are the ingredients I use most often. Scroll down to the printable recipe card to find the exact ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.
- Lemon juice – Freshly squeezed is a must, as bottled lemon juice has a flatter, less-fresh flavor. I wrote this recipe for using regular lemons. When Meyer lemons are in season, I like to use those, and encourage you to also – just know that they are sweeter and less acidic, so you’ll likely want to use less honey.
- Honey – Feel free to adjust the amount to your tastes.
- Dijon mustard – This condiment is a miracle worker when it comes to homemade salad dressings. It adds wonderful depth of flavor, plus a touch of creamy, thickened texture.
- Olive oil – A good extra-virgin olive oil will go far here, but it doesn’t have to be fancy.
- Shallot – This adds a savory onion-garlic flavor.
- Herbs – I use fresh thyme and rosemary, but use what you like. This is a great recipe to make when you buy a package of herbs for a recipe and have some leftovers.
- Salt & pepper – I use kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
How to Make Lemon Vinaigrette
The process is so easy, it almost doesn’t deserve a set of instructions. Here’s what you’ll need to do.
- Combine. Add the ingredients to a jar with a lid. While you can also whisk the dressing in a bowl, I like using a jar so I can shake it and really get the dressing to emulsify and thicken.
- Shake. Make sure the jar is sealed well and shake vigorously.
- Taste. Adjust the flavor as desired by adding more honey, lemon, herbs, salt, pepper, and so on.
My Favorite Ways to Use This Vinaigrette
I originally created this recipe to simply dress a small side salad, one of my favorite accompaniments to a breakfast of eggs.
All that little salad needs is a light sprinkling of coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper. And if you happen to have a block of Parmesan cheese on hand, a few quick shavings over the top take this salad up yet another notch.
This lemon vinaigrette is also wonderful drizzled over fresh tomatoes, roasted vegetables, or simple Grilled Vegetables. Think zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, and asparagus. It’s also THE dressing to use for my Grilled Vegetable Salad, and fabulous on my Grilled Potato Salad if you want to switch up the dressing.
Splash a bit over grilled chicken breasts. Fold some into a bowl of quinoa, and then add some chopped fresh cucumbers and tomatoes for an easy, flavorful salad. And it’s quite lovely on fish and shrimp!
How to Store
Refrigerate your lemon vinaigrette in a sealed jar for up to 10 days. When you want to use it, let it come to room temperature (the olive oil will solidify in the fridge) and then give it a good, vigorous shake to incorporate evenly.
Lemon Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ⅓ cup honey (use a bit more if you like it sweeter)
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil (use a bit more if you like a more mellow flavor)
- 3 tablespoons minced shallot
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
- ½ tablespoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Notes
Nutrition Information:
This post was originally published in 2015, then updated in 2019 and 2025.
I made this for my daughter in law who is eating everything fresh….no processed foods, fish and chicken but no pork or beef. I recently took a large spring salad loaded with spring vegetables and I made your lemon vinagarette. She loved it and everyone was saying how fresh the dressing was. My better half loves it too. We eat lots of salads and this dressing is the bomb!
Delicious! My husband is thrilled that I found a homemade substitute for his bottled dressing. Is it really only 3 grams of sugar? With 1/3 – 1/2 cup honey, it may be a little higher than that. Thanks!
SO GLAD you like this recipe!!
Perfect thanks so much! Really loved it, am going to try it on chicken thighs baked I think….
Hi Jennifer! T = tablespoon, tsp = teaspoon
This vinegratte is so delicious! I have used it in several different dishes. Everyone who tries is wants to know how to make it. Thank you for sharing it with the world!
So happy you like it!!
Delicious! Tasted great on Arugula Salad with shaved parmesan cheese. So happy to find this recipe as I’ve been looking for a lemon vinaigrette similar to The Egg & I restaurant that closed in our town. Made 1/2 of the recipe and it filled one of my empty Bonne Maman jelly glass jar to the rim…just perfect! Thank you and so yummy!
This was terrific! I didn’t have maple syrup so I substituted honey and used a little less. Also added a tsp fresh dill just because it was on hand. Excellent on a grilled shrimp and scallop salad with roasted cherry tomato’s.
I substituted Golden Lemon Thyme instead of regular thyme when I made it second time
Found it better tasting for my tastebuds…
This dressing so good. I’m curious if anyone has ever used garlic instead of shallots.
Oh help my soul!!! Awesome!!!! Makes every taste bud come alive!