Basil Dressing Recipe

[Eliecer Brathwaite]

Mycookbook is filled with quick and easy recipes, and this one is no exception! I pair sweet basil and a peppery extra virgin olive oil with shallots, garlic, and a hint of red pepper flakes for a pesto-inspired vinaigrette that adds a little something extra to any dish it touches!

Fresh limes and white wine vinegar give it just the right amount of acidity to balance out the fresh-from-the-garden herbal notes. Like our balsamic vinaigrette and apple cider vinaigrette, you can think of this pesto vinaigrette recipe as your flavor-boosting secret weapon. Plus, it comes together in minutes and keeps in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Pro tip: Blanch the basil. One of the main complaints I hear about basil, whether in homemade pesto or other sauces, is that it quickly turns from bright green to a dingy, army green color when it is blended.

This basil and white wine vinaigrette can also be used as a zippy sauce, perfect to dress up some flaky grilled salmon, a whole baked fish, and lemon garlic drumsticks. I even sometimes pour a little over warm roasted vegetables and boiled potatoes.

Use it to dress up your favorite snack or appetizer and try it on bruschetta, fried tomatoes to immediately add color and complexity.

For another easy-to-make vinaigrette you will love, be sure to check out my apple cider vinaigrette recipe.

To save this vinaigrette for a burst of sunshine in the winter, you could also freeze it in ice cube trays. To thaw, simply pop a few cubes into a Mason jar and place it in the refrigerator. It will separate once thawed, but shake it up and it will be good to go!

The basic formula is 2 parts oil to 1 part of vinegar plus all the add ins like shallot, garlic, salt and pepper. This recipe has just a touch less vinegar than normal but feel free to up it per your taste preference.

This was absolutely delicious! I didn't have the amount of basil called for so mixed with cilantro, parsley, and chives and it was so good! Will try the full basil version another day + now off to look at your cilantro vinaigrette recipe. Thank you!

Absolutely freakin delicious! I have a ton of basil to use up, and this is perfect. I made it exactly as written, except for using half the amount of red pepper flakes. I used my immersion blender and it worked just fine. A keeper for sure! Can't wait to use it in the recommended recipes.

Happy 4th of July! Today, I am sharing one of my favorite summer recipes, Basil Vinaigrette. It takes about five minutes to make and goes great on just about everything. I use it mostly as a salad dressing, but it is also great on vegetables, chicken, fish, and pasta.

I'm Maria and my husband is Josh. We share a love of cooking, baking, and entertaining. We enjoy creating recipes that are simple, fresh, and family friendly. We love sitting around the table with good food, good conversation, and good friends and family! Our kitchen is always open!

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For our picnic, I packed some sliced tomatoes and cooked shelling beans, and picked up a package of burrata cheese at the fromagerie, and served those with spoonfuls of the basil vinaigrette over the top.

I have loads of tomatoes and basil in my garden so will be trying this. I make a very similar one but have never added mustard, will try that. Sometimes I use lemon juice instead of vinegar- makes a great sauce for grilled fish.

I just made this using white wine vinegar as suggested, and it is fabulously yummy! Thinking of using it on pasta as I find regular pesto too thick and cloying. Thanks David!

I enjoyed watching your life feed of all the great stuff you bought out in the country. I too, am a big fan of country brocantes, and my suitcases are stuffed to overflowing when I fly home to Toronto.

To poster #1, to keep snails, as well as flying critters away from your basil, keep a spray bottle full of a few drops of dish washing liquid and water. After each rain, spray the basil plant lightly.

Deeelicious, David. And easy, too. I am overrun with my own basil, and I will dry the rest to take to chicago to make this dressing there.

I have loved your column and your humor for years.

thanks so much.

My gosh! This packs such a huge punch of flavor! Lunch today is leftover cold grilled chicken breast, artisan cherry tomatoes warm from the garden and rinsed, drained canned cannellini beans, all drizzled with this vinaigrette. As for fresh shelling beans, they are just another item for the garden must-grow list next year.

My basil has done so well this year, I have had 4 harvests so far, before the basil downy mildew sets in. There are two batches of this vinaigrette in the freezer, in ice cube portions, along with 24 individual ounces of pesto, to bring back summer in the dead of cold next winter.

I waited a week to make this with great anticipation. I made the vinaigrette tonight and it did not disappoint. I drizzled over a small salad containing home grown tomatoes, raw cauliflower, red onion, and cannellini beans. I added a few toasted slivered almonds on top. Will become a regular recipe at our home. Thanks for sharing David!

I made this last night, but had to use 2x basil and more water to make it thinner because at first it tasted mostly of mustard. I have a strong mustard and maybe my basil was weak? In any case, it came out beautifully. Served it with cherry tomatoes, blanched green beans and roasted peppers. Every guest asked for the recipe, I forwarded the link. Thank you, this is a really lovely sauce I never would have dreamed up on my own.

You could freeze some of that dressing in ice cubes and enjoy summer a little more.

I pour home made pesto (a little diluted) on my fresh beans (shelled or green) and on thin grilled slices of courgette or eggplant, so I can see this would totally work, also on a regular salad (or grilled romaine lettuce).

Have made this 3 times and have spooned it over fresh tomatoes and mozarella di bufala. I think I do like it a bit better than pesto. I am using a red zinfandel wine vinegar from California. Thank you for this recipe David

I have a lot of basil and chives in my garden so decided to make this last night to go with baked salmon. It was excellent and the family loved it. It definitely elevated the fish to another level! I have some leftovers that I will be putting on a sandwich today. What else can I use the sauce for (pescatarian)?

I did use plain yogurt mixed with mayo, just to make it a little less caloric. I thought it was great. I regularly make grain bowls, where I roast all the veggies I need to clear out of my fridge, serve them over rice, quinoa or couscous, and then add a dressing. So this was the dressing I used for the latest grain bowl. It was a hit.

This was SO good! After seeing all the rave reviews, I had to try it and it did not disappoint. Even my husband, who does not love pesto said he was surprised at how much he liked it. We used it on top of pork chops.

A little bit of inspiration for this dressing came from my creamy cilantro sauce, which is affectionately known on social media as "the sauce". But it's not lost on me that many people do not appreciate the taste of cilantro. I actually find basil to be a more popular herb!

My favorite store-bought options for anyone following a migraine diet is either Sir Kensington's Organic or Primal Kitchen's Avocado Mayo. Both of these options do have some questionable ingredients. With Sir Kensington Organic, there's a bit of lemon juice. The way I justify this is the lemon juice is labeled next to the sugar, which is labeled as 0 grams. Ingredient labels begin with what the most used ingredient is, and end with the least used. Therefore you know the amount of lemon juice is probably very small.

With Primal Kitchen, the avocado oil is highly refined and therefore should not present an issue with tyramine that a regular, ripe avocado might. Still, I don't necessarily love the flavor in cooking.

My absolute favorite tasting mayo will always be homemade. I have two options on the site - one with eggs and one without. Don't let using raw egg scare you - you can buy pasteurized eggs or do it yourself. And if you think of how many times you've gotten sick sneaking cookie dough or cake batter you'll probably realize how rare it actually is!

Alicia is a vestibular migraine advocate and the bestselling author of The Dizzy Cook: Managing Migraine with More Than 90 Comforting Recipes and Lifestyle Tips. Her articles and recipes have been featured by Healthline, Parade, mindbodygreen, Today, Good Morning Texas, the Vestibular Disorders Association, and the American Migraine Foundation. Read More

Used this dressing over my version of chopped salad that has everything from the fridge and the garden in it. Yes, an Italian slant. Oh, I used some pickle brine with tarragon instead of vinegar.

Thank you for this yummy recipe! I'm only 3 weeks into my elimination journey, and it has been rough. Your recipes and website have not only brought inspiration to my cooking, but it has also brought emotional relief. Taking out regular salad dressings has made it just that much harder to get veggies into my day. I am excited to try all your dressings and sauces! Thank you over and over!

I wanted to use up some of my basil before it started to flower and this was the perfect dressing. I used vegan mayo and vegan sour cream and it was delicious. Definitely will be in my summer salad dressing repertoire

This basil dressing is amazing! I was so sad to give up my flavor-infused olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressings and figured I'd never enjoy a salad again. But this dressing is incredible! Just a little bit goes a long way in a salad - it's packed with flavor! Yum!

I have a real emotional attachment to this basil sauce (or some version of it) because it originated at a family cabin in Wisconsin. There was a huge basil plant on the dock, and we harvested it liberally, and for weeks we ate ev-er-y-thing smothered in basil sauce.

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