Happy week before the 4th of July! Sara and I were talking about how we’ve kind of being holiday slackers when it comes to the blog lately, so prepare yourselves for lots of holiday- and potluck-friendly red, white, and blue recipes this week!
So our friend Nathaly emailed me a few weeks ago (and, um, I never responded because I kind of suck at Facebook messaging. Lesson #1 about being friends with me on Facebook: please don’t get your feelings hurt if I never message you back because for some reason, I seem to be incapable of responding to Facebook messages…) and suggested I come up with a berry vinaigrette recipe. Since I had just eaten one of those new Berry Chicken Salads at Wendy’s (delicious, by the way, and no, Wendy’s has never sponsored Our Best Bites, unless by “sponsor” you mean they give me food after I give them money…), I took her up on it. Without her knowing, of course, because…what? I suck at responding to Facebook messages.
So for this, you’ll need fresh berries–I used strawberries, but I’d bet my children raspberries or blackberries would also be delicious. You’ll also need white wine vinegar, garlic, some onion, salt, pepper, canola oil, poppy seeds, and honey. Or sugar, if you’re in a pinch. But really, honey because there’s something amazing about honey and fresh berries together.
In a the jar of your blender combine all the ingredients except the oil and the poppy seeds.
Blend until combined and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Then add the poppy seeds
and whisk whisk them into the dressing until combined. If you can, refrigerate this dressing for at least an hour before serving. 
We’ve had a lot of questions about how long this will keep in the fridge. It’s hard to say because the thing that will make it go bad is the berries, so here’s my advice–save one berry from the batch you use to make the dressing. Keep it in an airtight container or a Ziploc bag. When the berry gets gross, it’s probably about time to toss the dressing. However, no matter what, I wouldn’t keep it around for longer than a week.
Berry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
Description
A simple, delicious dressing utilizing fresh berries. Use to top our Grilled Chicken Summer Berry Salad or one of your own creation!
Ingredients
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup honey (or sugar)
1–2 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated onion
1 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
About 10 cracks of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup raspberries, blackberries, or strawberries
2/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
Instructions
Combine the vinegar, honey, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and berries in the jar of a blender. Blend until smooth and then, with the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream. Turn off the blender and whisk in the poppy seeds. If possible, refrigerate for at least an hour before serving.
Just made this and it is so good!! Wondering if olive oil would taste good in this instead of canola? Will make this again and would be nice if i could sub a healthier oil!
If you use one of the milder olive oils, you could, but extra virgin would be overwhelming. I’ve started using peanut, which isn’t healthy like olive oil, but it’s not UNHEALTHY like canola, haha.
Can you recommend another oil, besides canola?
Olive oil always works, but you’ll have to set it out to room temp for about 30 minutes before serving. Peanut oil is always a good, neutral oil but doesn’t have the health benefits of olive oil.
So, so delicious! I used balsamic vinegar, used half canola and half sesame oil and (because i didn’t have poppy seeds) threw in 1 1/2 table spoons of sesame seeds. YUMMY!
This stuff is sooooooooooo good. Thanks for the recipe!
I had this dressing at Bunco night tonight made by our host on a spinach salad with raspberries, walnuts, feta cheese and I think there may have been onions in it also. It was absolutely delicious…I went back for seconds and had to have the recipe!! You’ll love it!!
How many servings would you say it made?
I love your website the MOST!
just made this and the entire family LOVED it! Thanks!
Ok – I had this at Bunco and it was delicious. I came home and made it and not so. It was still good – but it tasted like pure honey. (AND – I only used 1/4c. honey and then 1/4c. sugar.) So, my questions is – is it really 1/2 cup honey? Also, it was really thick – would I add a little more oil to make it more runny?
We made this with the salad and thought both were fabulous! Thanks.
I have been looking at your blog since a friend directed me here for Halloween party ideas last year. I have made lots of different recipes and only one has not turned out (surely my fault). I love your stuff! I recommend your site all the time. Thank you for taking the time out of your precious schedules to put a little sparkle in my day. 🙂 I LOVED this dressing. I only had balsamic so I used that, but it turned out great. I think I will be making it again and again! I see lots of yummy summer salads in my future!
Ummm… WOW! This recipe is so delish! Just made it and will never go back to my previous favorite store-bought strawberry vinaigrette. It keeps calling to me from the fridge and it’s taking a lot of self-control for me to save it for dinner and refrain from eating it by the spoonful. Thanks for the recipe!
Just thought I would report back that I used half blueberries/ half strawberries in the dressing and substituted *gasp* normal vinegar for the white wine vinegar and I thought the dressing was excellent. I have never had Wendy’s salad so I have nothing to compare it to but it was good with normal white vinegar. Probably different than intended but good. Also, I didn’t grate my onion or mince my garlic I rough chopped them and threw them in the blender because I am lazy and I don’t think it caused any trouble. On the subject of white wine vinegar I could not find it at my grocery store. I saw red wine vinegar, malt vinegar, balsamic but not white wine. Does it go by any other name?
Just made a batch for dinner tonight. If it weren’t for the kick of the vinegar, I’d be tempted to drink it!
Seriously so DELISH! I just had mine with raspberries and had to restrain myself from drinking the dressing.
I took a salad to our 4th of July celebration…spinach and greens w/ strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, then roasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) and romano cheese. Topped it with this wonderful dressing. Everyone loved it! It was so fresh and pretty! I used half strawberries and half raspberries in the dressing. Mmmmm. I’m just excited to have leftover dressing to use for lunch or dinner tomorrow! Thanks for another great recipe!
I love this! Thank you! I just want to know where you get the dressing bottle!
Walmart!
I made this tonight and served it over some chicken and salad greens. Loved it!
You are a genius. This tastes amazing and I am forcing myself to wait the hour. Thank you!
how long do you think this dressing would keep in the fridge?
Rachel, we got this question a LOT, so I added a little tip at the end of the post! 🙂
Just wanted to add I made this dressing last night and it was fantastic! I halved it and used red wine vinegar (I really thought I had white on hand when I started…) and it turned out perfectly. Also, I used goat cheese instead of feta on my salad and… wow.
Thank you!
Is it possible that we are the same people? I love the berry and nut salad at Wendys…but more than that you and I seriously watch all the same shows! I love love love Melanie and I can’t wait for the new season of Teen MOM!! Thanks for everything you guys do, it brings such happiness to my life! Oh and just a side story…I have a 5 year old who said in the car the other day to me and his dad, “I have a great idea…dad you take me 4-wheeling everyday and mom can stay home and work on the computer and look at Our Best Bites!” I think it’s a fabulous idea!
Kelly. Yes, it is totally possible that we are the same person. KELLY. KATE. My son’s name is CLARK. And yes, I totally think your husband should take your 5-year-old 4-wheeling every day and you can stay home and look at the blog. And I can say that because of the possibility that we are the same person. 🙂