5 minutes

Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

This delicious blackberry balsamic vinaigrette is a great option for dressing up your next salad or cheese plate. Perfectly balanced with a complex sweet-tart flavor, this dressing will steal the show.

Sometimes I really get excited when I create new recipes. This is one of those times. This blackberry vinaigrette recipe is almost too simple to produce such big flavor. Made with fresh blackberries and maple syrup, the dressing is lightly sweet but perfectly balanced with tart balsamic vinegar and rich extra virgin olive oil. It is an ideal dressing for this time of year, when harvest salads with creamy squash, pumpkin and sweet potato abound. This dressing provides a bright pop of flavor and a little extra sweetness that is a great complement to earthy fall vegetables. Serve it with my Delicata Squash and Apple Salad for a delicious and healthy meal bursting with flavor. A base of spring mix and spinach salad, grilled delicata squash, sweet apples, creamy goat cheese, and roasted pumpkin seeds, all topped with this amazing blackberry vinaigrette dressing, it’s one of my all-time favorite combinations.

This dressing is also deliciously versatile. For a summer take on blackberry salad dressing, serve this with a bed of crisp cool romaine, grilled chicken, fresh mixed berries, and sliced almonds. Or, add a small bowl of this dressing to your next cheese plate. This would be completely fantastic drizzled over a slice of toasted baguette, spread with some creamy brie cheese. With only a handful of simple ingredients, this dressing is a million times better than anything you can buy at your grocery store.

You Will Love This

  • A perfect recipe for harvest salads, this dressing gives a sweet-tart pop of flavor that can stand up to earthy fall veggies.
  • With only a few simple ingredients and about 30 seconds in your food processor, you can have a perfect homemade dressing that is better than anything you can buy at the store.
  • At less than 100 calories per serving, this is a lower calorie dressing with big flavor made with all whole food ingredients.

Ingredients

Ingredients for blackberry balsamic vinaigrette including blackberries, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, maple syrup and dijon mustard.

For this simple recipe, you will need:

  • Fresh blackberries: Make sure you choose nice ripe berries. Look for berries that are plump and somewhat soft. If they are very firm, they are likely not ripe enough and won’t be as sweet.
  • Balsamic vinegar: You could try different types of vinegar with this dressing. I totally loved it with balsamic, but I think it would also be yummy with red wine vinegar or white wine vinegar.
  • Maple syrup: You could substitute honey.
  • Dijon mustard
  • Kosher salt
  • Olive oil: Choose a high quality extra virgin olive oil to add a lot of richness and flavor to this dressing.

Instructions

Step One: Add the blackberries, balsamic vinegar, syrup, mustard and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until all ingredients are combined.

The bowl of a food processor with whole blackberries, dijon, balsamic and salt.
The bowl of a food processor with blended blackberries.

TIP: If you want to remove the blackberry seeds from your salad dressing, I recommend doing so between step one and step two. Get out a large bowl and a fine mesh strainer or sieve. Pour the blended blackberries from the food processor through the strainer and into the bowl. The strainer should catch most of the seeds. Return the dressing back to the food processor and continue on to step two. Note, I did not remove the blackberry seeds from my salad dressing. The seeds don’t bother me, and they were not noticeable at all when the dressing was added to my salad. If I were serving this dressing as a drizzle with a cheese plate, I would recommend taking the extra step to strain out the seeds.

Step Two: With the food processor running, stream in the olive oil and blend for about 30 seconds, until the dressing is nice and creamy.

The bowl of a food processor with blackberry balsamic vinaigrette.

TIP: If you do not have a food processor, you can make this dressing with a blender. You could also use an immersion blender with a blender cup. If you are using a blender, don’t worry about streaming in the olive oil. Just add it all at once, and blend until creamy.

A jar of blackberry vinaigrette on a white concrete background. A colorful salad is in the background.

Storage

Store leftover dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. I like to store mine in a mason jar, and give it a quick shake to recombine before using.

A jar of blackberry vinaigrette on a white concrete background. A drip of vinaigrette falls over the edge of the jar, and a spoon rests in it.

Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette

This delicious blackberry balsamic vinaigrette is a great option for dressing up your next salad or cheese plate. Perfectly balanced with a complex sweet-tart flavor, this dressing will steal the show.
Adapted from Downshiftology
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American
Servings 12 servings
Calories 94 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Add the blackberries, balsamic vinegar, syrup, mustard and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times until all ingredients are combined.
  • With the food processor running, stream in the olive oil and blend for about 30 seconds, until the dressing is nice and creamy.

Notes

TIP: If you want to remove the blackberry seeds from your salad dressing, I recommend doing so between step one and step two. Get out a large bowl and a fine mesh strainer or sieve. Pour the blended blackberries from the food processor through the strainer and into the bowl. The strainer should catch most of the seeds. Return the dressing back to the food processor and continue on to step two. Note, I did not remove the blackberry seeds from my salad dressing. The seeds don’t bother me, and they were not noticeable at all when the dressing was added to my salad. If I were serving this dressing as a drizzle with a cheese plate, I would recommend taking the extra step to strain out the seeds.
TIP: If you do not have a food processor, you can make this dressing with a blender. You could also use an immersion blender with a blender cup. If you are using a blender, don’t worry about streaming in the olive oil. Just add it all at once, and blend until creamy.

Nutrition

Serving: 2tablespoonsCalories: 94kcalCarbohydrates: 3gProtein: 0.3gFat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gSodium: 103mgPotassium: 37mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 39IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 8mgIron: 0.2mg
Keyword balsamic vinaigrette, blackberry vinaigrette
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