Homemade Italian Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing Recipe

This Italian red wine vinaigrette recipe is a simple salad dressing made with pantry ingredients that’s flavorful and tangy. It’s perfect for fresh salads, pasta salads and even a meat marinade. 

This simple red wine vinaigrette recipe is the same one I use in my Parmesan Bow tie Italian Pasta Salad, which is very delicious and popular on Pinterest. It adds great flavor to salads and is easy-to-make quickly and effortlessly.

Homemade dressings are so easy to make and come together quickly without a whole lot of fuss. This homemade Italian vinaigrette recipe can be made easily with pantry ingredients you can find at your local grocery store and probably in the same aisle too!

Store-bought dressings are full of artificial flavors, additives and preservatives that detract so much flavor. When it’s so easy to make your own salad dressings with extra-virgin olive, red wine vinegar, and herbs, cheaper and tastes better, why not make your own homemade salad dressing? 

Additionally, Italian salad dressing is versatile. As I’ve mentioned above, you can add it to different kinds of salads, simple green salads, or pasta salad. Plus, it can be used to marinate meat. Add this recipe to one pound of chicken or steak and marinate it for two hours.

 If you have fresh herbs, such as basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram to use in place of dried Italian seasoning, that’ll add more fresh and bold flavors to this homemade Italian dressing.

Also, you can use one clove of fresh garlic (minced) if you’re o.k. with garlic breath.

​Disclosure: This post contains Amazon affiliate links which means, if you make a purchase, I’ll receive a small commission but, the price you pay is the same. 

Dijon Mustard

Other homemade red wine vinaigrette dressing recipes use dijon mustard and this one does not. The reason I don’t use it, although I love dijon mustard, is that it’s not an Italian. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t add great flavor and make a tasty dressing though. So, I dare say it’s not “wrong” because anything that tastes good, can’t be wrong? 

 

Ingredients

*The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post in the recipe card. 

• ​extra virgin olive oil
• red wine vinegar
• Italian seasoning or fresh herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and marjoram)
• garlic powder
• salt 
• black pepper
• honey

Put all of the ingredients in a mason jar that has a tight fitting lid, and give it a good shake a few times to combine ingredients. This way, it’s ready for storage in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

Add a pinch of red pepper flakes if you want to add some spicy heat. 

Else, you can add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk them.

Use the best olive oil you can. I’m lucky that my cousin who lives in Southern Italy sends me her homemade olive oil. It’s incredible!

Also, you can turn this recipe into a balsamic vinaigrette by simply swapping the red wine vinegar for balsamic vinegar.

How to make your own Italian seasoning with fresh herbs

Clean and chop:

• 1 large fresh basil leaf
• 1 tsp fresh oregano
• 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary
• 2 leaves of marjoram
• 5 leaves of thyme

​This Italian red wine vinaigrette recipe is an easy recipe with a simple ingredient list you can make quickly to add another dimension of freshness to your salads weather they be salad greens or pasta salad. This may just become one of your family’s favorite dressings. 

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