Champagne Vinaigrette (2024)

Elegant and versatile Champagne Vinaigrette adds the perfect finishing touch to any green salad. It’s made in minutes with just a few simple ingredients that you may even keep on hand.

I can’t remember when I stopped buying grocery store salad dressings. If you buy them now, I’ll warn you that once you start making your own, you’ll never go back to store bought. They’re expensive, often have sub-optimal ingredients, and can taste a little off when you’re used to homemade dressings.

Ingredients You Need to Make Champagne Vinaigrette

• Champagne Vinegar: You can also use white wine vinegar.
• Dijon Mustard: Smooth and creamy, adds excellent flavor and helps the dressing emulsify.
• Honey: For a vegan version, use maple syrup instead.
• Shallot: Shallot adds just the right amount of gentle heat.
• Olive Oil: As with all homemade salad dressings, it’s best to use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil.
• Fine Sea Salt: Or kosher salt, to taste.
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper

What is Champagne Vinegar?

The key ingredient here is champagne vinegar. It lends a bright and tangy flavor to salad dressing with a milder flavor and less acidity than standard white vinegar. As the name implies, it’s made from champagne that is aged and fermented.

Here’s why this vinaigrette is so versatile.

No matter what kind of green salad you’re making, champagne vinaigrette is a beautiful way to tie your salad ingredients together. It equally complements sturdy greens like kale and tender greens like spinach or arugula. It mellows sharply flavored salad ingredients like red onion and shallot and accentuates rich flavors like avocado, nuts, and cheese. And, tossed with greens (as in my Little Gem Salad), it adds bright contrast served with deeply savory dishes like Coq au Vin Blanc or Chicken Ballotine, or with rich sides like Gratin Dauphinois.

Champagne vinaigrette is a perfect fit for your lunch or dinner salads if you’re following a dairy free or gluten-free diet. Because of the honey it’s not vegan, but that’s easily remedied by swapping it out for maple syrup or fruity, floral pomegranate molasses.

If you haven’t made your own dressing before, try this Champagne Vinaigrette recipe out for your next salad. I bet you’ll never go back to store bought dressing!

More Homemade Salad Dressings to Try

• French Vinaigrette (A simple and versatile salad dressing!)
• White Balsamic Vinaigrette (Bright dressing with zing that goes with everything.)
• Balsamic Vinaigrette (Honey sweetened and just 5 simple ingredients.)
• Strawberry Vinaigrette (Made with fresh strawberries and strawberry preserves.)
• Caesar Dressing (The ultimate homemade dressing for the classic salad that everyone loves!)
• Homemade Ranch Dressing (Made with sour cream and fresh herbs – no mayo!)

How to Make Champagne Vinaigrette

Step 1: Combine vinegar, mustard, honey and shallot in a blender pitcher; blend until smooth.

Step 2: With the blender running, add olive oil in a steady stream and blend until emulsified. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use, then drizzle over your favorite salads!