Lemon Vinaigrette: An Easy Lemon and Olive Oil Dressing

A good lemon vinaigrette is the most useful dressing you can make: bright, fresh and ready in five minutes with olive oil, lemon, a little mustard and salt. It suits green salads, grain bowls, grilled fish and vegetables. Below you’ll find the recipe, the simple Greek version called ladolemono, and how to adjust the balance to your taste.

Lemon vinaigrette recipe

Serves: about ¾ cup (180 ml), enough for 3–4 salads. Prep: 5 minutes. Cook: none. Total: 5 minutes.

Ingredients

• ½ cup (120 ml) extra virgin olive oil, such as our Rapti Koroneiki olive oil
• ¼ cup (60 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1½ lemons)
• 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey (optional)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt
• Black pepper
• Optional: ½ tsp dried Greek oregano, or 1 small garlic clove, finely grated

Method

1. Put the lemon juice, zest, mustard, honey, salt and pepper (and oregano or garlic, if using) in a jar or bowl. Stir until the salt dissolves.
2. Add the olive oil.
3. Close the jar and shake hard for 15 seconds, or whisk the oil in slowly, until the dressing is creamy.
4. Taste on a lettuce leaf and adjust: more salt if flat, a little honey if too sharp, more oil if too acidic.
5. Use straight away, or refrigerate and shake again before using.

The ratio

This recipe uses 2 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon juice. Lemon juice is more acidic and fragrant than most vinegars, so a lemon dressing often tastes best with a little less oil than the classic 3:1 vinaigrette. For delicate leaves, go to 3:1; for robust salads, beans or grilled vegetables, 2:1 is ideal. The mustard and honey help the oil and juice stay mixed.

Ladolemono: the Greek lemon dressing

In Greece, ladolemono (literally “oil-lemon”) is whisked olive oil and lemon juice, seasoned with salt, pepper and often dried oregano. It’s spooned over grilled fish and meat, boiled greens (horta), potatoes and salads. Whisk 3 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp lemon juice, a pinch of salt and ½ tsp dried Greek oregano until cloudy, then pour over the food while it’s warm. The same flavours run through our Greek chicken marinade and Greek lemon potatoes.

Choosing the ingredients

• Lemons: always use fresh juice. Bottled juice tastes flat. Roll the lemon on the counter before squeezing to get more juice.
• Olive oil: you taste it raw, so use an extra virgin olive oil you like. See extra virgin vs virgin olive oil and choosing Greek olive oil.
• Mustard: Dijon adds tang and helps emulsify. Leave it out for a pure Greek-style dressing.
• Sweetness: a little honey rounds off the acidity. A floral honey such as Greek thyme honey is lovely here.

Variations

• Herb: add 2 tbsp chopped parsley, dill, chives or basil.
• Creamy: whisk in 2 tbsp Greek yogurt or tahini.
• Shallot: add 1 tbsp finely chopped shallot and let it sit in the lemon juice for 10 minutes first.
• Spicy: a pinch of chilli flakes, or 1 tsp of our hot honey in place of plain honey.
• Greek salad style: for a vinegar version, see our Greek salad dressing recipe.

What to use it on

• Green salads, rocket and shaved fennel, or a Greek salad when you prefer lemon to vinegar
• Grain salads with quinoa, bulgur, orzo or chickpeas
• Grilled fish, prawns, chicken and halloumi
• Roast or steamed vegetables, asparagus and green beans
• Warm potatoes and beans

Storing lemon vinaigrette

Kept in a closed jar in the fridge, a lemon vinaigrette made without garlic or fresh herbs is best used within about a week; the lemon flavour fades over time. If you add fresh garlic or herbs, treat it like other homemade oils with garlic or herbs: keep it in the fridge and use it within 4 days, as the CDC advises. The olive oil may thicken in the cold, so leave the jar out for 10–15 minutes and shake before using.

Find the oil for your next jar in the Greek olive oil collection, or use it to dress our olive oil bread dip board.

Sources

• CDC: Botulism prevention, home-canned foods and homemade oils with garlic or herbs

Lemon vinaigrette: frequently asked questions