Raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing recipe

Store-bought raspberry vinaigrette is either watery and sweet or four dollars a bottle, and half the time nobody in this house touches it anyway. So I make my own in the blender. It takes about ten minutes, most of which is just letting the berries soften, and it turns a bowl of plain greens into something my eleven year old will actually eat.

This version uses freeze dried berries instead of fresh, which means no bruised half-pint going soft in the fridge before I get to it. You blend, you strain out the seeds, you stream in the oil. That's it. It makes about a cup, enough to dress a big salad for six with some left for tomorrow.

The pantry-powered advantage

Freeze Dried Raspberry Pieces are the whole reason this works on a random school night. You rehydrate the pieces in a little warm water for a few minutes, and they blend down to a bright red puree that tastes like summer fruit, not jam. No trip to the store, no half-pint going bad on you. A can sits on the shelf and waits.

Everything else here is pantry-standard: oil, vinegar, a spoon of Dijon to hold it together, a little honey to take the edge off. The berries do the flavor work.

Raspberry vinaigrette salad dressing

Makes about 1 cup, roughly 8 servings of 2 tablespoons each. Total time about 15 minutes, no cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Freeze Dried Raspberries
• 1/3 cup warm water (for rehydrating the berries)
• 1/2 cup light olive oil or neutral oil
• 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp honey, plus more to taste
• 1 Tbsp minced shallot (optional)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper to taste
• Mixed salad greens, for serving
• 1 lemon, cut in wedges, for serving (optional)

Instructions:

1. Rehydrate the berries. Put 1/2 cup Freeze Dried Raspberries in a small bowl with 1/3 cup warm water and let them sit 5 minutes, until they're soft and the water has gone deep red.
2. Blend the base. Scrape the softened berries and their soaking water into a blender. Add the vinegar, Dijon, honey, shallot if you're using it, salt, and pepper. Blend 20 to 30 seconds until smooth.
3. Strain out the seeds. Pour the puree through a fine-mesh sieve set over a bowl, pressing with a spatula to push the liquid through. Toss the seeds. This is the fiddly minute, and it's the one that decides whether the dressing feels smooth or gritty, so don't skip it.
4. Emulsify. Return the strained puree to the blender. With the blender running on low, pour the oil in a slow, steady stream. It'll thicken and turn glossy as it comes together, about 30 seconds.
5. Taste and adjust. Add more honey a teaspoon at a time if the berries were tart, or a pinch more salt. Blend again to combine.
6. Serve or chill. Pour over mixed greens right away, or chill 20 minutes to let the flavors settle. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the salad if you like it bright.

Tips for raspberry vinaigrette success

• Make it ahead. It keeps in a jar in the fridge for about a week. The oil will separate as it sits, so give it a hard shake before you pour.
• If it comes out too sharp, it's the vinegar. Add honey a teaspoon at a time until it tastes right, and keep the oil-to-vinegar closer to three to one.
• Use a light or neutral oil, not a strong extra-virgin. A heavy olive oil fights the fruit instead of carrying it.
• For a little more kick, add half a small clove of garlic to the blender with the shallot.

The Final Take: Keep a jar that waits for you

Freeze Dried Raspberry Pieces take this from a shelf can to a bright, real dressing in about fifteen minutes, no bruised fruit involved. Keep a jar in the fridge and a bag of greens on hand, and you're two minutes from dinner. My youngest still picked around hers, but the rest of the bowl was gone.