This tangy blackberry vinaigrette has just the right balance of sweet and savory to rock your tastebuds with a fresh new use for summertime blackberries.
I know balsamic vinaigrette is pretty common place, but if you haven’t tried blackberry vinaigrette yet, well my friends, then you’re missing out. Combined with the tangy richness of balsamic, this tasty dressing is one you won’t be able to get enough of.
Summer blackberries are heaven and this blackberry balsamic vinaigrette recipe is the perfect use for them! It’s tangy, sweet, juicy and so delightful. You can enjoy this dressing anytime of year but it’s really a treat when blackberries are at their peak freshness. That being said, as long as you can find ripe berries, you can make it.
You know the kind of ripe berries I’m talking about. The kind where the berries almost squish in your fingers as you’re pulling them off the vine. The kind that are so plump with juice that picking a small hand full will leave you with stained fingers for the entire day. Those are the kind of berries that you want in this fresh blackberry recipe. Our small blackberry patch in the backyard is a little slice of heaven in summer and has just the right kind.
This creative homemade salad dressing idea was first published here in 2015 and has gotten rave reviews ever since. Here’s one of my favorite ones.
featured review
“I work as a caterer in a local hospital. We had an off site catering event for our Board and I was looking for a simple but elegant dressing that would hold well over the weekend. This recipe was a hit, Everyone LOVED it and was so impressed by the presentation. Our Chef, who gives me lots of leeway on ideas, asked me to keep this recipe handy, I want to try it on nice crackers with whipped feta or goat cheese….”
-Sally A Frye
Uses for Blackberry Vinaigrette
You can use it in my blackberry vinaigrette salad recipe or any other salad you want. It’s also fantastic drizzled over goat cheese crostini! Check out more of my delicious quick dressings and sauces for more salad dressing inspiration.
If you love this blackberry vinaigrette, I have an orange vinaigrette and lemon tahini dressing that are so good you could drink them! I make a salad dressing pretty much every week so I always have a homemade dressing on hand and highly recommend you do the same. It takes a few minutes and pays off in so much flavor!
It only takes 5 minutes and a blender or food processor to make and keeps for about a week in the fridge.
In addition to smothering every salad in sight with this stuff, I recommend:
- slathering it on grilled cheese sandwiches
- drizzling it over caprese salads
- adding a dollop to cheese and crackers or crostini (gruyere + prosciutto + blackberry vinaigrette is amazing!)
- use it as a dipping sauce
- pour it on top of baked feta or goat cheese
- a simple cracker snack to a whole new level of complexity in flavor that was out of this world.
I’m even guilty of using it as a dipping sauce from time to time. Please don’t judge me… lets just say this sauce gets a lot of mileage in this house.
Easy 5-Minute Balsamic Blackberry Vinaigrette
Equipment
- 1 blender Using a high speed blender creates a smoother dressing but it works great a basic blender too!
Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe blackberries
- 1 Tbsp. honey or agave syrup if vegan
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender.
- Blend for 1-2 minutes until cohesive. If dressing is too thick, you can thin it with a few drops of water. Dressing will keep in fridge for about a week.
Notes
Nutrition
did you make this recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Years ago, we ate at the Copper Creek Inn near Mt Rainier, Washington and I’ll never forget the blackberry vinaigrette they served on my salad. In fact, it was so good I had to buy a couple bottles from their gift shop to bring home. This delightful recipe for your Blackberry dressing brings those memories to mind. Is it just me, or do other people’s travel memories also revolve around food?!? Thanks for sharing! I love it!
Yes! Travel food memories are the best memories. Kind of like food obsessed people are the best people I hope this recipe helps replace the one you found at Mt. Rainier!
I seeded my blackberries first, this is a wonderful recipe!!! I always pick and freeze whole blackberries for winter and also seed some and freeze the pulp. I’ll be making this recipe all year around! YUM!
PS: It is excellent on pan seared duck breast too!
So happy you liked it! 🙂
I tried this recipe with a romaine / peach / tomato / cucumber salad but it just didn’t work. And I think I overdressed it trying to get the taste of the dressing to come out. However, yesterday I did a kale salad (I vacuum-sealed the kale with the dressing in bags, I highly recommend it) with tomato and cucumber chunks tossed in just a splash of sherry vinegar and some toasted chopped walnuts and my sous chef liked it so much he told me to write down the recipe, because he thought it might make a good special. This may not seem like a big deal but my sous chef and chef are both incredibly talented, and even more incredibly hard to impress. I’ve worked at Parkside for almost 2 years and only ever been complimented for my food a handful of times and never asked to make a special. Just wanted to thank you for that. Truly amazing recipe.
That’s the kindest complement I’ve ever received and I’m honored that you’d include it in a special! 🙂
I just made it and used a little less salt. I also added a squirt of lemon juice and a pinch of black pepper. Delicious!
I love those addition ideas!
Just made this for a simple salad of some fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. Incredible! Just wish we had some feta or goat cheese to go with it.
Isn’t it good? I made it on a whim a few years ago and now do it every summer when the blackberries are at their ripest. 🙂
I work as a caterer in a local hospital. We had an off site catering event for our Board and I was looking for a simple but elegant dressing that would hold well over the weekend. This recipe was a hit, Everyone LOVED it and was so impressed by the presentation. Our Chef, who gives me lots of leeway on ideas, asked me to keep this recipe handy, I want to try it on nice crackers with whipped feta or goat cheese….
I should point out, I used a soft White Balsamic Vinegar that has sweet undertones.
I LOVE the idea of trying it on crackers with whipped feta! Or maybe a sharp cheddar even? Oooh the ideas are free flowing now! Thanks for coming back to let me know how it worked for you. 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly and mine looks nothing like this…. 🙁
I’m so sorry Tiffany! I’m not sure what went wrong. 🙁
How do you get the seeds out of the blackberries will they grind up in the food processor?
They don’t grind up entirely and you still get some seeds with the way the recipe is written. I don’t mind a few seeds though myself… mostly because I’m lazy… 🙂 If you want this to be seed free, you can pour the dressing through a fine strainer or cheesecloth.
This is awesome! I am literally eating it right now 🙂
Yesterday an orchard and farm near us here in maryland posted that today they were having pick your own blackberries hours, and i got to pinterest and pinned tons of sauces and sweet things, my hope was to get my kids out the door at 7.30, be there at 8 when they open, come back, prep some things with them and then bake pies and breads and cobblers during nap time.
One isnt napping at all and is helping me around the kitchen, but we couldnt even make anything sweet because my husband bought Salted butter for me!! Aarrrgghh!! With the baby in bed, i cant run to get butter, so I am finding new recipes to make without it and this is awesome! Thanks for sharing it and saving my day!!
Glad you liked it Lucy! I haven’t made this dressing since last summer and your comment is making me crave it… luckily, its just in time for blackberry season. 😉
Can this be bottle to give as gift in water bath?
Hmmm, I’m not sure Vickie. I’m always paranoid about getting acid ratios right when I process anything in a water bath, so I’d err on the side of caution myself and skip it. I just don’t have much experience canning things like this to know for sure though. If you go for it, I’d love to hear if it turned out well!
Absolutely not! Oil should not be used safely in canning recipes, plus the heat would destroy the fresh flavor anyway.
Addendum to above post: cannot be used safely, not should not.
Thanks for the input Laurie! I’m a novice canner so I can’t really give advice on the topic. 🙂
I would say save some blackberries in the freezer for Christmas them make and give it fresh
Amazing!
Take away all the other ingredients, reduce the balsamic vinegar with 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce, until syrup like. Turn the black berries into a fluid gel. Mix the vinegar reduction with the fluid gel for an amazing sauce to go with rainbow trout. You’re welcome!
Wow, that sounds awesome. Can’t wait to try it!