Orange Juice Salad Dressing

This orange juice salad dressing is so light and refreshing, with just the right amount of sweet and tangy flavors. I love it drizzled over leafy greens, fresh veggies, or even grilled chicken. It’s a citrus dressing for salads that’s super quick to make, and you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry already.

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I love salads, but I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with making them. It seems that I never have all the ingredients on hand to make them really yummy, or the store-bought dressings are just blah and not healthy. That’s why I’ve come up with this orange honey salad dressing. 

It’s got very few ingredients, and you’re more than likely to already have them in your home pantry. It was inspired by a salad I ordered at Mezzaluna, a restaurant we tried on a recent trip to Hendersonville, NC. We had the herbed goat cheese salad, which was served with a delicious honey citrus vinaigrette. It was so good I had to try and recreate it.

We could tell the dressing had orange and honey in it, although the honey is not a dominant flavor, and I assumed that there was olive oil, a form of vinegar and a squeeze of lemon. So this is the combination I settled on and it came out really well!

Now I love making homemade salads because I know I always have a delicious salad dressing ready to jazz them up! This is hopefully the first in a series of dressing recipes that I’ll be sharing, and I’m thrilled with the way it turned out!

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Orange Juice – Gives the salad dressing a natural sweetness with a little acidity. Fresh orange juice from the carton is fine — just shake well if it has bits! A little orange zest is also nice.
  
• Honey – Adds sweetness and helps keep this sweet vinaigrette salad dressing together. 
  
• Lemon Juice – A bit more tanginess and helps balance the sweetness. Lime juice works in a pinch.
  
• White Wine Vinegar – Gives this orange juice salad dressing a little more depth. Don’t stress if you only have apple cider vinegar – that works too!
  
• Olive Oil – Carries all the flavor together. I prefer extra virgin olive oil!
  
• Salt & Black Pepper – Brings out all the other flavors. 

How to Make Orange Juice Salad Dressing

Step 1: Get Everything Together

First things first, get all your orange salad dressing ingredients together. It’s always easier to make when you have all the ingredients ready at hand.

Step 2: Add the Juices and Honey

Pour the orange juice, honey, and white wine vinegar into a larger container. (I love using these clear glass prep bowls to organize my ingredients for recipes like this.)

If your honey is a bit thick, you might want to warm it slightly in the microwave – just 10 seconds will do.

Step 3: Squeeze in the Lemon Juice

Next, squeeze the lemon juice into the other citrus salad dressing ingredients. I normally just do it by hand, but use a citrus juicer if you have one. I prefer fresh-squeezed lemon juice, but you can use it from the bottle if that’s all you have.

And if you want a little extra zing, throw in some lemon zest too!

Step 4: Season It Up

Throw in a good pinch of salt and pepper. Don’t add too much at first, you can always taste it and add a little more later. 

A neat trick is using a piece of lettuce to test the flavor. This way, you’ll know exactly how it’ll taste on your salad.

Step 5: Shake It Up

Now just whisk it all together. Alternatively, if you’ve got a mason jar with a lid, you can put it in and shake it up until it’s nicely blended. Your orange honey salad dressing is now ready to go! You can also use an immersion blender to combine if you have one.

**Since this is a true vinaigrette, don’t worry if it separates once it’s been in the refrigerator. Just give it another good shake and it will recombine.

Step 6: Serve with Your Favorite Salad

Now, just pour your orange juice salad dressing over your favorite salad. Green salads of field greens, pecans, red onion, cherry tomatoes and goat cheese are my go-to, but you could use almost any combination.

I love spinach or kale and walnuts or pine nuts too! Raisins and cranberries are great if you have a little sweet tooth.

And if I’m feeling fancy, I always like to add fresh herbs to my salad. Basil goes perfectly with this flavor palette. I’ve also experimented with adding a drizzle of the dressing to my avocado salad on toast — it works really well!

Helpful Tools

• Mason Jar with Lid – I always keep old jam jars and the like, because they’re perfect for storing dressings. Just pour your orange and honey salad dressing inside and shake it up. These storage containers with lids also work perfectly.
  
• Citrus Juicer – A good citrus juicer really helps squeeze every last bit of juice out of your lemon. Always roll your lemon on the countertop first, this helps loosen it up so you get more juice.
• You can also use an immersion blender instead of whisking or shaking. A hand-held immersion blender does a good job of emulsifying the ingredients into the oil.

How To Store Orange Lemon Salad Dressing

Once you’ve made this delicious orange juice salad dressing, store it in an airtight container or mason jar in the fridge. It should stay fresh and tasty for about a week. Just remember to give it a good shake before using it again.

Orange Juice Salad Dressing: No More Boring Salads!

I’m finally convinced that I can make restaurant-style salads at home, and it’s 100% true that the dressing is key! And it’s definitely not as intimidating as you think.

So, what do you think? Are you disappointed like I am about how your salads taste at home? What are your favorite salad dressings?

Cheers!