Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

Name: Cleansing Lemon-Herb Vinaigrette
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Healthy
Ingredients: 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil; juice of 2 lemons; 1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest; Fistful fresh cilantro; Fistful fresh parsley; 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced; 2 teaspoons pure clover honey; 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard; freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

by Deborah on Mar 5, 2019 (updated Sep 30, 2023) 2 comments

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This Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette is a healthy homemade salad dressing made with fist-fulls of fresh parsley and cilantro, some fresh-squeezed lemon juice, garlic, a wee bit of honey and Dijon mustard and olive oil. This tasty lemon vinaigrette recipe goes with just about any salad you’ll want to toss it with.

This lemon vinaigrette recipe is brimming with good-for-you ingredients! It’s light and delicious and flecked with bits of parsley and cilantro. This is a healthy salad dressing recipe to pull together in a pinch.

Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe

The healthy homemade salad dressing is one you’ll want to make. It adds both flavor and a host of nutritional benefits to any bowl of greens you toss it with.

Fresh Lemon Juice and Zest – I love the flavor of lemon and all the nutritional benefits they have to offer. Lemons rich with vitamin C , flavonoids, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. (1) Try to use organic lemons for zesting when possible.
Herbs – We use both fresh flat leaf parsley and cilantro for this vinaigrette.
Honey – Honey adds a little sweetness to balance out lemon’s tartness. Honey is rich with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. The properties found in honey may help lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind) and triglycerides, while raising HDL cholesterol (the good kind). These properties may also help lower blood pressure. (2) (3)
Mustard – Mustard helps to emulsify the vinaigrette and add a bit of flavor.
Garlic – We use just one clove of garlic for this recipe, so the garlic flavor is mild. If you don’t care for garlic, then leave it out. This vinaigrette is still so tasty without it!
Olive Oil – Use a good extra-virgin olive oil for this vinaigrette

Find the printable recipe with measurements below.

How to Make Lemon Vinaigrette

This lemon herb vinaigrette is all about the fresh herbs and the nutritional benefits they provide!

Blend – Add everything to a blender and blend until creamy.
Whisk – If you don’t have a blender, or if you want to dirty one up, then chop the parsley and cilantro (coarsely or fine – doesn’t matter) and whisk everything together in a bowl.
Shake – Add everything to a mason jar, seal the lid, and shake some sense into it.

However you decide to introduce the ingredients to each other, the combination makes a really delicious lemon herb vinaigrette that you’re sure to love!

Serving Suggestions

Here are a few healthy salad recipes that would toss nicely with this delicious herb vinaigrette:

Benefits of Parsley

Parsley with its rugged sturdy leaves is packed with antioxidants, Vitamin K, C and A, and other nutritional benefits, making it somewhat of a superfood. It’s a rich source of chlorophyll, which has been shown to detoxify, purify and rejuvenate your body. Parsley has been used as a natural detox remedy, diuretic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agent for centuries. Parsley is also a rich source of lutein and zeaxanthin (potent antioxidants) which helps support good eye health. You can read more here about the Benefits of Parsley.

Benefits of Cilantro

Cilantro with its delicate wispy aromatic leaves, is packed with antioxidant polyphenolic flavonoids such as quercetin and kaempferol. Quercetin is a powerful flavonoid with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and natural antihistamine properties. Cilantro is also a rich source of Vitamins A, C, K and B, as well as potassium, calcium, iron and magnesium. The nutrients found in cilantro helps to regulate blood sugar levels, reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, stimulate digestion, and helps to keep bones strong.

Looking for More Vinaigrette Recipes to Make?

If you like this lemon vinaigrette recipe, you’ll love these other vinaigrette recipes!

Still want more ideas? Check out all my healthy salad dressing recipes.

Yield: 4 servings