Simple Red Wine Vinaigrette

Simple Red Wine Vinaigrette can be whipped up in just 5 minutes. This best red wine vinaigrette recipe combines wholegrain mustard with light sunflower oil and red wine vinegar, for a dressing that will enhance the flavours in your salad without overpowering them.

I like to make my own homemade salad dressings and rarely buy store-bought dressings. My healthy red wine vinaigrette does not contain excess salt, sugar or unnecessary additives and preservatives.

My easy red wine vinaigrette will not overpower the flavours in the salad it’s added to. Instead this red wine vinegar salad dressing will add a balance of acidity and sweetness to the salad, whilst at the same time seasoning the salad with salt and black pepper.

Why you’ll love this recipe

• The perfect balance of flavours with sharp mustard, sour red wine vinegar, sea salt and just a pinch of sugar to add sweetness and balance the dressing.
• Make ahead and store the dressing in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
• Ready in 5 minutes just place everything in a jar with a lid and shake.

Red wine vinaigrette ingredients

• Oil – this is a light flavoured salad dressing so I like to use sunflower oil.
• Vinegar – I use red wine vinegar in this dressing.
• Mustard – I add wholegrain mustard to the dressing as I like the texture it adds, you could also use Dijon mustard.
• Sugar – a pinch of caster sugar adds just a touch of sweetness to balance out the sourness from the vinegar.
• Seasoning – I keep seasoning simple with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

How to make red wine vinaigrette

• Place all the ingredients into a jar.
• Place the lid on the jar and give it a good shake to combine all the ingredients together.
• You can also place all the ingredients into a small bowl and whisk to emulsify.
• Place in the refrigerator until ready to dress a salad.
• Give the salad dressing a good shake before using to incorporate all the ingredients together again.

Recipe variations

• The red wine vinegar can be swapped for white wine, sherry or apple cider vinegar.
• Swap the sunflower oil for a light olive oil.
• I’ve used wholegrain mustard but you could also use Dijon mustard.
• Swap the sugar for honey or maple syrup if you prefer, but only a touch as this is not an overly sweet vinaigrette dressing.
• You can add in a finely chopped shallot.
• For an extra layer of flavour add 1/2 a clove of finely crushed garlic to the dressing, no more or the raw garlic will overpower every other flavour in the dressing.

Serving suggestions

This simple salad dressing can be added to a variety of salads. I’ve served it here with my Ham, Fig & Blue Cheese Salad, but it would work equally well over my Smoked Mackerel & Beetroot Salad or a Warm Potato Salad.

Don’t limit yourself to only using red wine salad dressing with salads, I also like to drizzle this dressing over my Honey Roasted Root Vegetables, or my Roasted Honey Glazed Carrots.

Useful hints and tips

1. Always check salad dressing for seasoning before you dress the salad, and adjust with a little more salt and black pepper if required.
2. I recommend using a jam jar when making salad dressing as it makes it really easy to mix the dressing, place the lid on and give it a good shake. The lidded jar also keeps the salad fresh when being stored in the fridge.
3. Containing no dairy this salad dressing is suitable for dairy free and vegan diets.
4. Allergy advice: gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soya free and nut free. For comprehensive and detailed allergy advice go to Allergy UK.

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Additional recipe suggestions

Dressing and sauces pack a real punch of flavor to any dish they are added to. Here are some of my favorite recipes:

• Classic French Dressing
• Lemon Balsamic Dressing
• Honey Mustard Dressing
• Homemade Mayonnaise
• Creamy Horseradish Sauce
• Lemon Tahini Dressing
• Easy Green Chutney