One reason your homemade salads don't hit like they should is the dressing and today, we'll fix that with simple fresh orange juice vinaigrette made with just a few ingredients in only five minutes! Let's get into it.
And if you enjoy this diy citrus dressing recipe, you'll love my easy ACV salad dressing, too!
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Why You'll Love this Recipe
Quick and Easy - Everything comes together and stores in one container for easy cleanup with no fancy tools or kitchen equipment. If you have five minutes and about five ingredients, you cane make this salad dressing with orange juice.
Versatile Flavor - This easy orange vinaigrette goes with just about any kind of salad. It's a match made in heaven for my autumn harvest kale salad but also pairs perfectly with a good spinach spinach or pasta salad, and even roasted beets!
On a healthy salad kick? Check out my easy burger salad bowl or massaged kale salad with apple cider vinaigrette. And you will love the simple spring mix & spinach salad I make for family gatherings.
What You'll Need for this Recipe
Orange Juice adds bright and zesty flavor to this homemade citrus vinaigrette dressing. I prefer fresh juice from navel or cara cara oranges in this recipe but you can use any variety you like or even bottled OJ, if you like. Blood oranges are great here and I have a great blood orange vinaigrette with poppy seeds you might like, too. And you can easily up the orange flavor factor by also adding the orange zest!
Maple Syrup is my sweetener of choice for a kind of orange maple vinaigrette vibe. And it ensures this is a vegan orange dressing so I don't have to make any modifications when serving salad to a crowd! If you need to you can make this dressing with honey or the liquid sweetener of your choosing, instead.
Check out the recipe card below for full ingredients list, measurements, nutrition facts, and step-by-step instructions!
Substitutions & Variations
Spices - I use crushed red pepper for a bit of kick plus sea salt and black pepper. Seasoning the salad as well as the dressing is key to making better salads at home. Feel free to play with the spices to suit your taste. Garlic powder is a great addition I sometimes use.
Vinegar - I make my dressing with apple cider vinegar but it's great with many different kinds of vinegar and great as an orange balsamic dressing. You can even make your orange dressing without vinegar as the orange juice itself adds acid! I just recommend increasing the amount of citrus juice from orange, lemon or lime if you omit the vinegar.
How to Make Homemade Salad Dressing with Orange Juice
Step One: Add all ingredients to an airtight container.
Step Two: Seal the container and shake vigorously to combine all ingredients into a vinaigrette.
Pro Tip #1: I like to use a small mason jar for these steps because it's easy to store in afterward and aesthetic enough for the dinner table if you're hosting!
Pro Tip #2: This recipe multiplies easily to batch for serving larger crowds or making ahead and storing. You can use a blender or food processor to properly emulsify the ingredients and save yourself the labor when doubling or tripling the recipe.
If you enjoy this flavor combination, you'll really like my cast iron skillet orange maple chicken breast, too! And don't forget the sides--pair it with savory spiced sweet potatoes and sautéed brussels sprouts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Oil--typically olive oil--and vinegar is the basic vinaigrette recipe. Using these two ingredients in a salad dressing makes it a vinaigrette. So every vinaigrette is a salad dressing but not every dressing is a vinaigrette.
Yes, you can make this dressing days ahead of time. Just give it a good shake before serving as separation will likely occur.
Store the dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will keep for up to two weeks. If you add any fresh herbs or aromatics like parsley or garlic to the dressing, it's best to consume within three days.
You can technically freeze vinaigrette but it is not recommended as it is likely to separate before freezing and the flavors tend to be muted once thawed. If you need to freeze this dressing, I recommend dividing it up into ice cube molds so that it freezes more quickly (less likely to separate) and can be thawed quickly and easily in individual servings.
More Favorite Salad and Dressing Recipes
I hope you'll enjoy your next salad with healthy homemade orange dressing soon and very soon. And sharing is caring so be sure to pin this recipe for later and follow me over on Pinterest. Thanks for reading!
Easy Orange Juice Vinaigrette Salad Dressing
Equipment
- 1 airtight container
Ingredients
- ½ cup orange juice about 1-2 large navel oranges worth
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- black pepper to taste
- sea salt to taste
Instructions
- Add orange juice, olive oil, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, crushed red pepper, black pepper, and sea salt to an airtight container.
- Seal the container and shake vigorously to combine.
Marta says
I made this orange juice vinaigrette to serve with a harvest kale salad and it was so delicious. The citrus flavor of the orange juice and sweetness of the maple syrup were perfectly balanced.