Blackberry vinaigrette with basil

The key to a good blackberry vinaigrette is to not dilute the flavor with too much oil.

A typical vinaigrette salad dressing has 3 parts olive oil to 1 part acid (like lemon or vinegar, or in this case, blackberries). I flipped that ratio to get a much stronger blackberry flavor.

Blackberries vary in quality

Ripe blackberries are sweet and tart with a delicious dark berry flavor. But all too often they are under ripe at the stores.

When this happens, the blackberries can taste sour, bitter, or tannic. But there are ways to fix all of those so your blackberry vinaigrette turns out perfect.

Fix bitterness with sugar, fat, or salt

Before you do anything, make sure you puree the blackberries and strain out the seeds. The seeds contain a lot of the bitterness.

If the blackberry vinaigrette still tastes bitter, add more honey or olive oil. Both sugar and fat reduce our ability to taste bitter flavors. That's why milk and sugar are added to coffee!

You can also add a dash of salt, which also balances out bitter flavors. That's why salting grapefruit has started to become popular.

Tame tannins with fat

If you get that mouth-drying feel from the vinaigrette that you do with dry wines, that's from tannins.

Sometimes this borders on metallic or chemically in really under ripe blackberries.

Tannins are concentrated in the seeds, so straining them out should do most of the work. But the thin outer skin can also be a bit tannic.

Fat, like olive oil, will soften that astringent tannic feeling.

Balance sour with sweet

Under ripe blackberries will be pretty tart, sometimes even sour.

Sugar, like honey, will balance that right how. But if they are really sour, I'd add some honey along with some oil, so it doesn't become overly sweet. The fat from olive oil also smooths out the acidity, just not as dramatically as sugar.

If you're interested, I did a deep dive on how to fix bitter blackberries.

Herbs that pair with blackberries

A lot of herbs play well with blackberries, and you can pick the best ones based on the salad you're making.

Basil

Basil is one of the best matches. It enhances blackberries' sweetness and nature flavors. Great for a stone fruit salad, a peach salad with prosciutto, or as a side salad for grilled chicken.

Mint

Mint makes the blackberry vinaigrette super refreshing. Use it on a strawberry spinach salad, a blueberry cucumber salad, a spin on a tabbouleh salad, or on a side salad for lamb.

Lemon balm

Lemon balm adds a gentle citrus flavor without extra sourness. If you use it, try replacing the vinegar with lemon juice for the full flavor effect.

Use it on a simple edible flower salad, or on a grain salad. It would make a great side salad for a pan-fried or grilled fish.

Tarragon

Tarragon adds a licorice flavor to the dressing, easily blending in with the natural blackberry flavors.

Use it in a simple spring greens salad, or anything with fennel, celery, or cucumbers.

Thyme and rosemary

Thyme and rosemary both make the blackberry vinaigrette veer toward savory. Both of these herbs share terpene flavor compounds with blackberries, usually described as woody and piney.

Either (or both) of these herbs would make a great blackberry vinaigrette for a salad with chicken or beef, or as a side salad for a savory meat dish.

Honey and other sweeteners for salad dressings

Honey is going to be the most versatile sweetener for this salad dressing.

Any type of honey that you enjoy should blend in. My favorite for this is a wildflower honey.

Maple syrup can work if used sparingly. It turns the dressing toward a caramelized flavor that works well with grilled peaches, an early fall salad with roasted sweet potatoes or winter squash, and a salad with candied pecans or bacon.

Agave syrup is another good option with a more neutral flavor.

A thinner vinaigrette (that's also healthier)

As I mentioned earlier, I flipped the ratio of liquid to oil for this blackberry vinaigrette recipe. That's because too much oil really dilutes the fresh blackberry flavor.

Because of this, the dressing is thinner than a standard vinaigrette. You also won't get the thick emulsification with these ratios (and honey isn't as strong of an emulsifier as mustard).

It still coats lettuce well enough, but definitely sticks better when the salad greens are dried well.

Nutrition

Now the plus side here is that the lower ratio of oil means you can use a lot more dressing. It's just under 50 calories per tablespoon (100 per serving), which is half of a standard vinaigrette.

Recipe

More recipes & resources

I found a couple more blackberry vinaigrette recipes for you to look through. It's always fun to try new things!

• A bright pink, creamy blackberry vinaigrette made with Greek yogurt, from Kevin is Cooking
• A deeper flavored version with balsamic vinegar, which could also help with under ripe fruit. Get the recipe from Feasting Not Fasting.
• Blackberry dressing with dijon and maple syrup from Kathy's Vegan Kitchen

Try some of my other salad and dressing recipes this summer: