Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette
This post was updated in January 2016.
At our Valentine's Day dinner last week, the chef served us a starter salad that was incredible. A bed of roasted purple potatoes, topped with fresh arugula, shallots, shaved asparagus and toasted almonds all dressed in a creamy, tart avocado vinaigrette. It was so ridiculously good that my husband got halfway through his plate, glanced at his beer and said, "This salad is so delicious that I totally forgot to drink the beer."
Salad trumping beer? It must be something special. Even more so, I thought I hated arugula but in this dish, it was absolutely perfect. Obviously, it was the work of a well-trained, talented chef. The layers of flavors and textures were complex and interesting. And if Babyface actually touched his beer, he would have known that it paired perfectly with the small pour of Upland Wheat we were served.
Basically, it was the god of salads.
I knew immediately I had to try my hand at recreating it. If it was possible to make me want to cram greens into my piehole, I had to harness that genius in my own kitchen. After some thought, I realized the real super star of the salad was the vinaigrette. While all the individual elements were amazing and came together in a beautiful veggie-rific symphony, the vinaigrette was what really set everything off.
I highly doubt I'll ever pull together a salad of arugula, roasted purple potatoes and shaved asparagus, but I might be willing to spoon some of that vinaigrette on a standard mixture of greens and top it with some toasted almonds. And that I did. Dare I say, it was almost as good as the salad we were served?
The avocado in this dressing makes it so silky creamy that you'll have a hard time believing there isn't diary in it. Use good olive oil and fresh, bright lemon juice and you'll have a new house dressing. This stuff now lives in a bottle (we like these bottles for homemade salad dressings) in our fridge.
On the nutritional front, it's hard to think of a better salad dressing for you. Avocados are packed with healthy fats, fiber, and vitamin K. Avocado flesh also helps the body to absorb two key antioxidants-lycopene and beta-carotene. Want to make sure your body gets all the antioxidants it can from your garden salad? Just add some avocado or this dressing and your body will soak 'em right up.
The healthy fats in both the avocados and the olive oil helps the digestive tract to absorb nutrients, help keep inflammation down and help to lower the risk of heart disease. I bet your bottle of ranch dressing can't say the same thing.
📖 Recipe
Creamy Avocado Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- Juice of one lemon use a good citrus juicer, like this one
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine avocado, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Run processor until very smooth and creamy.
- With processor running on low, stream in olive oil through the chute until just combined.
Notes
Nutrition
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Still way too much vinegar, even though I used less than a quarter cup. I had to add some mayo and herbs, then added water as it was blending to dull the vinegar taste and thin it out.
Not quite true regarding Olive Oil being unhealthy. Fats are an important part of our diets. Olive oil raises HDL (good cholesterol ), thus protecting the heart. Avocados are also excellent for raising HDL. I can't wait to try this recipe.
HI Cassie,
*I have been trying to find your blog. Have you a link to it please?
Thank you and I am making this dressing tonight. 🙂
I'm a bit confused by your question - this is the blog. Are you looking for a particular post?
Hi. Is this possible to make without a blender? I am a terrible cook, but salads are something relatively easy to make so I'm attempting to make my own dressing too to avoid the massive amounts of sugar in shop-bought dressings. This recipe sounds perfect - easy to make and tasty! I don't own a blender, though. Will this still bind if I try to mix it all by hand?
I think you'll really need a blender or food processor to get the right texture. An immersion blender would work though! And those are relatively affordable (less than $30) and are great if you're dealing with a small kitchen. They are really versatile! You can use them to make smoothies, soups, and dressings. 🙂
Too much lemon
Sorry to hear that. Thanks for the feedback!
Can you tell me how long this will keep in the refrigerator? Thank you for what looks like a great recipe.
If your container is airtight, 3-5 days!
Hi - found you on Pinterest via your overnight oatmeal, and I will try both right away. Your blog is so interesting, and attractive, so I signed up to follow you. Thanks for sharing, and I look forward to more good stuff!
This looks so good!
Question: how long will the dressing keep in the fridge?
I don't know whether it's just me or if everybody else experiencing problems with your site.
It appears as if some of the written text in your content are running off the screen. Can somebody else please comment and let me know if this
is happening to them too? This could be a problem with my web browser because I've had this happen before.
Thanks
I love all the ingredients in this, but is not palatable when I made it. Any suggestions for me to tweak it so I haven't lost all the ingredients?? Thanks!
Looks so tasty! Does anyone knows how much it last on the fridge?
Anyone know the nutritional value? Counting carbs and fat...thanks☺
Cassie, your dressing recipe is perfect. I have worked for almost 40 years in medical research. My favorite boss was an MD in Gastroenterology. He got so mad at me for eating salads without dressing. He said your gut will not retain the nutrients and vitamins of a salad if you do not have oil to help the absorption process in the gut lining.
So you are right on target with your recipe. Cheers 🙂
About how much does this make? I'm trying to figure out if I need a smaller bottle for storage once made. Thanks!
About a cup!
I'm going to make this tonight for our first course salad.
I'm watching my weight but still crave creamy things almost everyday. I saw this on Pinterest and was pleasantly surprised to see I had everything to make it, except the white wine vinegar, so just used the juice of 1.5 lemons instead. , I added some fresh basil that I needed to use up. and it was amazing!! Was great on iceberg, arugula, tomato and parmesan salad. Thank you!
How long will this dressing stay good before needing to throw it away.?
You can probably get by with a week or a little more. 🙂
Looks yummy and simple to make. I have all the ingredients and will make for tonight's dinner salad! Thank you for sharing.
Another link explaining how 'olive oil is not a nealth food'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfBKauKVi4M
I notice you use a lot of olive oil in your recipes and it is a very misconception that olive oil is 'healthy' when in fact it is a powerful contributor to the epidemic of obesity. See:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGGQxJLuVjg