5 Minute Creamy Balsamic Dressing (Vegan)

Name: 5 Minute Creamy Balsamic Dressing (Vegan)
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: ½ cup extra virgin olive oil; ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 1-2 lemons); 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar; 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard; 2 cloves garlic (micro grated or crushed); 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup; 1 teaspoon salt; freshly cracked pepper

By Desiree Nielsen RD

5 from 3 ratings

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This creamy balsamic dressing will add a zing to your favourite salads! This vegan salad dressing is rich, creamy and flavourful thanks to a little Dijon mustard – no cream or cashews are used. Ready within 5 minutes – with no special equipment! This simple vegan vinaigrette is gluten free and nut free too!

creamy balsamic salad dressing in a glass with spoon

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Maybe you’ve heard this one before, but what’s a vegan’s favourite food?

It’s sauce, of course…and salad dressings are not excluded from that special honour.

Nerdy dietitian jokes aside, I’m not just a dietitian… I’m also someone who really loves food. So I want all of my healthy plant-based recipes to be so dang good. And a good vegan salad dressing recipe will help you fall in love with salads, I swear! I pour this dressing over my herby bean salad and I can’t get enough.

And if you’re into salads like I am, you might want to grab a copy of my latest cookbook Plant Magic!

Grab Your Ingredients for this Creamy Balsamic Dressing

creamy balsamic dressing ingredients — To make this easy vegan salad dressing, you need just 6 basic pantry ingredients, plus salt and pepper! Just shake them up in a jar and you’re done.

Balsamic vinegar vs balsamic reduction/glaze

You may have seen that there are more than a few different types of balsamic vinegars to choose from in the grocery store. I tend to save the fancy aged DOP balsamic for special occasions, like drizzling straight over summer-ripe strawberries and grab two basics for my pantry.

But there is also something called balsamic glaze, which is made from balsamic vinegar cooked down until it’s thick and syrupy! Delicious, but not what we want to use here.

Creamy Balsamic Vinaigrette Storage + Tips

As much as I love a cashew cream, not all my dressings contain nuts, ha! This vegan salad dressing (no cashews!) is creamy, and emulsifies beautifully because it has a good dose of Dijon mustard, which is a natural emulsifier. All you need to do is shake and pour!

This dressing keeps extremely well in the fridge, for up to 5 days. It’s a great meal prep item to have on hand for salads all week long.
Low FODMAP? Go ahead and remove the garlic and try a tiny pinch of black salt or hing (asafoetida) to add a bit more depth to the dressing. Grab more low fodmap swaps here.
I don’t recommend that you substitute another mustard for Dijon as it will have a very different flavour and won’t emulsify as well. However, this dressing could taste yummy with a traditional grainy mustard too.

Salads to go with creamy balsamic dressing

This dressing was first created for my winter panzanella, so it’s my top recommendation!
It would also be delicious with my snap pea salad, perhaps with a little peppery arugula added
Or try it on a pasta salad
You could even pair it with a simple Italian chopped salad: lots of crunchy lettuce, olives, tomatoes and blanched green beans.

More great vegan salad dressings and sauces