This zesty citrus dressing only takes a few minutes to make! It’s a lemon and orange vinaigrette that brightens up any salad.
Looking for a savory dressing to spice up your veggies? This Zesty Citrus Dressing hits the spot! It contains both fresh lemon and orange juice and is perfectly balanced. Alex and I made it as part of an Orange Fennel Salad and it was so refreshing we couldn’t stop eating it! This dressing is great in winter during citrus season and as a light, healthy dressing for summer salads. It’s a favorite with us: and we hope it will be yours too! Here’s how to do it.
Tips for making citrus vinaigrette
This fresh and healthy citrus dressing comes together in no time! The only main task is to extract the juice from the lemon and orange and then whip the dressing. Here are some tips for this easy dressing:
- Use a juicer. While you can juice citrus without them, Alex and I still use our trusty citrus juicer to quickly squeeze them and keep the seeds out. (Every time I try it with my hands, I get seeds in everything I do!) Here’s the juicer we use: It works great!
- For the peel: a microplane or a grater. We added the zest of half an orange to this dressing to make it stand out! We use a micro plane to do a quick, snappy job. If you don’t have one, use a grater. Smaller zesters that look more like staff tools don’t work as well here. Learn more about how to peel an orange.
- Gradually add the olive oil to get a creamy emulsion. Here’s the most important part: add olive oil little by little, tablespoon by tablespoon. Stir until combined, then add another. This is the key to a creamy emulsified vinaigrette!
Ways to serve this citrus dressing
This citrus dressing goes well with many types of salad! It would also be a great flavoring for green beans or broccoli as a side dish. Here are our favorite preparation methods:
- Fennel and Orange Salad. This Orange Fennel Salad brings out the orange in our Orange Fennel Salad perfectly.
- Kale Salad. It would be perfect on this BEST Kale Salad – add to taste.
- Arugula salad. Liven up this easy arugula salad with a citrus vinaigrette (to taste).
- Green beans. Make this steamed green bean side dish even better by adding dressing to taste.
- Broccoli. This best steamed broccoli also tastes amazing with some citrus vinaigrette before being sprinkled with feta cheese.
A few other favorite dressings
When Alex and I started cooking together, we started with homemade dressings. We threw the old store-bought salad dressings in our fridge in favor of homemade stuff. Use them in one of our best salads or create your own mix and match version. Here are some of our favorite healthy salad dressings that we make regularly:
This recipe is…
Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free and gluten-free.
The description
This zesty citrus dressing only takes a few minutes to make! It’s a lemon and orange vinaigrette that brightens up any salad.
- 2 tablespoons Orange juice, plus the zest of half an orange
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup olive oil
- peel of the orange. In a medium bowl, combine orange juice, orange zest, lemon juice, mustard, maple syrup, salt, and freshly ground black pepper.
- Gradually whisk in 1 tbsp olive oil (8 tbsp total) until creamy and emulsified. Season to taste with additional salt. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week; bring to room temperature before serving.
- Category: bandage
- Method: shakes
- Kitchen: Mediterranean Sea
Keywords: Citrus vinaigrette, citrus vinaigrette
