Salad dressings were one of the first recipes I started developing, waaaaay back in the early 2000’s. After over 20 years of making homemade dressings, you tend to pick a few favorites. This parsley vinaigrette salad dressing dresses any of your favorite salads wonderfully without overpowering the other salad ingredients. It’s absolutely perfect to make on a weekly basis, and easy enough to do so, too!
This homemade vinaigrette is a perfect dressing to brighten up any salad, and it can also double as a marinade. If you’re looking for a more lemon-forward dressing, give my lemon pepper vinaigrette a try.
💕 why you’ll love parsley salad dressing recipe…
🌱 light & fresh. Simple ingredients like fresh parsley, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar keep this dressing light and flavorful.
🥗 works on any salad. This dressing complements nearly any salad, from side dishes to mains. It works on everything, whether you’re using classic romaine lettuce or bold leafy greens! It even works on pasta salad!!!
⏱️ quick & easy. My favorite part about making homemade salad dressings is that they can be made so quickly. Seriously, 15 minutes or less is all you need!
🛒 ingredients
- parsley – fresh parsley is the flavor highlight in this salad dressing. I use flat-leaf parsley, or Italian parsley, and prefer it in this dressing. Curly parsley is much more delicate and grassy in flavor, while flat-leaf parsley is more herbaceous in flavor.
- garlic – as a self-proclaimed garlic girl, I believe no kitchen should ever be without fresh garlic. I admit I often go rogue and add anywhere from 2-6 cloves of garlic in this recipe, depending on how garlicky I want it that week. You can use one garlic clove or 5. I won’t tell.
- lemon juice – fresh lemon juice is key to keeping the flavors bright and zesty in this dressing.
- balsamic vinegar – use a good quality balsamic vinegar for your dressing. I prefer to use Balsamic vinegar of Modena, which is an Italian-specific balsamic vinegar with a sweet, smooth taste. It is rich and dark in color.
- olive oil – sometimes, a high-quality oil is worth splurging for when you’re making things like simple salad dressings. In this recipe, opt to use a higher-quality oil. The flavor profile of this dressing is super simple, so the flavor of the olive oil will be pronounced.
- honey – I love using honey to sweeten my salad dressings because it adds sweetness and a bit of complexity, too. Check out the substitutions section for additional ingredients you can use.
- salt and pepper – the two standby spices that always help amp up the flavor of any dish. I opt for kosher salt, diamond brand.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍳 instructions
This parsley salad dressing is super simple to make. It comes together in about 10 minutes or less. The thing that takes the longest is prepping the parsley! 🤪
1: Slice and juice your lemon to get 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
2: Remove the leaves of parsley from the stems.
3: Add the lemon juice and balsamic vinegar to the mixing glass.
4: Add your garlic cloves. Depending on how garlicky you like it, you can add 1-4 cloves or more!
5: Drizzle in the honey and add your salt and pepper to season.
6: Blend the ingredients. While blending, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil.
7: Add the de-stemmed parsley, and blend well, until all the leaves have been mixed in.
8: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Hint: If you don’t feel like de-stemming the parsley, leave the stems on! The stems will thicken the dressing a bit more, or result in a “chunkier” dressing, and they can mute the flavor a bit, but they are fine to eat!
💡 tips and tricks for getting it right
🍽️ serving tips
Serve this dressing with any salad you choose, it works well on nearly every kind of salad, from side dish to main dish! You can also use this dressing as a marinade for the protein you’re using on your salad. This creates a flavor echo, which is great for layering flavors!
ℹ️ troubleshooting tips
- dressing won’t come together – Avoid pouring all the olive oil in at once, and instead, slowly stream it in as you are blending the mixture so that it emulsifies. Emulsifying means the ingredients blend and bind together instead of being separated.
- too thick from the fridge – when you refrigerate this dressing, it will thicken and congeal together. Set it out up to 30 minutes before serving, or run it under hot water to help it come to temperature quickly. You may need to give the bottle a shake to reincorporate the ingredients.
♻️ substitutions & variations
- oil – while the flavor of olive oil works well in this recipe, you can absolutely use another oil! Avocado oil, canola oil, or grape seed oil are all great options.
- sweetener – use whatever sweetener you have on hand! Maple syrup works great, but I’ve also used agave and even simple syrups for this recipe.
- other herbs – use whatever fresh herbs you have on hand for this dressing. Basil, oregano, and thyme would all work well! Check out this recipe for an herb vinaigrette featuring a blend of herbs!
- vinegar – you can use another type of vinegar, like apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar. I recommend sticking to a sweeter vinegar over a more bitter one like plain white vinegar.
🧰 equipment needed & storage tips
🧰 equipment needed
Here’s a list of the special equipment needed in order to whip up this salad dressing.
- Immersion blender – this handy tool will allow you to blend things up right in a jar, pot, or mixing bowl without needing to transfer from the jar of a blender or bowl of a food processor.
- OXO Squeeze bottles – my favorite way to store salad dressings is in these squeeze bottles from OXO. (affiliate link)
- Mixing bowl or jar – you’ll need a mixing vessel for your dressing! I love using ball wide mouth jars because I can measure and mix in the same container!
🫙 storage tips
Store your parsley salad dressing in the fridge for up to 10 days!
💬 q+a
What is the difference between a salad dressing and a vinaigrette?
A vinaigrette is a type of salad dressing. Originally, vinaigrettes referred to French salad dressings. Typically, a vinaigrette is made up of a mix of vinegar and oil, with a few other ingredients as well. So, it qualifies as a vinaigrette!
Do I need to store this salad dressing in the refrigerator?
Yes. Because of the addition of fresh ingredients like garlic, lemon juice, and parsley, you need to store this salad dressing in the fridge.
Do I need to use a blender for this parsley salad dressing?
Absolutely not! You can make this whole recipe by hand, but you’ll need to finely dice the parsley. You can also use a high-speed blender or a food processor. I’d recommend using a stick blender, or immersion blender, so you can stream in the olive oil while the other ingredients of the dressing mix together.
If you make this recipe, please leave a review in the comments and a star rating!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Parsley Vinaigrette Salad Dressing (with Fresh Herbs)
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Equipment
- 1 immersion blender
- 1 mixing jar or bowl
- 1 squeeze bottle or other airtight storage container
Ingredients
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 clove garlic up to 4 cloves
- 1 tbsp honey may use maple syrup or agave
- ¼ tsp pepper freshly ground
- ½ tsp salt kosher
- ½ cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1 bunch parsley de-stemmed
Instructions
- Juice lemon. Slice and juice your lemon to get 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
- Prepare parsley. Remove the leaves of parsley from the stems. This helps prevent your dressing from being too chunky, and it also helps the flavor from becoming too muted.
- Add lemon juice. Pour 1/4 cup lemon juice into your mixing jar.
- Add balsamic vinegar. Add in 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar to the lemon juice.
- Add garlic. Add your garlic cloves. Depending on how garlicky you like it, you can add 1-4 cloves or more!
- Add honey. Drizzle in 1 tbsp of honey.
- Season. Add your salt and pepper.
- Blend. Blend well with your immersion blender, until all ingredients have been combined.
- Emulsify. While blending, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil.
- Add parsley. Add the de-stemmed parsley, and blend well, until all the leaves have been mixed in.
- Serve or store. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Notes
troubleshooting tips
-
- dressing won’t come together – Avoid pouring all the olive oil in at once, and instead, slowly stream it in as you are blending the mixture so that it emulsifies. Emulsifying means the ingredients blend and bind together instead of being separated.
-
- too thick from the fridge – when you refrigerate this dressing, it will thicken and congeal together. Set it out up to 30 minutes before serving, or run it under hot water to help it come to temperature quickly. You may need to give the bottle a shake to reincorporate the ingredients.
substitutions & variations
- oil – while the flavor of olive oil works well in this recipe, you can absolutely use another oil! Avocado oil, canola oil, or grape seed oil are all great options.
- sweetener – use whatever sweetener you have on hand! Maple syrup works great, but I’ve also used agave and even simple syrups for this recipe.
- other herbs – use whatever fresh herbs you have on hand for this dressing. Basil, oregano, and thyme would all work well! Check out this recipe for an herb vinaigrette featuring a blend of herbs!
- vinegar – you can use another type of vinegar, like apple cider vinegar, champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar. I recommend sticking to a sweeter vinegar over a more bitter one like plain white vinegar.
Nutrition Information
The information provided is an estimate based on an online nutrition facts calculator and actual nutrition facts may vary.
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I'll email this recipe post to you so you can have it for later!
I absolutely LOVE balsamic vinegarette so I was excited to try this dressing with parsley, and I was pleasantly pleased with how it turned out! I substituted maple syrup for the honey and it made my salad extra delicious!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this dressing! Maple syrup is an excellent swap for honey, thanks for sharing! 😊