Use up your fresh dill in this simple dill vinaigrette that’s made with just a handful of staple ingredients. Made with fresh lemon juice and Dijon, this dressing is bright and tart, making it the perfect vinaigrette for a green salad on the fly. It’s also incredibly versatile—if you don’t have lemon on hand you can use any light vinegar like white wine vinegar or rice vinegar.

Why This Recipe Works

This super simple vinaigrette is bright, fresh and great on just about any green salad.

When it comes to homemade vinaigrettes, we usually make them with equal parts oil and acid (citrus juice or vinegar). But for this recipe, we pulled back on the lemon juice a bit to give the dressing a thicker, more creamy texture. (Don’t worry, it’s still very much a lemony dill vinaigrette!)

Additionally, we load up the vinaigrette with fresh dill, a bit of shallot and Dijon which adds flavor and emulsifies the vinaigrette. 

oil, fresh dill, salt, pepper and lemon juice in a glass measuring cup

Ingredients 

Oil 

Extra-virgin olive oil is always our choice for no-cook methods. It adds tons of flavor, and depending on the brand and origin, it can add fruity, spicy or even citrusy notes to your dressing. 

Lemon 

Fresh lemon juice is so key when it comes to homemade vinaigrettes! Fresh is always best. For even more lemony flavor, consider adding some minced lemon zest to the vinaigrette too. If you don’t have fresh lemons, feel free to use white wine vinegar.

Shallot

99% of the time we will be adding minced shallot to our vinaigrettes. We like the oniony/garlicky flavor it adds. Feel free to use garlic instead, but only add 1 small clove. 

Dill

Fresh dill is the star of the show here! We do not recommend using dried dill weed—it’s just not nearly as flavorful. If you’re in a pinch, use 1 tablespoon dried dill weed and adjust to taste with more as needed. If you do grab some fresh dill you can use any leftovers in our Dill Pickle Pasta Salad, our Healthy Dill Ranch Dressing, Nicoise Salad and our Lemon Butter Salmon with Dill Peas.

Dijon mustard

Dijon is a classic ingredient in vinaigrettes. It adds a delicious savory note while also emulsifying the oil and lemon juice (or vinegar) together. Do not use prepared yellow mustard. You can substitute with whole-grain or stone-ground mustard if needed. 

Honey

We’ll always use a natural sweetener when it’s possible. Honey and maple syrup are two of our favorites for sauces and dressings. Just a couple of teaspoons of honey is all that’s needed to balance out the flavors of this dill vinaigrette. 

vinaigrette on cooked potatoes, vegetables and flaky pieces of tuna on a platter

How to Use This Dill Vinaigrette

More Vinaigrettes to Try

Our Classic Vinaigrette is a great recipe to keep on hand and riff on. Use it as a reference for ingredient ratios, but make it your own with different herbs and spices.

This Mustard Vinaigrette is super-savory and great drizzled over a hearty French Lentil Salad.

Try this Toasted Cumin Vinaigrette with our show-stopping Apple Walnut Salad.

Dill Vinaigrette Recipe

4.72 from 14 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Yield 1 /2 cup
Category Sauce/Condiment
Cuisine American

Description

A simple dill vinaigrette made with fresh dill, lemon and shallot.

Ingredients

  • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ small shallot, minced (2 tablespoons)
  • 2 tablespoon chopped dill
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons honey
  • ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, shallot, dill, Dijon, honey and salt.
  • Season with pepper to taste.

Notes

Store in a glass container with a tight fitting lid in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. 

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoonsCalories: 124kcalCarbohydrates: 4gFat: 12.5gSaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 467mgSugar: 3g
Like this? Leave a comment below!I love hearing from you and I want to hear how it went with this recipe! Leave a comment and rating below, then share on social media @zestfulkitchen and #zestfulkitchen!
vinaigrette in a glass jar set next to a white bowl filled with lettuce greens

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About The Author

Lauren Grant is a professional culinary food scientist, food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. Lauren is a previous magazine editor and test kitchen developer and has had work published in major national publications including Diabetic Living Magazine, Midwest Living Magazine, Cuisine at Home Magazine, EatingWell.com, AmericasTestKitchen.com, and more.

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4.72 from 14 votes (10 ratings without comment)

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Really delicious. aI didn’t have to make any modifications. It’s great on a green salad.

  2. 5 stars
    Amazing. Made a double batch in my personal smoothie blender with way more dill than it called for as my neighbour just gave me a huge stalk from her allotment. It came out super creamy and delicious and I’m going to eat it on everything this week!

  3. 5 stars
    So good! Served with salmon, lettuce, roasted potatoes and other veg. I will be making this on rotation now!