Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Sweet and tangy cranberry vinaigrette is the perfect fruity dressing for a leafy green salad. This dressing is great to make in the fall and winter to mix with crisp leafy greens, sweet fall fruit and crunchy nuts.

 

Why We Love Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

• Sweet, Tangy Dressing – This dressing is the perfect blend of sweet, fruity, tangy and slightly tart that makes cranberries simply delicious. It’s an easy recipe that adds lots of flavors to your healthy salads. My kid is also more likely to eat or try salad with a fruity dressing.
• Perfect For Fall Or The Holidays – My easy cranberry vinaigrette recipe pairs perfectly fall or winter salads, or even as a holiday salad for Thanksgiving or Christmas.
• Great Way To Use Up Leftover Cranberry Sauce – This dressing is also a really delicious way to use up leftover cranberry sauce after the holidays! You could even add leftover turkey from a holiday dinner to this delicious salad, perfect for using up Thanksgiving leftovers.

Ingredients For Cranberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

• olive oil
• cranberry sauce you can use storebought cranberry sauce or a homemade cranberry sauce made from fresh cranberries
• red wine vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• maple syrup
• salt (or more to taste)
• black pepper (or more to taste)
• Water (optional)

How To Make A Cranberry Vinaigrette

1. Add olive oil, cranberry sauce, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard and maple syrup to a large mixing bowl.

2. With a stick immersion blender, pulse the salad dressing until fully blended. This can also be pulsed in a blender or food processor.

3. Add salt and pepper, and blend with a whisk. Poor the dressing over the salad if eating immediately, or pour into a jar with a lid. Homemade salad dressing can separate over time, so give the dressing a good shake in a closed container like a mason jar before pouring on the salad. Then enjoy!

Variation Ideas

Swap The Vinegar– We use red wine vinegar, but you can swap for apple cider vinegar, rice wine vinegar or white vinegar with only a little bit of flavor difference. Balsamic vinegar can be used but the flavor will be a lot earthier with balsamic vinegar.

Try Lemon Juice Or Lime Juice– A squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about a tablespoon) or lime juice brings a little more brightness to this dressing. When adding extra lemon juice, you may want to add a little bit of additional sweetener (like maple syrup or even orange juice) to taste.

Use Honey– Hone can be swapped for maple syrup tablespoon for tablespoon. You can also use your favorite sweetener, or blend in a little bit of white granulated sugar a tablespoon at a time to taste.

What Do I Serve This Dressing With?

This sweet dressing is best when served with crunchy greens. Here are a few ideas!

Salad Greens

• fresh spinach
• kale
• broccoli slaw

This dressing pairs well with nuts, tangy or crumbly cheeses, fall fruit and more. Here are a few salad topping ideas.

Nuts

• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Sliced almonds

Fruit

• Apple pieces (fresh slices or dried apple)
• Dried cranberries
• Fresh orange slices
• Fresh pear slices
• Pomegranate seeds
• Cherry or grape tomatoes

Vegetables

• Roasted butternut squash cubes or roasted sweet potato cubes
• Sliced or shredded carrots
• Sliced or diced cucumber
• Thin slices of onion (red or sweet are best)
• Shredded or sliced beets

Cheese

• Feta cheese
• Goat cheese
• Parmigiano Rerggiano shreds – this works best with bigger pieces not the grated version in a can)
• Pieces or shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Other Salad Topping Ideas

• Croutons
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sunflower seeds