Basil Vinaigrette Recipe

[Tolomeo Tanguay]

Forour 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

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.

My cookbook 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!

This Sweet Basil Vinaigrette recipe was first published back in 2011, the year Scott and I began this fun journey called "The Caf". I had a ton of basil growing in the garden that summer and wanted to come up with a salad dressing that would utilize my bounty and capture the "essence of summer".

The first blog picture (there was only one in the post!) of this delicious dressing was taken with my cell phone and, as you can imagine, it wasn't a work of art. But the recipe became super popular over the next few years and readers have written to say things like:

We republished the recipe in 2014 with new pictures and text but, with over 1,200 recipes, this wonderful basil salad dressing has once again gotten buried in the deep, deep Caf archives. And it's WAY too delicious to be forgotten, so we tweaked the recipe just a bit, took some new pictures and spiffed up the post for your summer enjoyment!

If you think that making a beautiful, delicious dressing like this Sweet Basil Vinaigrette is difficult, think again! Simply throw all the ingredients except the oil into a blender or food processor and push the button. Let it go until everything is pureed and transformed to a vibrant green, then drizzle in the oil. Check out the Caf Tips below for an easy way to do that!

This basil dressing is fabulous on lots of different salads. It's wonderful in a simple green salad (spinach, arugula, butter lettuce, etc.) but it goes well in salads with fresh corn, zucchini, eggplant, peaches, summer squash, blackberries, raspberries, nectarines... almost any summer fruit or veggie. My all-time favorite pairing of this Sweet Basil Vinaigrette is with tomatoes. And if you have some homegrown, still-warm-from-the-sun tomatoes, you might just think you've died and gone to heaven!

I love to stack sliced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella then drizzle the piles with this beautiful, emerald green, vibrantly fresh dressing. And if I've got some juicy, ripe peaches to layer with the tomatoes and cheese, it makes a beautiful presentation and adds another layer of summery flavor. A scatter of buttery toasted pine nuts and a few fresh basil leaves are the crowning glory. It's one of those salads you dream of, all winter long!

If you don't grow your own basil, FIND SOME! This is the time of the year when basil starts going crazy. Friends and/or neighbors would probably be thrilled to give some of their bumper basil harvest a happy home. The more you cut basil, the more vigorously it grows. It's also readily available and quite inexpensive at farmer's markets and vegetable stands all summer long. Find some and whip up a batch of this "summer-in-a-jar". When you take the first delicious taste, you'll start thinking that summer didn't really arrive... until now!

Whoa! I just tried this Sweet Basil recipe, and wanted to pass on this little version on mine. You may want to try it out =). I had some stained plain yogurt and mixed it with some of the basil dressing, sprinkled a little bit of everything but the bagle seasoning on top and used it as a dip. So good! And feeling a little more healthy over here! LOL!

Thankyou for your recipes amd blogg. Look forward to treceiving them. Could you please sherrin murphy to your email list. Thankyou.

Also can you substitite whit vinegar for rice vinegar in the sweet basil dressing

Thankyou

Hi Sherrin,

I am not allowed to add you to the email list but if you look at the very top of the website, there's a black bar where you can enter your email and subscribe.

Regarding your question, you could definitely use white vinegar although the rice vinegar does add really nice flavor.

Hi Kate, great question!

While I'm a huge fan of olive oil and use it for lots of recipes, it's not the best for this recipe, for two reasons.

First of all, you really want the basil to shine in this recipe and olive oil has a stronger flavor that competes with the basil.

Secondly, when you blend olive oil vigorously (as is called for in this recipe) it can end up with a bitter taste. The explanation for that is well explained in this Cook's Illustrated article: _tos/5475-testing-olive-oils-bitter-end

Summing up what the article explains:

"Extra-virgin olive oil contains bitter-tasting compounds called polyphenols that are normally coated by fatty acids, which prevent them from dispersing in the presence of liquid. When olive oil is broken into droplets in an emulsion, the polyphenols get squeezed out and will disperse in any liquid in the mix, so that their flavor becomes evident. The blades of a food processor break olive oil into much smaller droplets than those created from whisking. The smaller the droplets, the more polyphenols that break free and disperse, and the more bitter an emulsion will taste."

Hope that helps!

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