Lemon Parmesan Vinaigrette
This easy Lemon Parmesan Vinaigrette with freshly squeezed lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil, and honey is my go to dressing for for salads and so much better than store-bought.
As many of you know, I’m married to a stuntman. This means a few things. 1) Although he’s 52, he acts like he’s 12. 2) He will forever drive fast and do donuts in an empty parking lot just to make me squirm. 3) Being a stunt person has a shelf life. At some point, the young kids take over.
Every so often we discuss what will come about when Pete stops doing stunts. Will he find a second career late in life? Will we trade the pretty sweet lifestyle we have now in for something more reserved so that in 10 years, he can retire early? Or will I finally put the time and energy into Mountain Mama Cooks and build a food enterprise that will rival The Pioneer Woman and Ina Garten?
Mostly likely it will be some combination of the first two but a girl can dream, right?
THE BEST DRESSING EVER
Over lunch last week, which was a DIY Organic Salad Mix dressed with this Lemon Parmesan Vinaigrette, my husband declared (with a full mouth, no less) that we should bottle this dressing and we should call it, The Best Dressing Ever.
Catchy, I know.
He’s pretty sure it would make us millions and he could happily retire. 🙂
WHAT MAKES THIS LEMON PARMESAN VINAIGRETTE THE BEST?
This is my go-to dressing and it’s rare that you’ll not find a jar in my fridge. The lemon and olive oil create a beautiful marriage of tart and fruity while the Parmesan lends saltiness and the honey a touch of sweet. I’ll tell you again and again, this dressing is our absolute favorite! It’s just as good on spicy arugula or mellow spinach as it is on crunchy romaine or used in a pasta salad.
HOW TO MAKE LEMON PARMESAN VINAIGRETTE
I don’t even use a blender. Simply whisk the lemon juice, parmesan, honey, salt and pepper in a jar and then slowly whisk in the olive oil. You could add a squirt of dijon mustard, add a clove of crushed garlic, sub the honey for maple syrup, add fresh herbs or sub the lemon for meyer lemon or a mix of lemon and grapefruit. I guess what I’m saying is this is a great base recipe for you to play around with and make it your own!
Since its’ unlikely we’ll hit the jackpot with this vinaigrette, I feel pretty safe sharing the recipe with you. Just don’t go stealing the name…..
OTHER FAVORITE SALAD DRESSING RECIPES
Easy Balsamic Vinaigrette
Buttermilk & Greek Yogurt Herb Dressing
Best Blue Cheese Dressing
Creamy Tomatillo Ranch Dressing
photos by Kellie Hatcher/ recipe by Mountain Mama Cooks
PrintLemon-Parmesan Vinaigrette
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
My go-to vinaigrette made with lemon, parmesan cheese, and honey!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients in a glass mason jar or other container with a tight fitting lid. Cover tightly and shake all ingredients to combine. Store unused dressing in the refrigerator. Use within a few weeks. If it even lasts that long.
47 Comments
Beautiful! I did a dill parmesan vinaigrette recently that I am head over heels for. But I now I can’t wait to add lemon. Love this!!
I definitely need to check your recipe out. I love dill and I bet it was great with the parmesan!
Yum! I’ve been needing more vinaigrettes to make. I always default to balsamic.
This is so quick and tasty, it will mostly likely become one of your go-to’s!
This is the dressing the restaurant Carmine’s in NY makes. They don’t give the recipe, but this is it! Thanks!
I’ve never been to Carmine’s. This dressing is a winner for sure!
I can’t wait to try this one. I don’t know why I buy bottled dressing.
I haven’t bought bottled dressing in years, it’s so easy!
I am making this right away! (Probably without the honey, but I like tart so I think that will be ok.)
It doesn’t need the honey, I just like the balance. You’ll love it without, especially if you like things tart!
I love lemon and this vinaigrette looks divine! Just looking at the ingredients I think you’ve got a lovely little product on your hands 🙂 I’m making this one tonight.
Enjoy! Have a great weekend!!
Hi Kelley, I made this today and it’s delicious! I love the simplicity of the recipe. Homemade salad dressings are always so much better (and cheaper) than store-bought. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
You’re so welcome, Flavia!! I love how simple it is too. So fresh and perfect for summer!
Oh holy crap. I LOVE dressings like this! I just wanna pour it over myself in slow motion.
okay I am making this on this week’s menu
So I found your blog while cruising through some old Blogger Spotlights over at Taste and Tell. Now it’s usually pretty easy to just skim through these things and move on, but one thing you mentioned caught my attention. Taylor Kitch! Because if somebody else appreciates Tim Riggins as much as I do (did?) then it was well worth my time to venture over here and see what else you have going on. On a more food related note, this dressing looks great. I’m not a fan of balsamic so I’m always on the look out for something easy that you can throw together. I’ll have to try this.
I’m glad you came over for a visit! I was, am and always will be obsessed with Tim Riggins. I love him so.
Wow all the ingredients are right in my cabinet, right now! I love this. I just saw another recipe which required me to hunt up about 3 different fresh herbs which I can’t grown in the hot desert and can’t find in this small town I live in. I’m going to give this a try and hopefully start a new trend in the household. I’m glad I found this blog today for a few good reasons.
Awesome… 🙂
This is without a doubt our favorite dressing. It goes well on everything!
Made this with just regular Olive Oil and all I can taste is Lemon with an undertone or mouth feel of the oil…. Is this something that you experienced when trying this recipe at first… should I go to the light tasting Olive stuff?
Perhaps it was the oil you used. I don’t experience that at all. I use a good quality extra virgin olive oil. You could also try using grapeseed oil too.
dang this is good!! THANKS!!
Thanks for the kind comment. Glad you liked it!
Holy cow! I’ve saved this like for a while because I wanted to make it; why did I wait so long? I make a good Italian dressing that I make in small batches because there’s just two at our house. I might try only half of this for the next batch. This is a wonderful dressing thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for the kind comment. It’s one of our favorite dressings, so glad you liked it!
have you ever tried marinating chicken breasts with this..I did for about 4-5 hours then popped them of the BBQ. Try it but if you include the honey be careful cause the sugar will burn easily.
Made it today. DELICIOUSNESS! Thanks for sharing!
I’m so anxious to try this!! It sounds fabulous. Can you please clarify the type of Parmesan you use? It sounds as though it’s not the standard canned variety. If you grate from a block of cheese how do you get it so fine? Thanks!
I do grate it myself off the rind. I have a grater with a really fine option!
Green salad, Rucola, Roma-tomatoes and tunafish. I forgot the honey by mistake.
I took Pecorino (which I had in the fridge) and added garlic, it was so delicious.
Thank you for this idea, great 🙂
This dressing must be perfect to this combination: take some goat cheese in thick slices, wrap aroung a slice of bacon and put it in a pan until the bacon is crispy. Eat hot with liquid honey on top and add the salad.
Greatings from bavaria 🙂
My honey just globbed at the bottom and wouldn’t incorporate… Did I do something wrong? I’ve shaken the hell out of it!
So gonna make this for dinner. Only will add some minced garlic. Everything taste better with garlic!!! Tanks!!!
You can never go wrong with garlic!!
This dressing needs to be called ” Lemon dreams dressing ” because it sounds like a dressing salads dream about. Going to make it this week.
This is amazing!!! Best salad dressing ever indeed. I use it for cold pasta salad when summer veggies (yellow bell pepper, broccoli, zucchini etc). So delish.
It’s my favorite to. Definitely our go to!
Looking for a summer twist of flavor to bring to the kitchen. Love the flavor, citrus and color.
This is a keeper for sure! I LOVED the flavor balance of this dressing. Thank you!
Thank you! It’s one of my favorites, too!
Family always wants me to bring the salad with the lemon parm dressing to family gatherings! We love it! Thank you 🙂
Awe, thank you! It’s my family’s favorite dressing, too!
This looks so good! Does shake cheese work very well?
It does. I’m not a big fan of the taste of shake cheese but if you’re ok with it then it will make a fin substitution!
I am going to make this for my Mom when I go to see her tomorrow! I love that this dressing has a perfect balance of flavors, and all of the ingredients are honest to goodness natural. I am trying to cook/ prepare mire things from scratch, and this recipe will make me look like a pro! Well done.
It’s one of my favorites for sure!
Just found this recipe (I added the Dijon), and I used it with a blackened salmon fillet. It had everything I needed from the salad. I added tomatoes, black olives and low moisture mozzarella. Perfect meal and clean. I felt refreshed. Thank you!