Strawberry Dressing

Fresh strawberries blended with honey and apple cider vinegar make a dressing that turns a plain bowl of greens into something worth photographing. Sweet, sharp and done in one blender jug. Call it a strawberry vinaigrette if you prefer the menu word; this strawberry dressing recipe is the same thing.

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Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped
• 2 tbsp honey
• 5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper

Ingredient notes & easy swaps

Strawberries: the riper the better; after all, this dressing is only ever as good as the fruit. In fact, berries left to ripen fully on the plant blend sweeter than anything picked early to travel.

Apple cider vinegar: fruity enough to belong here; otherwise, white wine vinegar is the cleaner-tasting swap.

Honey: two tablespoons is a starting point, not a law; in other words, taste against your berries. Maple syrup or agave works instead, in about the same amount, if the dressing needs to be vegan. One caveat: honey isn't safe for babies under 12 months, so keep the honey version off an infant's plate.

Kosher salt: in an Australian kitchen use coarse cooking salt or sea salt flakes. But if you only have fine table salt, use about half as much and taste.

Olive oil: drizzled in while blending so that the dressing emulsifies into something silky rather than split. The recipe calls for extra-virgin, so pick a mild, fruity one: a peppery bottle can bully ripe berries, and a neutral oil such as avocado or grapeseed keeps the fruit right out front.

Dijon mustard (optional): a teaspoon blended in before the oil helps the emulsion hold for days rather than minutes and, on top of that, adds a little savoury edge. Otherwise, leave it out for the lighter, looser dressing in the recipe.

How to make strawberry dressing

1. Blend the ingredients: In a blender, combine strawberries, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Blend for 30 seconds to a minute on high, until smooth, glossy and an even bright pink.
2. Add olive oil: While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil in a thin stream until the mixture emulsifies: it turns a shade paler, thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon.
3. Adjust seasoning: Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
4. Store & serve: Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to a week; it is at its best in the first three or four days.

Tips for success

• Blend the berries, honey, vinegar and seasoning first, and only after that stream in the oil; that order is what makes it creamy.
• Then taste at the end: strawberries swing wildly in sweetness, and the honey/vinegar balance should follow the fruit.
• Also, for a silk-smooth restaurant finish, push it through a fine sieve to catch the seeds.
• No blender? In that case, a stick blender in a tall jug does the same job. Otherwise, mash very ripe berries with a fork, put everything in a jar and shake hard for a looser, chunkier dressing.

Storage and make-ahead

Up to a week in an airtight jar in the fridge, kept below 5 °C, and at its best in the first three or four days. Also, give it a hard shake before each use; a loose fruit emulsion separates naturally and that's not a fault.

The olive oil will thicken in the cold; ten to fifteen minutes on the bench brings the pour back, and it shouldn't sit out for more than a couple of hours. Freezing is best avoided: the emulsion splits and, on top of that, the fruit turns watery once it thaws.

Variations

Five ways to change this strawberry dressing without changing the method:

• On soft leaves: it was made for the butter lettuce salad in its summer mood.
• Against pepper: brilliant over the rocket & pear salad, where sweet meets bite.
• Deeper: swap the cider vinegar for balsamic and skip the honey.
• Herby: blend in three or four basil or mint leaves, ideally picked straight from the grow box. Basil leans sweet and summery; by comparison, mint keeps it cool and clean.
• Citrus-bright: swap one tablespoon of the vinegar for lemon or orange juice and add a pinch of the zest.

More ways to use strawberry dressing

• As a marinade for chicken or halloumi: chicken wants an hour or two in the fridge; by comparison, half an hour is plenty for halloumi, before either goes anywhere near a pan.
• Over burrata or grilled peaches, for example, where the sharpness cuts straight through the richness.
• As a dip for fruit skewers or alongside a cheese board.

Strawberry dressing for spinach salad

A strawberry spinach salad is where this dressing earns its keep: the sweet-sharp berry softens the mineral edge of raw spinach. Then add a teaspoon of poppy seeds to the blender and you have the classic strawberry spinach salad dressing. Use the balsamic variation above and it becomes a strawberry balsamic dressing.

Build the bowl like this:

• Baby spinach, washed and dried, with a handful of rocket if you like a peppery note.
• Sliced strawberries, a few more than feels sensible.
• Thinly sliced red onion, soaked in cold water for ten minutes to take the bite out.
• Crumbled feta or goat's cheese and a scatter of toasted almonds or pecans.

Finally, dress it just before serving, about half the jar for four people, and pass the rest at the table.

Strawberry dressing FAQ

What salads does strawberry dressing go with?

As a strawberry dressing for salad it works on soft and peppery leaves both: butter lettuce, baby spinach and rocket. Build the bowl with goat's cheese or feta, toasted almonds or walnuts, sliced strawberries and avocado, and add grilled chicken to turn it into a main. Also, it doubles as a fruit-salad drizzle.

Can I use frozen strawberries?

Yes. Thaw them fully and drain the excess liquid first, or the dressing turns out thin. Expect to need a touch less honey; freezing concentrates sweetness perception less than ripeness does.

Why did my dressing separate?

Fruit emulsions are loose by nature; there's no mustard holding this one together. A hard shake restores it in seconds. Instead, for a dressing that holds together for days rather than minutes, blend a teaspoon of Dijon in before the oil next time.

How sweet should it be?

Sweet-tart, leaning with your fruit. Blend first, taste, and after that adjust honey or vinegar one teaspoon at a time.

Can I make it vegan?

Yes. Swap the honey for maple syrup or agave in about the same amount, taste, and keep everything else as written. Maple adds a faint caramel note; agave, by comparison, keeps it cleaner and closer to the original.

Can I make a creamy strawberry dressing?

Yes. Blend two tablespoons of plain Greek-style yoghurt in after the oil for a paler, thicker dressing that clings to spinach and grain salads. Keep the honey as written and taste for sharpness, because the yoghurt softens the vinegar. Stir rather than shake before serving.

Can I make strawberry dressing without vinegar?

Yes. Instead of vinegar, use the same amount of lemon or orange juice, or half of each. As a result, the dressing usually comes out softer and a touch sweeter, so ease back on the honey and taste before you add more. Then again, if the real problem is harshness rather than vinegar itself, a strawberry-infused vinegar is gentler and stands in for the cider vinegar, one for one.

Grow the strawberries yourself

Homegrown strawberries are sweeter than anything in a punnet, and they take surprisingly well to indoor growing. Australian strawberries are in the shops for most of the year because the main growing regions stagger their seasons. A supermarket berry is picked firm to travel, though, and never quite catches up in flavour. In contrast, an indoor tower lets you pick at full ripeness whatever the calendar says.

The strawberry growing guide has the details, and the V5.2-A tower gives them, as well as your salad greens, a permanent spot. Berries ripened fully on the plant, not in a punnet, are exactly what this strawberry dressing is built for.