Healthy Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

This Lemon Basil Vinaigrette brings a bright, refreshing flavor to salads, or you can use it as a marinade. It’s a wholesome salad dressing that tastes absolutely delicious!

If you’ve never made salad dressing at home, trust me—it’s much easier than you’d expect. All you really need is a blender or food processor to whip up a tasty dressing or marinade.

While grabbing a bottled vinaigrette from the store is convenient, taking a few minutes to make your own is well worth it.

When you make dressings at home, you choose the ingredients, so there are no hidden surprises.

This tasty lemon basil vinaigrette contains no preservatives, hidden sugars, or other unnecessary additives.

Just a little of this lemon vinaigrette adds a big burst of citrus flavor to salads, and it also makes a fantastic marinade for meat, poultry, and seafood. The best part? It comes together in only a few minutes!

Liz’s Tips for Making the Best Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

• If you use a blender cup or small food processor, roughly chop the basil leaves before adding them. This helps prevent clumps in the dressing.
• It’s normal for the vinaigrette to separate or solidify in the refrigerator. Let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then stir the ingredients together before serving.

Ingredients in Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

To make this lemon basil dressing, gather:

• olive oil
• lemon juice and lemon zest: Don’t use concentrated lemon juice—fresh lemon juice tastes much better.
• fresh basil leaves: Leaf size doesn’t matter, but discard any leaves that feel slimy or have bruising or dark spots.
• salt: For the best flavor, use sea or kosher salt rather than iodized table salt.
• black pepper
• garlic powder

Substitutions

Olive Oil: You can use avocado oil instead of olive oil.

Lemons: I haven’t tried swapping in other citrus fruits for the lemon juice/zest, but I think limes or oranges would be really tasty!

Basil: This recipe is designed for fresh basil. Dried herbs won’t give the same result. Fresh parsley or cilantro could work in place of the basil. Extra leaves can also supply the herbal backbone of Tomato Basil Soup.

It’s also handy to have a citrus juicer, citrus zester, and a food processor for blending the ingredients.

How to Make a Good Vinaigrette Dressing

Homemade dressing is simple—it’s just about balancing flavors!

• Good Quality Oil – I usually choose extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil as the base for vinaigrette dressings.
• Acidity – You need an acid to cut through the oil’s richness. Citrus juice, vinegar, or mustards work well.
• Spices – Premade spice blends are great, and a teaspoon or two of Italian seasoning also works. You can’t go wrong mixing in a little garlic powder and your favorite fresh or dried herbs.
• Sweet – I’ve found that a little sweetener like honey, jam, or juice can add a lot of flavor to a dressing.

Serving Suggestions

This dressing tastes great on almost anything, but I especially love the bright lemon and basil flavors on a strawberry avocado goat cheese salad. More ways to use it:

• As a dressing on strawberry spinach salad, Mediterranean quinoa salad, or blueberry salad.
• To marinate chicken, turkey, fish, or shrimp. It’s also delicious on vegetable kabobs and grilled vegetables in foil.

Storage

In the fridge: Lemon basil vinaigrette stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. After that, the basil starts to break down and the lemon can taste too acidic.

For safe storage and reheating, follow the USDA leftovers and food-safety guidance.

Note: The dressing may separate or solidify in the fridge. This is perfectly normal. Let it sit at room temperature for 5 minutes, then stir before serving.

Freezing: Because this dressing contains fresh herbs, freezing is not recommended.

How to Store Basil Dressing

Storing: Lemon basil vinaigrette can be refrigerated for up to 4 days. After that, the basil will begin to deteriorate and the lemon flavor may turn overly acidic.

Separation or solidifying in the refrigerator is normal. Just set the dressing out at room temperature for 5 minutes and stir before serving.

Freezing: Don’t freeze this dressing—it won’t freeze well.

Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe FAQ

Lemon dressing is simply made with olive oil, fresh lemon juice, a few dried spices, and fresh basil.

This citrus dressing will keep for up to 4 days in the refrigerator. It’s best enjoyed fresh.

Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ⅓ cup packed fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. In a food processor or blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.
2. Pour over your favorite salad or use to marinate poultry, seafood, or pork. Enjoy!

Notes

• If using a blender cup or small food processor, roughly chop the basil leaves before adding them. This will ensure there are no clumps in the dressing.
• It’s perfectly normal for the vinaigrette to solidify and/or separate in the refrigerator. Just sit the dressing out on the counter at room temperature for 5 minutes, then stir the ingredients together before serving.

Nutrition Facts

Other healthy dressing recipes

Looking for more homemade dressings? Check out these Healthy Dressing Recipes.

• Healthy Blue Cheese Dressing
• Zesty Honey Lemon Dressing
• Healthy Caesar Salad Dressing
• Citrus Salad Dressing Recipe
• Honey Mustard Dressing
• Basil Vinaigrette
• Creamy Balsamic Dressing
• Healthy Italian Dressing
• Greek Salad Dressing
• Healthy Ranch Dressing
• Healthy Avocado Ranch Dressing