Dairy-Free Maple Balsamic Dressing

This here is a go-to dressing that you will want to make every week. It is simple to make, creamy, dairy free and tastes delicious on everything. In my opinion, a good salad dressing can turn a bowl of greens from borrowing into divine magic. And it can be a game changer for those that do not like vegetables.

So here’s my trick, combine flavours that are salty, sweet, savoury, sour and slightly bitter. Combine all the flavour components into one to give a boost to your own favorite salad combo or make my Spinach Strawberry Sprout Salad.

Also to mention, that making your own salad dressings is so much healthy and can be more cost effective. You can buy some of these ingredients in bulk, use for multiple recipes and can avoid the unwanted preservatives, rancid fats and processing that comes with conventional, store bought salad dressings.

Key ingredients that are important for this recipe:

• A smooth tasting oil: my favourites are the Maison Orphee extra virgin olive oil and Chosen Foods refined avocado oil. Quality matters, make sure that you are buying your oils in dark bottles and storing in a cool/room temperature area with little light to reduce oxidation which turns your oils rancid.
• A sweet balsamic vinegar: typically balsamic vinegar reductions are a bit sweeter, but truly I make a special trip to Evoolution in Edmonton, AB for their 18 year traditional balsamic vinegar. It is the BEST I have ever had. If you do not have a sweet balsamic vinegar, cut the vinegar in half and use slightly more maple syrup to your taste preference.
• Coconut aminos: this is a liquid soy sauce alternative. It is typically a fermented product and comes from the sap of coconut trees. It is slightly sweet and salty. You can also use a high quality, organic, non-GMO soy sauce if you prefer.
• Tahini paste: this is a ground sesame paste/butter that you can find at most grocery stores either in the peanut butter isle or oriental isle. You can also swap for any other nut or seed butter. I also love the taste and texture of smooth almond butter in this recipe (however this would NOT be nut free).
• Throw it in your food processor, blender or magic bullet and voila you’ve got a creamy dairy-free dressing

I’d love for you to give this one a try and I am certain you will be eager to make a big batch of this every week.

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Dairy-Free Maple Balsamic Dressing

This is a delicious dairy-free salad dressing that you can use for any type of salad or drizzle over roasted veggies. 

Course Salad

Keyword dairy-free, salad, salad dressing

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings 4

Author Olivia Thompson

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil or refined avocado oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 2.5 tbsp coconut aminos (OR 1.5 tbsp soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, sweeter and aged is better
• 1/2 tsp tahini paste
• 2 tsp pure maple syrup
• 1 clove garlic (OR 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor.

2. Store in a container and refrigerate. Serve on salads & stir-fries

Recipe Notes

You can substitute the tahini paste for any kind of nut or seed butter. I also really enjoy substituting in almond butter (which is NOT nut free). You can also add more water if you prefer a thinner dressing.