Skip the store-bought salad dressing! Instead, make this balsamic vinaigrette at home. It’s rich, tangy, and SO easy to make. Just 7 ingredients!

If you keep a bottle of balsamic vinegar in your pantry, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be making your own balsamic vinaigrette at home. Really, skip the store-bought stuff: this balsamic vinaigrette recipe calls for 7 ingredients and comes together in under 5 minutes. It doesn’t get simpler than that!

And this recipe isn’t just simple – it’s flavorful, too. Thanks to the balsamic, mustard, and a touch of honey, it’s bold, sweet, and tangy. It’s a perfect way to jazz up salads, roasted veggies, and more. Try it once, and you’ll be hooked.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this balsamic dressing recipe:

• Balsamic vinegar – It fills the dressing with bold, sweet, and tangy flavor.
• Extra-virgin olive oil – It gives the dressing body and richness.
• Dijon mustard – For extra tang.
• Honey or maple syrup – It mellows the acidity of the mustard and balsamic.
• Garlic – For sharp, savory depth of flavor.
• And salt and pepper – To make all the flavors pop!

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

You can make this balsamic dressing two ways: in a small bowl or in a jar with a tight-fitting lid.

If you’re making it in a bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper. Then, drizzle in the olive oil while whisking continuously. When the dressing is emulsified, season to taste.

If you want to make the dressing in a jar, add all the ingredients (oil included!), and secure the lid. Shake vigorously until the dressing is emulsified. So easy!

How to Use Balsamic Vinaigrette

This homemade balsamic vinaigrette is as versatile as it is delicious. I hope you enjoy finding different ways to use it! Here are a few of my favorites to get you started:

• Toss it with a salad, like this beet salad, this pear salad, or any simple green salad.
• Drizzle it over a Caprese salad or Caprese skewers. Who doesn’t love tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella with balsamic?
• Use it as a marinade. Try it with these grilled portobello mushroom burgers!
• Spoon it over roasted veggies, like Brussels sprouts, fennel, beets, or butternut squash.
• Or grilled veggies. I love it on eggplant, zucchini, onions, or these grilled veggie skewers.

How do you like to use balsamic vinaigrette? Let me know in the comments!

More Favorite Dressing Recipes

If you love this balsamic vinaigrette, try one of these delicious dressing recipes next:

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Serves 6 to 8

This easy balsamic vinaigrette is bold, sweet, and tangy. Use it as a salad dressing, or drizzle it over roasted veggies and more!

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey or maple syrup
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey, garlic, mustard, salt, and several grinds of pepper.

• Drizzle in the olive oil while whisking and continue to whisk until the dressing is emulsified. Alternatively, combine everything in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake to combine.

This article was originally published by loveandlemons.com. Read the original article here.

This beet salad recipe is a stunning fall or winter side dish! Goat cheese, apples, and arugula fill it with a delightful mix of textures and flavors.

I love all the colors in this roasted beet salad recipe. The vibrant greens, the red and golden beets, the pale pink shallot, and the dots of white cheese. This kind of colorful salad is exactly what I like to serve at a dinner party or holiday meal. It adds some needed freshness to a spread of, say, stuffing and mashed potatoes, and it looks so striking, but it’s delightfully simple to make. You can even prep the components a day or two in advance!

Beet Salad Recipe Ingredients

To make this beet salad recipe, you can use any variety of beets. Red beets, golden beets, or pink Chioggia beets would all work well. Use a mix of colors if you can, but if red beets are all that’s available, don’t worry. The salad will still look beautiful and taste great.

And tip: if the beets’ tops are still attached, don’t toss them! Instead, save them to make this yummy sautéed beet greens recipe. Waste not, want not!

Here’s what else you’ll need to make this beet salad recipe:

• Granny Smith apple – It adds crunch and sweet-tart flavor. A ripe pear would work nicely here too.
• Fresh greens – I like to use arugula or spring mix to create the salad’s fresh base. A sprinkle of microgreens is a nice touch too.
• Soft goat cheese – A perfect partner for roasted beets! Its funky flavor and creamy texture pair wonderfully with the sweet, earthy root veggies.
• Toasted walnuts – For extra earthiness, richness, and crunch.
• Thinly sliced shallot – For sharp depth of flavor.
• Balsamic vinaigrette – I make my own with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little maple syrup, garlic, and mustard. Its sweet, tangy flavor really brings the salad together.
• And flaky sea salt and fresh black pepper – To make all the flavors pop! I love the delicate crunch that the flaky salt adds to this beet salad, but if you can’t find it, regular sea salt would be fine too.

Find the complete recipe with measurements below.

Roasted Beet Salad Serving Suggestions

This beet and goat cheese salad is a perfect side dish for any fall or winter meal. You could enjoy it for lunch with a bowl of potato leek or butternut squash soup or serve it for dinner with pasta, risotto, pizza, or polenta. It would also be a great addition to a holiday spread. Serve it for Thanksgiving with classic dishes like green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, and mashed potatoes, or pair it with lasagna or baked ziti for another holiday meal.

To get ahead, you can cook the beets and make the dressing up to two days in advance and store them in the fridge. Just before serving, assemble the salad with the roasted beets, goat cheese, apple, walnuts, shallot, and greens. Drizzle on the dressing, and serve!

More Favorite Salad Recipes

If you love this roasted beet salad recipe, try one of these fresh salads next:

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 1 hr

Serves 4

This beet salad recipe is just as pretty as it is delicious! I love to serve it when I’m entertaining. If you want to get ahead, you can roast the beets and make the dressing up to 2 days in advance and store them in the fridge. Assemble the salad just before serving.

• 4 to 5 medium beets
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 2 cups salad greens, arugula or spring mix
• ½ shallot, thinly sliced
• ½ green apple, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup toasted walnuts
• 2 ounces goat cheese, torn
• Microgreens, optional
• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Flaky sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.

• Wrap each beet in a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle generously with olive oil and pinches of salt and pepper. Place the beets on a baking sheet and roast for 40 to 90 minutes, or until soft and fork-tender. The time will depend on the size and freshness of the beets. Remove the beets from the oven, remove the foil, and set aside to cool. When they are cool to the touch, peel the skins. I like to hold them under running water and slide the skins off with my hands.

• Let the beets cool and chill them in the fridge until ready to use.

• Assemble the salad with the greens, shallots, apples, walnuts, cheese, and microgreens, if using. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. Season with flaky sea salt and pepper and serve.

This article was originally published by loveandlemons.com. Read the original article here.

Want to add sweet and tangy flavor to a salad, appetizer, or side dish? Make this balsamic reduction! You just need 10 minutes and 1 basic ingredient.

Since it’s the season for all things Caprese (find my salad recipe here and my skewer recipe here!), I thought I’d go ahead and share a simple balsamic glaze recipe too. This punchy reduction couldn’t be easier to make, and its sweet and tangy flavor is the perfect accent for seasonal ingredients like basil and tomatoes.

That being said, this balsamic glaze recipe can come in handy at other times of year, too. You can toss it with Brussels sprouts in the fall, drizzle it over roasted acorn squash in the winter, and serve it with ruby red strawberries in the spring. Honestly, once you know how to make a balsamic reduction, you’ll start drizzling it over everything.

How to Make Balsamic Glaze

Here’s the good news: you only need 1 ingredient to make this balsamic glaze recipe! While some recipes call for maple syrup or brown sugar, I find it’s not necessary. Reduced balsamic vinegar is plenty sweet and syrupy on its own.

The other good news? Making this balsamic glaze only takes about 10 minutes.

• Add 1 cup of balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Then, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often so that the vinegar doesn’t burn, until the vinegar thickens. The exact timing will depend on how thick you want your balsamic reduction to be. Keep in mind that it will continue to thicken as it cools.

That’s it! Making a homemade balsamic glaze couldn’t be simpler.

How to Use Balsamic Reduction

Use this balsamic glaze anytime you want to give a dish a kick of sweet and tangy flavor. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Drizzle it over a Caprese salad. It’s great on Caprese skewers, too!
• Toss it with roasted Brussels sprouts. This combination is a classic for a reason.
• Or other roasted veggies! Some of my favorites include butternut, acorn, and delicata squash, broccoli, beets, fennel, and tomatoes.
• Spoon it onto grilled vegetables. Think zucchini, onions, and mixed veggie skewers.
• Serve it with fruit. Try it in this strawberry salad, or add it to this burrata recipe with tomatoes and peaches. It’d be divine on grilled peaches, too.
• Drizzle it onto pizza. It’s especially at home on a Margherita.
• Serve it on bruschetta for a classy summer appetizer. When tomatoes and basil are in the picture, this balsamic reduction will always taste great.
• Or enjoy it for dessert. It’s an out-of-this-world ice cream topping!

How do you like to use balsamic glaze? Let me know in the comments!

More Favorite Dressings and Sauces

If you love this balsamic reduction recipe, try one of these dressings or sauces next:

Balsamic Reduction (Balsamic Glaze)

Serves 4

This sweet and tangy balsamic glaze is an easy, delicious topping for roasted or grilled vegetables, bruschetta, pizza, fruit, and more! Find specific serving suggestions in the post above.

• Add the vinegar to a small saucepan and bring to a gentle boil.

• Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until thick and reduced, about 8 to 12 minutes. The timing will depend on your desired thickness. The balsamic will also thicken as it cools.

• See the blog post above for serving suggestions.

This article was originally published by loveandlemons.com. Read the original article here.

posted by Kalyn Denny on July 7, 2021

Balsamic Spinach Salad with Mushrooms and Feta is a delicious option when you want a low-carb meatless salad for a side dish! And this is a perfect salad to help use up those big packages of spinach from Costco!

PIN Balsamic Spinach Salad to try it later!

This Balsamic Spinach Salad with Mushrooms and Feta is a recipe that was inspired by Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta. I came up with this version years ago when I was cooking dinner regularly for my dad and my stepmother Norma; she didn’t eat pork, so I used nicely-browned mushrooms instead of the bacon. And for years this absolutely-delicious salad recipe was back in the archives of the blog with a photo that wouldn’t entice anyone to try it!

Then I started buying those big packages of spinach from Costco and realizing how hard it is to use up that much spinach. And when I remembered this salad I loved the idea of a meatless spinach salad that was still loaded with delicious ingredients. I promise you, this salad is going to be a hit with anyone who’s a spinach salad fan, but go ahead and add a little bacon if you prefer!

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

• fresh spinach leaves
• mushrooms
• green onion
• extra virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• Garlic Powder (affiliate link)
• Spike Seasoning (affiliate link)
• Feta Cheese

What else can you make with those big tubs of spinach?

If you find yourself with one of those big tubs of Costco spinach, make something like Mushroom Lover’s Egg Skillet with Spinach, Breakfast Casserole with Spinach and Goat Cheese, Turkey Soup with Mushrooms and Spinach, Mediterranean Shrimp over Spinach, or the most popular spinach recipe on the blog, Spinach and Mozzarella Egg Bake. 

Tips for making this recipe:

1. Measure spinach and put in salad bowl. 
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients.
3. Measure Feta.
4. Wash and slice mushrooms and cut into thick slices.
5. Heat oil and cook mushrooms about 5 minutes.
6. Add green onions and cook 1-2 minutes.
7. Add dressing and let it come to a simmer.
8. Pour dressing over spinach and toss.
9. Put salad in a serving bowl and sprinkle with Feta.

Make it a Low-Carb Meal:

To make a low-carb meal featuring this Balsamic Spinach Salad, serve with something like Very Greek Grilled Chicken or Chicken and Veggie Kabobs with Garlic and Basil. If you want a meatless dinner, this would taste great with Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Custard Bake or Easy Baked Tofu.

Yes, I Really Like Spinach Salad!

Spinach Salad with Bacon and Feta
Asian Spinach Salad with Chicken
Mediterranean Spinach Salad
Asian Spinach Salad with Shrimp
Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Almonds, and Goat Cheese

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
This meatless salad is a great dish for low-carb diet plans, and for any phase of the South Beach Diet.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Salad Recipes to find more salads like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This salad was first posted in 2007, when I was making it regularly for my father and mother-in-law Norma. It was updated with greatly-improved photos and better instructions in 2021.