Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Homemade pomegranate vinaigrette makes the BEST warm and cozy dressing, perfect for holiday salads and everyday alike. A simple trick ensures a bold fruit flavor in this balanced, sweet and tart vinaigrette.

This is hardly a problem, but if you make a batch of non-alcoholic sangria, you'll have some pomegranate juice leftover.

While it's wonderful in other beverages (like a pomegranate mule), my absolute favorite way to use it up is in this pomegranate vinaigrette. Fruity with a great balance of sweet and tart, this is the PERFECT homemade dressing for harvest salads (a pear and Gorgonzola salad, especially), holiday salads, or even your bare bones basic side salad.

Reasons to Love This Recipe

• Reducing the juice is key in providing a bold pomegranate flavor for salad dressing.
• Concentrated pomegranate juice combined with maple syrup and a tiny pinch of cinnamon makes this warm and cozy pomegranate vinaigrette taste just like Thanksgiving.
• Just like maple balsamic vinaigrette, it tastes much fancier than the effort involved!

Recipe Ingredients

• Pomegranate juice: Go for pure pomegranate juice with no added sugar for the brightest flavor. It's not unsweetened as it has natural sugars from fruit.
• White balsamic vinegar: This vinegar variety provides the classic vinaigrette bite in a slightly softer way. White wine vinegar can be substituted.
• Dijon mustard: This emulsifies and creates a thick dressing texture. Whole grain Dijon is especially good in thickening vinaigrettes, which is pictured here.
• Maple syrup: We love this in hummus salad dressing. It brings sweetness to cut through the vinegar and a slight complexity to the background flavor.
• Cinnamon: Add this to taste, but start small. A small pinch is all that's needed to tie everything together.
• Olive oil: A must in vinaigrettes, this recipe adds less than a traditional ratio to ensure the pomegranate flavor doesn't get diluted. Use extra-virgin.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Pour juice into a small saucepan set over low heat. Let the juice come to a light simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until it has reduced in volume by half. Remove from the heat and let cool.

2. Whisk together the concentrated pomegranate juice, vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, and cinnamon until well combined.

3. While vigorously whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until emulsified.

4. Shake or whisk well just prior to dressing salads. The salad seen in these photos is a quick and dirty apple harvest salad of sorts. It's lettuce, walnuts, crumbled feta, pomegranate arils, and sliced Granny Smith apples, all drizzled with this pomegranate vinaigrette. It can also add a warm and cozy note to a grilled fruit salad. Either way - delicious!

Recipe Tips and Tricks

• When tasting salad dressings for seasonings, you want it to taste almost too strong and sharp. Keep in mind that the flavor will mellow out once it's poured over greens and other veggies.
• If the olive oil hardens up once stored in the refrigerator, take the jar or bottle out to sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes to warm up before stirring/shaking well.
• Store pomegranate vinaigrette in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. Since it's an emulsion it cannot be frozen, as the oil will separate and the texture will be impacted for the worse.

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