Honey Mustard Dressing – Sweet and Tangy

Tangy, sweet and vibrant, this homemade honey and mustard dressing recipe is easy to make and gives a tasty lift to all sorts of salads. A delicious alternative to mayonnaise!

Honey mustard dressing

Every salad needs a great dressing. This easy homemade honey and mustard dressing recipe brings sweetness, tartness and even a little heat to lend flavour to mild vegetables and a balancing edge to something sharper or richer.

See also

• Italian dressing – light and zesty with lemon and Italian herbs
• Packed with basil this pesto dressing is perfect to dress a salad served with a pizza
• Green Goddess Dressing – zingy and the best way to use up fresh herbs

If mayonnaise is too creamy and vinaigrette too plain, this delicious sweet and tangy honey and mustard dressing makes a great alternative.

It’s full of flavour with a lovely balance of sweetness and acidity that goes so well with a green salad and makes a perfect partner to beetroot, avocado and sweetcorn.

Use it for dipping crudités, chicken tenders or cocktail sausages, adding a little extra bite to sandwiches or even as a tasty marinade for chicken or salmon.

And the best thing is that once you have shaken it up it takes several days to separate!

Homemade every time

It should go without saying that homemade is generally best. I find that commercial versions of this dressing can be gloopy in texture and are full of chemical-sounding ingredients.

These are often there to emulsify the dressing, but you really don’t need them. Once you have shaken this dressing together, it takes days to separate, and you can always shake it up again.

This easy recipe for homemade honey mustard salad dressing keeps it simple with just 6 everyday ingredients. It is so easy to make at home to suit your own taste that you will never want to buy it again.

Why make honey mustard dressing

• easy to make

• sweet, tangy, full of flavour and made to your taste

• free of unpleasant additives

Honey mustard dressing ingredients

• Olive oil – light extra virgin olive oil for best results, a healthy unrefined oil without too much flavour to swamp the other ingredients

• Mustard – smooth, mellow Dijon and a wholegrain mustard. The combination gives great flavour and helps to thicken the dressing.
  
  You could use a mild to medium German style mustard if you don’t have Dijon, but don’t use aggressively sharp English mustard, which is something quite different.

• White wine vinegar – substitute cider vinegar if you prefer, or even white balsamic, but don’t waste fancy flavoured oils.

• Honey – again, nothing fancy that will be wasted in a recipe. Just simple runny honey.

• Sea salt – for flavour

How to make honey mustard dressing – recipe step by step

Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this perfectly every time.

Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.

Step One – Put the salt in the bottle and then the honey. I use a funnel to fill the dressing bottle, as this avoids mess and waste.

Step Two – Mix the two mustards together with the vinegar in a small jug.

Step Three – Pour the mustard and vinegar mix into the bottle. Then add the olive oil, rinsing any ingredients left in the funnel through with the oil.

Step Four – Shake the dressing together to form an emulsion. Allow to stand for half an hour before serving at room temperature.

Helen’s Fuss Free Tip
I generally make and store my dressings in a bottle, as I find they pour better, with no messy drips. Of course you can also just whack everything into a jam jar and give it a good shake.

Serving suggestion

Take the dressing out of the fridge and allow it to come up to room temperature before serving.

Use as a dressing on green and mixed salads. It is particularly good with watercress and beetroot, but enjoy it with your favourites.

Use just a little to pep up sandwiches instead of mayonnaise or salad cream.

Use as a marinade for salmon, poultry or meat.

Variations

• Add more or less mustard or vary the type of mustard to add more heat – try a hotter German-style mustard for extra warmth. You could add black pepper too. I don’t recommend using English mustard, however.

• You can use all smooth Dijon mustard and leave out the wholegrain if you prefer. If you use all wholegrain, the dressing will be thinner and will separate faster.

• Add some garlic powder.

• Add some chopped dill fronds.

Storage

Fridge – Store your homemade honey mustard salad dressing in the fridge for up to 10 days. Remove from the fridge ahead of serving to bring it up to room temperature.

Hints and tips

• Keep it simple. You won’t taste the subtleties of your best thyme honey or fancy balsamic in a mixed dressing, so save them to enjoy alone and use the basic versions here.

• If the dressing separates, just shake it up again.

FAQs

More recipes for homemade dressings

• Sweet chilli dressing – a bright and vibrant salad dressing

• Tahini dressing – a delicious Middle Eastern dressing with 7 variations to suit any dish

• Tomato dressing – for tomato salads and more