Creamy Lemon Salad Dressing is a versatile homemade salad dressing recipe made with lemon juice, lemon zest, vinegar and creamy mayo. Use this lemon dressing as a salad dressing for kale, arugula, salmon, quinoa and more.
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Versatile homemade salad dressing recipe
Creamy Lemon Salad Dressing is such a versatile homemade dressing recipe! Made from only a few ingredients this bright, light vinaigrette adds a nice tart flavor to so many dishes!
A perfect lemon dressing for kale or quinoa salad. Delicious on chicken salad, greek salad, pasta salad, steak salad, coleslaw, cold potato salad, and summer berry fruit salad. Try it tossed with peas and prosciutto in a cold pasta salad. You can even use this creamy salad dressing as a marinade for salmon, an easy seasoning for campfire foil packs, or as a crudite and fruit dip! Delicious with seafood like salmon cakes, crab cakes, shrimp rolls or any baked, fried or steamed fish.
Once you see how easy it is to turn a few simple ingredients into such a delicious condiment you’ll be finding all sorts of ways to use Creamy Lemon Dressing!
Ingredients
- 2 small lemons (zested then juiced)
- granulated sugar
- garlic clove
- sea salt
- white vinegar – or substitute apple cider vinegar,
- mayonnaise – olive oil mayonnaise preferred. Or see below for list of substitutions.
- olive oil
Step by step instructions
- Zest lemons then squeeze lemon juice.
- Place lemon zest and juice, chopped garlic, sugar and salt in a medium non reactive lidded jar (glass, ceramic, stainless steel).
- Add vinegar and stir, or shake, until salt and sugar are dissolved.
- Add mayonnaise and stir to combine.
- Slowly whisk in olive oil until thick.
- Store refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Enjoy!
How to store
Refrigerate salad dressing in the jar it was made in, or other airtight lidded container, until ready to serve. Will keep refrigerated up to seven days. If sour cream was substituted for mayonnaise use within two days.
Make it your own
- Add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, a dash of red pepper flakes, fresh herbs like basil, tarragon or dill for extra flavor.
- Substitute plain greek yogurt or sour cream for mayo, leave out the mayonnaise all together. You can even add extra olive oil and an egg yolk to emulsify your own mayo. Or substitute creamy tahini for a creamy lemon tahini salad dressing.
- Switch out the sugar for honey or sweetener of your choice.
- Trade lemon juice and zest for lime instead!
- This is a garlic heavy lemon dressing. Trade the garlic for toum or shallots for a sweeter less garlicky flavor.
- Skip the chopping and whisking and blend the entire creamy salad dressing up in a a mini food processor or blender.
Yield
This recipe yields around ¾-1 cup of salad dressing, or 12-16 tablespoons. The standard serving size for salad dressing is 2 tablespoons, so this creamy lemon salad dressing recipe yields roughly 6 servings of dressing.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup olive oil
Instructions
- Place chopped garlic, lemon zest, sugar and salt in a medium lidded jar.2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 clove garlic, ⅛ teaspoon sea salt, 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- Add lemon juice and vinegar. Stir until salt and sugar are dissolved.¼ cup lemon juice, ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- Add mayonnaise and stir to combine.¼ cup mayonnaise
- Slowly whisk in olive oil until thick.¼ cup olive oil
- Store refrigerated until ready to serve.
Nutrition
Sandra Bowen
Just made it!
Wonderful!
Thank you!!!!
Tristin Rieken
Thanks for commenting, Sandra, I hope you find lots of uses for this delicious creamy lemon dressing 🙂
Margit Strieter
I love this dressing; I eat several times a week. How many servings are in the recipe ? Trying to figure out how many calories I am eating.
Tristin Rieken
Hi Margit! Thanks so much for your review and very valid question. This recipe yields around 3/4-1 cup of salad dressing, or 12-16 tablespoons. The standard serving size for salad dressing is 2 tablespoons, so this creamy lemon salad dressing recipe yields a bit more than 6 servings. The nutrition facts estimate each serving to be about 160 calories. Hope this helps. Thanks for asking! (I’ve updated the post to reflect this info too).
Linda
Awesome dressing ~ I used it on a quinoa, tuna with chopped vegetables.
Tristin Rieken
Hi Linda, thank you so much for the kind review and serving suggestion! I love this lemon dressing recipe with fish and vegetables too 🙂 (and grains and everything else as well! hahaha)