Bright, bold, and beautiful, this Basil Vinaigrette is a summertime favorite! Make it in under 5 minutes, using your blender.
Over the years of running my catering business, I’ve made this Basil Vinaigrette more times than I can count. It’s one of those recipes that just works—fresh, bright, super versatile, and crazy easy to make. It’s my secret weapon for leveling up everything from grilled veggies to fish, salads, and grain bowls. And now I’m handing it over to you. Let’s go!
The magic lies in the balance of bold garlic, tangy vinegar, and sweet, fresh summer basil. If you’ve been here a while, you’ve seen variations of this throughout the blog, but I rely on it so often at home that I thought it deserved a recipe of its own.
Here’s Why You’ll Love It!
- Chef-Tested: Used extensively in my catering events!
- Fast & Easy: Ready in under 10 minutes with a blender or mini blender
- Versatile: Works beautifully with salads, grilled vegetables, seafood, and bowls!
Basil vinaigrette Serving IdeaS
- Drizzle over grilled summer vegetables or potatoes
- Spoon onto grilled shrimp, salmon, or chicken
- Toss with lettuce for a light, flavorful salad
- Use as a dressing for pasta salad
- Use as a dressing for farro, quinoa or grains!
- Mix into mayo or yogurt for a basil aioli or creamy dip, or drizzle it over hummus
- Elevate your next caprese salad, burrata salad, baked feta cheese, or avocado toast
Basil Vinaigrette Ingredients
- Basil: Use fresh, packed basil leaves — from your garden or local farmers market!
- Extra virgin olive oil: Use a high-quality Italian olive oil.
- White wine vinegar: Or sub red wine vinegar or lemon juice.
- Garlic cloves and shallot: For a savory, aromatic taste.
- Salt and pepper: To enhance all of the flavors in the vinaigrette.
How to Make Basil Vinaigrette
1. Add all ingredients to a blender. Add the fresh basil leaves, oil, vinegar, garlic, shallot, water, kosher salt, and pepper to a blender.
2. Pulse. Pulse repeatedly (don’t blend) until nearly smooth.
Storage
Store the basil vinaigrette in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Hope you enjoy this easy basil vinaigrette recipe! Let us know what you think in the comments, and don’t forget to rate the recipe!
More Salad Dressing Recipes!
Basil Vinaigrette Recipe
- Prep Time: 5
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup
- Category: salad dressing, sauce
- Method: blended
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Bright, bold, and beautiful, this Basil Vinaigrette is a summertime favorite! Make it in under 5 minutes, using your blender. Vegan and Gluten-free.
Ingredients
- 2 cups packed basil leaves (roughly 3 ounces)
- 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar or lemon juice)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons shallot, sliced
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
Place all ingredients in a blender or mini blender and pulse repeatedly until almost smooth.
Store in a sealed jar in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.
Notes
Serve over grilled veggies, drizze over caprese salad, or toss with pasta or greens for a flavoful salad dressing.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 165
- Sugar: 0.2 g
- Sodium: 291.8 mg
- Fat: 18.7 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.9 g
- Fiber: 0.2 g
- Protein: 0.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
FAQs
This simple vinaigrette is made with basil, olive oil, and white wine vinegar. We add garlic and shallot for an extra flavor punch!
You could make a basil oil dressing by leaving out the vinegar, garlic, shallots, and water, if you prefer (you can use a food processor for a less blended texture). Quick and simple, though the vinegar and aromatics impart so much depth of flavor.
We love the basil in this vinaigrette! But other fresh herbs like chives, cilantro, dill, oregano, and tarragon make nice dressings, too.
This is fantastic! Delicious. As a dressing I would add a drop of water. As it’s quite thick, it needs to be dabbed onto the food. We’ve put it on salmon, veggies, and salad. Super refreshing.
Hi Arlene, the recipe calls for a tablespoon of water. Did you add that?
Hey Sylvia – I cook by metric weights whenever possible. With reference to the basil, you specified roughly 3 ounces of basil, which is actually equivalent to 84 grams metric. Did the number of grams accidentally get transposed to 48 grams in the recipe? Or do you mean the lesser amount of basil (1.5 oz)?
Hi Mary, this is the problem with our metric converter- it is not always accurate (super frustrating) Use 84 grams (or two cups packed).
Thanks! Our basil is finally coming in here in Maine. Can’t wait to try this on your grilled veggies! 😊
Yay fresh basil! So wonderful💚🌱
Finally made it. Very good! For those with a smoothie cup blender, this recipe fits perfectly and makes for a super easy clean-up.
Great to hear!
This basil vinaigrette is spectacular. We served it over your grilled veggies and the platter was gone in minutes- our kiddos loved it too. Longtime follower of your blog and never disappointed!
So great to hear this Sage! Appreciate you taking time to review and thanks for being here.:)
Sooo delicious!!! I made this and everyone in my house loved it so much that I made extra to give away. So easy and absolutely tastes of summer!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for taking time to review!
I made this Basil Vinaigrette today, using the lemon juice option rather than vinegar. It’s a 10 !!! Sylvia always offers a perfect balance of flavours. I had it on my salad and poached egg for my brunch and this evening it will be on my Salmon Dinner plate.
Great to hear Mary! I love this one too. 🙂