Easy Maple Vinaigrette Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What are some common mistakes to avoid when making vinaigrette? ›

In addition to white wine vinegar, red wine, sherry, balsamic and cider vinegars can all be used in the same quantities as above. It's really down to personal taste and it's great to have a selection of vinegars in your cupboard to give variety to even the simplest salads.

In this easy method, garlic and mustard are used as emulsifiers to help bind the surfaces of the water and oil in the dressing. Adding other ingredients like nuts, honey, mayonnaise, and tahini will also help emulsify the dressing.

Here is a perfect example of a culinary ratio, one that's fairly standard: The 3-to-1 vinaigrette, or 3 parts oil, 1 part vinegar.

"Light, heat and oxygen can all cause oil to go rancid over time," says Ann Ziata, a chef at the Institute of Culinary Education.

Technically speaking, a vinaigrette is an emulsion, just like hollandaise sauce. An emulsifier is used in a vinaigrette to stabilize the oil and vinegar. Common emulsifiers include egg yolks, soy lecithin, and mustard. These ingredients all include lecithin--the stabilizing compound.

Generally speaking, any oils labeled "vegetable oil" or "salad oil" are fine for making a basic vinaigrette. You could also use any light, neutral-flavored oil like safflower, canola, or soybean oil. One of the most common variations is to substitute olive oil for salad oil.

The traditional French vinaigrette formula calls for 1 tablespoon vinegar for every 3 tablespoons olive oil. Modern vinaigrettes often call for a bit more vinegar than that, but it's always up to you.

Olive oil and neutral vegetable oils such as soybean oil, canola oil, corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, or grape seed oil are all common. Different vinegars, such as raspberry, create different flavors, and lemon juice or alcohol, such as sherry, may be used instead of vinegar.

You can use xanthan gum to thicken your dressing. This stabilises emulsions (not being an emulsifier though) and increases viscosity (the stickiness). One of the major advantages of xanthan gum is that you don't need to heat your liquid. What you will have to do is whisk it thoroughly.

Do you add oil or vinegar first in a vinaigrette? ›

Whisk in the vinegar first, to temper the harshness of the alliums. Whisking constantly, add the lemon zest, olive oil, honey, salt and pepper. Taste, and season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

This happens because vinegar and oil are made of very different types of molecules that are attracted to their own kind. The electronegative oxygen in a water molecule pulls electrons away from the two hydrogens, creating an uneven distribution of charge within the molecule.

The ratio for vinaigrette is 3-to-1: three parts oil to one part vinegar.

Sweetness balances out acidity, spice, and bitterness. A salad composed of bitter greens may benefit from a sweeter dressing. But sweetness can come from sources other than one-note white sugar; consider honey, pureed dates, maple syrup, jam, or molasses as sweeteners that also add flavor and mouth-feel.