This Creamy Maple Balsamic Dressing is tangy, slightly sweet, and perfectly creamy. It’s my new favorite salad dressing recipe! Toss with mixed greens, or drizzle on a Caprese salad.
This recipe is inspired by the creamy balsamic dressing at one of my favorite Austin eateries- Pieous Pizza. Great name for a pizza joint, huh? If you ever find yourself in this area of the country, make Pieous one of your top priorities. They make true Neapolitan pizza, and having had my share of Neapolitan pizza in Italy, I can say with 100% confidence that Pieous’s pizza is just as good- if not BETTER- than the places I’ve eaten in Italy.
This pregnancy has been super weird for me in terms of what I do or do not want to eat, and unfortunately garlic is on the list of things that completely disgust me. Not too convenient for a food blogger, if you ask me! This aversion has also led me to not like… pizza. I know, right? It’s blasphemy. It’s so sad. But I’m 9 months pregnant as of today and I can get through this, WITH OUR WITHOUT PIZZA.
So when my in-laws hosted a Christmas gift exchange last weekend and ordered Pieous, I stuck mainly to the mixed salad with creamy balsamic dressing. And I had two three ok fine four helpings of it. I couldn’t get enough. I knew I needed to recreate this masterpiece at home as soon as humanly possible.
The salad at Pieous is simple- mixed greens, fresh in-house made mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes. It’s the perfect simple combination to showcase this salad dressing. Since it’s red, green, and white, it’s also the perfect thing to make for Christmas meals. I plan on making this again on Christmas eve for my family, with mushroom risotto. Yummmm.
Since I’ve been craving sweet flavors, I added a bit of pure maple syrup to a mixture of balsamic vinegar, mayo, EVOO, salt, and pepper. Since balsamic vinegar is also naturally sweet, it complemented it nicely. The mayonnaise helps emulsify the dressing making it perfectly smooth and helping it to not separate. If you don’t want to use mayonnaise, you can also use Greek yogurt (or a vegan mayo, if that’s your thing!).
Raise your hand if you want to eat more salads in 2017! A lot of you probably do. Since a salad is only as good as its dressing, I recommend making a big ol’ batch of this to store in your fridge.
One of the greatest things about this salad dressing is that you can make it in bulk and store it in your fridge without the consistency changing too much. With olive oil dressings, if you refrigerate them you often end up with a more chunky consistency since the oil hardens at the colder temperature. Because this recipe is mayo-based and so well emulsified, it will keep wonderfully for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
Finally, I have one more recommendation: balsamic vinegar can either be expensive or relatively cheap. Don’t use the pricey stuff for this- since you’re mixing it with so many other things anyway, you don’t need the high quality stuff for this to taste delicious.
Put this dressing on Apple Coleslaw, Caprese Pasta Salad, or Mixed Greens Salad with Cranberries and Goat Cheese.
Recipe for Creamy Maple Balsamic Dressing below- enjoy!
Creamy Maple Balsamic Dressing
Equipment
- Mason Jar
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl or mason jar and whisk (or shake) together until smooth.
Notes
- Serving suggestion: serve on a simple salad of mixed greens, halved cherry tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.
- For a vegan version, use vegan mayonnaise.
- You can also substitute the mayo with Greek yogurt.
- What kind of balsamic vinegar to use: I use my “cheap” balsamic vinegar for this (I always have a cheap one and a more expensive one I use for drizzling things). I find the “good” balsamic a bit too sweet for this recipe.
- The provided nutrition information does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. Feel free to calculate it yourself using this calculator or by adding the recipe to Yummly.
Nutrition
Nutrition Information Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is my best estimate and reflects one serving of the recipe (total servings indicated at top of recipe card). It does not include any added sodium from seasoning to taste, any optional ingredients, and it does not take brands into account. I use an automatic API to calculate this information. Feel free to calculate it yourself using one of these tools:
Nancy Daley
I don’t love Pieous pizza, but I LOVE this salad dressing!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Mark
I really liked this recipe just as it is written. I did not feel the need to alter it in any way. I used it on a kale salad with craisins, Granny Smith apples, toasted pecans and goat cheese. This dressing topped it off perfectly. I was a little concerned when I saw that the recipe called for mayonnaise, but I decided to give it a shot as written, I hate it when people change a recipe and then complain that they didn’t like the recipe. I will definitely be making this dressing again as I can tell that it will be good on so many different types of salad.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Karla
Pretty spot on! I added a small minced garlic clove & a small squeeze of dijon. Easy peasy & yummy!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it!
Jules
I made this for a dinner party a couple of days ago. I thinly sliced a Bosc pear and used pear balsamic vinegar. I found it needed a little something so I added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar. I will definitely make it again. My guests loved it.
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! I’ll add something: I use my “cheap” balsamic vinegar for this (I always have a cheap one and a more expensive one I use for drizzling things). I find the “good” balsamic a bit too sweet for this recipe – which may have been why you wanted to add ACV for acidity. Hope that helps for anyone else reading this – I’m going to add a note to the recipe card about this, too!
Leah Kennedy
I just made this recipe and I feel it was too tart. I added more maple syrup and I will reduce the balsamic in.my next batch. It was also dark in color and I prefer a lighter sweeter flavor. I will make it again and see what it tastes like with less balsamic and more maple. I pair this dressing with poached pears, goat’s cheese and rotisserie chicken.
Elizabeth Lindemann
That’s such a delicious pairing with the pears, goat cheese, and chicken! One thing you might want to consider is the balsamic vinegar- some are sweeter and some are more acidic. Generally the more expensive stuff is sweeter (and more reduced). So definitely try using more maple syrup, but if that doesn’t work, try a more aged balsamic. Hope that helps!
Kathleen
I really loved this dressing. It is the perfect balance of sweet and salt. When I go to a good restaurant, one way for me to tell if the food is as good as the reputation is if I don’t have to season anything. It’s perfect as it is. That’s how this dressing tastes to me, perfect. Thank you for sharing this.
Elizabeth Lindemann
Thanks so much for the glowing review! I make this dressing all the time. So happy to hear you liked it :-)
Shannon
So delicious!! Should I store this in the refrigerator?
Elizabeth Lindemann
Yes, just store in a covered jar or container in your fridge – it usually lasts a couple weeks! Give it a shake before using it and you should be good to go :-)
Anne
I used my my paleo mayo and the suggested amount of balsamic. I accidentally bought ages ago a very very expansive balsamic reduction which helped me stretch my palate a bit to genuinely include balsamic (reduction) in my list of likes. I only put a tbsp of the maple as the reduction is syrupy and almost sweet and a tbsp of water to thin to desired consistency. This dressing is fantastic. We have made two batches!
Elizabeth Lindemann
So glad you liked it! Thanks for your ingredient suggestions- and good call using less balsamic reduction, as it’s quite sweet and potent in flavor.
Kathy
Has anyone tried using Coconut yogurt for a Paleo version?
Elizabeth Lindemann
I haven’t tried it, but I love using Greek yogurt in a similar way in other dressings! My guess is it would work well, but it may separate out a bit if you store it for a few days in the fridge (just shake it up or stir it to remix it). You can also use paleo mayonnaise, such as with olive oil or avocado oil, instead. Hope that helps!
Breck
I had to tweak the amounts quite a bit, but the basic flavor profile was fabulous. I didnt want an entire cup of dressing, and I find vinegar to be very overpowering, so I just did 1 tbsp of every ingredient (besides pepper of course) and it turned out perfectly.
Elizabeth
So glad you liked it! Thanks for your suggestions :-)
Michelle
Made the dressing using mayo, was a hit at our dinner party. Very tasty, others requested the recipe.
Elizabeth
Glad you and your guests liked it! :-)
Theresa
I am a huge fan of a great maple salad dressing, but sadly this one had a very strong balsamic taste that completely overpowered any maple flavoring. The amount of balsamic seemed too much so I added only 1/8 cup, but it was still the strongest flavor I tasted. I ended up tweeking the recipe and adding more maple syrup and vegetable oil (otherwise the olive oil became too prominent) anyway I really do not like leaving a negative review, but in this case I feel the recipe should really be called a creamy balsamic dressing.
Elizabeth
Thanks for the feedback! You’re right- the maple taste isn’t very strong in this. I used it more as a natural sweetener to counter the balsamic, rather than using sugar. In the beginning of the post I did say that it was “slightly sweet,” but based on your feedback I’m going to add a note to the recipe card that suggests adding more maple syrup for a sweeter, more “maple-ey” flavor to be a bit clearer. Sorry the recipe didn’t come out the way you wanted it to, and I’m glad you were able to tweak it a bit :-)
RossC
We love balsamic based dressings… Will be making this for certain..
We wish you and your baby good health in 2017… :O)
Elizabeth
Thanks so much Ross. Happy new year!