A French Vinaigrette dressing that is prepared with fresh lemon juice.
This recipe is based on the classic 4 ingredient Vinaigrette Dressing that we traditionally make at home.
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TL;DR
The difference to the classic vinaigrette is that the lemon version is brighter and citrusy, which is perfect for all those who don't like overwhelming vinegar flavors.
This dressing is also more common around the Mediterranean regions in Southern France. In the north, we tend to use vinegar more frequently than lemon in general.
Ingredient Notes
Using quality ingredients can make all the difference in your vinaigrette. I'm not exaggerating.
- Lemon Juice — Use always freshly squeezed lemon juice. Pick your favorite lemon variety.
- Salt & Black Pepper — In France, we like to use Fleur de Sel salt, that is classified as high quality sea salt. If you want to experiment, you get Guerande or Camargue salt, which are two different regions and both are equally good. The black pepper tastes fruity and better when freshly ground. In the pictures, I used a quality pink Himalayan salt from India/Pakistan.
- Oil — I used sunflower oil in the picture because that's what I had and that would be the budget version of this dressing. You can make it with olive oil too, and here I recommend cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, as it is more spicy in flavor.
Tip: You can throw in some finely grated Lemon zest too for an extra lemon flavor kick. Keep in mind to always use untreated Lemons to great the zest because you don't want harmful insecticides in your food. Untreated in most countries means organic, but double, please!
Process Overview
Step 1
Place salt, black pepper and Lemon Juice into a small bottle or salad dressing shaker.
Close and shake well.
Step 2
Pour the oil to the dressing ingredients.
Shake it again well and use directly over your food.
📖 Recipe
French Lemon Vinaigrette Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ Teaspoon Salt
- ⅛ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground
- ⅓ cup Lemon juice *see Notes
- ½ cup Oil
Instructions
- Juice your lemon and collect the juice to measure.⅓ cup Lemon juice
- Drop the salt and ground pepper into the bottle/salad dressing shaker and pour the lemon juice into that.½ Teaspoon Salt, ⅛ Teaspoon Black Pepper Ground, ⅓ cup Lemon juice
- Close the bottle with a lid or cap tight or shaker and shake the ingredients well.
- Now pour the oil into the mixed ingredients in the bottle and close tight again with a lid or cap.½ cup Oil
- Shake your dressing well. You will have to repeat the shaking every time when you want to pour it over your salad or food because the ingredients separate when they sit idle.
Notes
Equipment
- Lemon Press/Juicer
- 8 oz/ 236 ml Small Bottle or Dressing Shaker Can be bigger too, but smaller bottle are easier to store in the fridge, and you can make fresh dressings more often.
Nutrition
Serving & Storing
The dressing is good for at least 2 weeks refrigerated but try to use it before that.
I highly recommend getting a glass bottle that can be easily stored in your fridge. Avoid odd shapes and plastic. I use a small 8 oz/ 236 ml bottle.
Traditionally, we pour the dressing over all salads. For example, all my French side salads, such as the green lettuce salad, shredded carrot salad, turnip salad and green bean salad can be tossed in this lemon vinaigrette.
But I love to drop some dressing over my meals too, such as over poached eggs, poached fish, and French lentil meals.
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