This creamy roasted garlic dressing uses just 5 ingredients, is easy to prepare, naturally vegan, and made with all-natural, wholesome ingredients. With a combination of naturally sweet and flavorful caramelized roasted garlic with zingy ginger, sweet honey (vegan optional!), and heart-healthy olive oil - you’ll want to add this creamy garlic dressing to everything.
If you don’t already have roasted garlic, first start by roasting the garlic(refer to this post for all my top tips and tricks).To roast a whole garlic head, slice the top off the garlic head and lightly drizzle with olive oil, then wrap in foil or parchment paper to create a parcel. Then roast in the oven for 30 minutes at 400ºF/200ºC, or until golden and super tender. For a darker color/more caramelized top, unwrap the parcel in the last 5 minutes.
When cool enough to manage, simply squeeze all the roasted garlic into a small mixing bowl or jar (with a tight-fitting lid). Gently mash it if needed to break it down into a paste-like consistency.
Then grate the ginger directly into the container and add the lemon juice, olive oil, sweetener, and salt and pepper.
Mix well or close the jar’s lid and shake well to mix. Then taste and adjust any of the ingredients to taste, enjoy!You could also use a small food processor/blender to blend all the ingredients if preferred. This will yield the smoothest results, which some may prefer.
How to Make Ahead and Store?
Make ahead: you can roast the garlic in advance and store it in the fridge for 3-5 days or the freezer for 3 months. I’m also a big fan of making the lemon-garlic salad dressing a day in advance. That way, it has time to sit and "marinate" in the fridge. Then, once all the flavors are melded… delicious!Store: after mixing the dressing, you can store the creamy garlic salad dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
Notes
Use high-quality olive oil: use extra virgin olive oil and ensure it’s good quality for the best flavor.
Be careful not to burn the garlic: or it will become bitter and ruin the salad dressing.
I recommend roasting garlic in bulk: you can store any leftovers for several days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer! Add it to pasta, spread over garlic bread, use in soups, add to mashed potato. You won’t run out of uses!
Allow it to "marinate": while you can use the assembled garlic lemon dressing immediately, it tastes EVEN better after marinating for an hour in the fridge before serving!
Optional Add-ins and Variations:
Red pepper flakes: add a pinch of chili flakes for some heat.
Dijon mustard: feel free to add a little Dijon mustard for extra zing. You could also omit the ginger and use Dijon mustard instead if you aren’t a ginger fan!
Sesame oil: you could substitute the olive oil for sesame oil for extra flavor.
Mayonnaise: add a couple of spoons of mayonnaise (regular or vegan) for extra rich creaminess.
Milk/Vegetable broth: if you want to make a thinner roasted garlic vinaigrette, then adding either water, milk, or vegetable broth work best. Simply add a splash at a time, stirring/blending in between, until you reach your desired consistency.
Check the blog post for serving suggestions and answers to top FAQs!