Lemon-Champagne Vinaigrette

Our Lemon-Champagne Vinaigrette is a multipurpose dressing that can be used for salads, marinades and to drizzle over your favorite roasted vegetables. You’ll love the brightness of the lemon mixed with the floral, fruity notes of the champagne vinegar. The Dijon mustard emulsifies the vinegar and heart-healthy extra-virgin olive oil together, and the shallot adds a mild oniony hint that mellows as it rests. Keep reading for our expert tips on how to use this vinaigrette as a base recipe for adding flavor, how to sweeten it, if you like, and more. 

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• You can use the zest and juice of a Meyer lemon for a unique flavor, or choose a navel orange for a sweeter taste. To enhance the sweetness, try adding 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey.
• If you don’t have champagne vinegar, you can substitute it with cider vinegar or white-wine vinegar.
• Consider incorporating finely chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, oregano or basil for an extra level of flavor.
• If you chop the shallot super fine or thinly slice it, it will enhance the pickling effect.  

Nutrition Notes

• Extra-virgin olive oil is a fruity and rich oil that is often used as a base in vinaigrettes. It is packed with monounsaturated fats and anti-inflammatory polyphenols, which have been shown to be beneficial for heart health. 
• Using the zest and juice of the lemon not only gives you big citrus flavor, you’ll also get some vitamin C from this dressing. There are nutrients in both the zest and the juice of a lemon, so using them both ensures you get more nutrition than just using the juice alone.