Easy Southwest Salad Dressing (Vinaigrette)

All of your favorite Tex-Mex flavors come together in this easy to make southwest vinaigrette dressing perfect for any salad.

Southwestern Salad Dressings are typically creamy. This one, however, uses the same southwest spices but in a vinaigrette base, which tends to be a healthier option than creamy dressings.

While this is a great dressing for southwest salad we also love it on many other types of salad. In fact, you can use it as a finishing sauce for fish or chicken, or even drizzle it on as a sandwich topping.

For a unique twist on tacos cook shredded beef (Mexican style) in your slow cooker and serve it in tortillas with your favorite toppings and a light pour of this dressing.

It comes together in just minutes and can be served right away, but like champagne vinaigrette, Barbecue Salad Dressing, or this gussied-up bottled dressing, it will benefit from some time for the flavors to “get cozy” together.

Ingredients

You’ll probably find that you’ve got the ingredients already on hand. Just whip it up in about 5 minutes anytime you want a good homemade dressing to have around.

• Extra virgin olive oil – when using in a recipe like this one where it will be front and center we like to use the best quality we can afford.
• Apple cider vinegar – if you only have another lighter vinegar on hand feel free to use it, but we definitely recommend apple cider if you can.
• Lime juice – we always recommend using freshly squeezed if possible.
• Chili powder
• Dried oregano – if you happen to have fresh oregano that’s great. Just remember it’s less potent so you’ll need about 3 times as much as dried.
• Cumin
• Garlic powder – you could dice half a clove of garlic, but to keep this recipe super quick we like to use powder
• Salt

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Making this dressing from scratch couldn’t be easier! Put all of the ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid or a bowl if you plan to put it in a cute bottle like ours.

Next just shake away if you’re using the lidded mason jar or whisk briskly if using the bowl. To transfer the ingredients from the bowl to your bottle just pore through a funnel.

Variation ideas for your southwest salad dressing

• Spicy – add red pepper flakes or ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper if you like a little heat.
• Deluxe – add chopped cilantro (about 2 Tablespoons would be great)
• Lemony – use freshly squeezed (always preferred over bottled) lemon juice vs. lime juice

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A few items that will come in handy:

One of our favorite tools in the kitchen is this citrus juicer. We literally use it all the time!

If you use fresh herbs you’ll love this pair of 5 blade herb shears. It’s another tool that everyone in our family has and uses often.

To get your dressing from a bowl into a bottle you’ll need a funnel. Just a basic one like this is fine.

And for a cute bottle to put your salad dressing in? Order here. We used these same bottles for our simple syrups for cocktails. The bottles are super versatile and get used frequently.

Storing your vinaigrette

It will keep just fine in the fridge for a week. Olive oil solidifies when chilled, so just set it out a little while before your meal so it has time to come to room temperature.

If you forget, don’t worry. Just stand the bottle or jar in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes and you’ll be good to go.

More Sauce and Dressing Recipes to make: