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.

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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 — this dressing is only ever as good as the fruit. Berries left to ripen fully on the plant blend sweeter than anything picked early to travel.

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

Honey: two tablespoons is a starting point, not a law — taste against your berries.

Kosher salt: call it cooking salt in an Australian kitchen — the flaky stuff, measured a little generously compared with fine table salt.

Olive oil: drizzled in while blending so the dressing emulsifies into something silky rather than split.

Method

1. Blend the ingredients: In a blender, combine strawberries, honey, apple cider vinegar, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth.
2. Add olive oil: While blending, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture emulsifies.
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.

Tips for success

• Blend the berries, honey, vinegar and seasoning first, and only then stream in the oil — that order is what makes it creamy.
• Taste at the end: strawberries swing wildly in sweetness, and the honey/vinegar balance should follow the fruit.
• For a silk-smooth restaurant finish, push it through a fine sieve to catch the seeds.

Storage and make-ahead

Up to a week in an airtight jar in the fridge — the recipe's own guidance. 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 minutes on the bench brings the pour back. Don't freeze it — the texture doesn't survive the trip.

Variations

• 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.

Strawberry dressing FAQ

What salads does strawberry dressing go with?

Soft and peppery leaves both: butter lettuce, baby spinach and rocket, especially with nuts, seeds or a salty cheese in the bowl. It also 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.

How sweet should it be?

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

Grow the strawberries yourself

Homegrown strawberries are sweeter than anything in a punnet, and they take surprisingly well to indoor growing. The strawberry growing guide has the details, and the V5.2-A tower gives them - and your salad greens - a permanent spot. Berries ripened fully on the plant — not in a punnet — are exactly what this dressing is built for.