Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette
My slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and slightly sour onion poppyseed vinaigrette is the perfect concoction for many salads. It’s better than store-bought and good for vegans.
Who doesn’t love a delicious onion poppyseed vinaigrette on their salad? Most store-bought salad dressings that I have tried tend to have too much sweetener or are creamy, but my poppyseed vinaigrette is neither. Try it and you will never go back to buying it from the store. I absolutely love onions and find ways of adding them to everything I make. This vinaigrette is one such example.
The Ingredients for the Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette
There are just a few ingredients in this salad dressing recipe, but the flavours are unbelievably delicious.
The Ingredients List for Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette:
- 1 small red onion
- 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of pepper (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Other Dressings and Dips you will Like:
Pickling the Onions:
The first thing that we need to do to make our poppyseed vinaigrette delicious is to get a red onion ‘pickled’. To do this:
- In a small bowl, grate 1 small red onion using a fine grater.
- Pour a 1/4 cup of white balsamic vinegar into the bowl.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper (or to taste).
- Mix everything well. You will see the color of the vinegar change almost instantly. It will take on a pinkish hue.
- Set the onion aside for about 10 mins while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.
I like using balsamic vinegar because it’s a little sweeter than regular white vinegar which I find is a little harsh for salads. But if you prefer, you can use regular white vinegar.
Making the Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette:
Once the onions are ‘pickled’:
- Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the bowl and mix well so that the sugar gets dissolved with the vinegar and you can no longer feel the granules in the bowl.
- After that add 1 tablespoon of whole-grain mustard to the bowl.
- At the same time, also add 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds to the bowl.
- Mix everything well, so that the mustard gets well combined and you can no longer see the pinkness of the vinegar.
- The color of the dressing should have changed and taken on a yellowish hue from the mustard. This colour change will happen because of the yellow from the mustard.
Adding the Olive Oil:
Using a small spoon, take a little taste of the vinaigrette to see if it needs more salt. Once you have tasted the dressing and added salt if needed,
- Add a 1/4 cup of good quality olive oil to the bowl.
- Using a small whisk, mix the oil well into the vinegar. I use extra virgin olive oil for my dressings because it has a better flavor.
Generally, the oil will not get mixed into the vinegar very well. There will always be a separation, but if you put the vinegar into a jar, you can easily shake it just before using it.
Serving Suggestions:
Enjoy the dressing on
- Any Green Leaf Salad.
- Quinoa salads – try it with my Quinoa and Wild Rice Salad.
- My Green Bean and Mango Salad.
- I love it on my Healthy and Crunchy Vegetable Salad.
- My favourite is on my Heirloom Carrot and Radish Salad.
Storing Suggestions for Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette:
Save any unused dressing in the fridge in an air tight jar. It will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge, so you can always make a larger quantity and keep it for daily use.
Variations for the Vinaigrette:
Some of my friends really love this dressing, but they don’t like seeing the onion in it. If you are one of those, you can make the dressing creamy by blending it all in a food processor once you have all the ingredients ready. As a result of blending the vinaigrette, you will have a creamy vs an oily dressing.
Tried and Liked the Recipe?
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Onion Poppyseed Vinaigrette
Course: Salad dressingCuisine: CanadianDifficulty: Easy12
servings10
minutes56
kcal10
minutesMy slightly sweet, slightly spicy, and slightly sour onion poppyseed vinaigrette is the perfect concoction for many salads. It’s better than store-bought and good for vegans.
Ingredients
1 small red onion
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Directions
- Grate the onion and place it in a bowl.
- Add the vinegar to the bowl with the onion.
- Add salt and pepper to the bowl and mix well. Set aside for about 10 mins to allow the onion to pickle.
- Once the onion is ready, add the sugar to the onion and mix well until you can no longer feel the sugar granules.
- Add the mustard and poppy seeds to the bowl and mix to combine.
- Add the oil to the bowl and using a small whisk, beat the vinaigrette to combine the oil and vinegar. Although they will never get combined well, if you put the vinaigrette into a jar, you can shake it well before using it.
- Enjoy with various salads such as green salads, quinoa salads, or my green bean and mango salad.
Notes
- – Save any unused dressing in the fridge. It will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge, so you can always make a larger quantity and keep it for daily use.
My vinaigrette is made with these simple ingredients:
– 1 small red onion
– 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
– salt and pepper to taste
– 2 tablespoons of sugar
– 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
– 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
– 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
Save any unused dressing in the fridge in an air-tight jar. It will last up to 3 weeks in the fridge, so you can always make a larger quantity and keep it for daily use.
All the ingredients in my dressing are vegan friendly. The ingredients include: red onion, balsamic vinegar, whole grain mustard, poppy seeds, olive oil, sugar, salt, and pepper.
I loved this vinaigrette recipe. It has the power of turning any simple (even a boring) salad into a grand meal.
Hello Anuradha,
It sure does! I am so glad you liked it.
Deepti