Fresh Mint Dressing
This mint salad dressing recipe is refreshing, delicious and easy to make! You'll need fresh mint, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and honey.
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 27, 2024
Meet my latest salad dressing obsession! This mint dressing is as refreshing as they get. It’s made with freshly squeezed lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and lots of fresh mint. Honey, Dijon mustard and garlic round out the flavors and make it irresistible.
This dressing is light like a classic vinaigrette, but offers loads of fresh mint flavor. It’s delicious on salads, of course, and I’ve listed some salad ingredients that play especially well with mint dressing below.
This “dressing” is also a fresh and lightly creamy sauce. I bet it would be great on orzo salad, in a pita sandwich, or on cooked fish, if you’re a fish eater. I’m eager to hear how you put it to use.
One of my favorite local salads features a fresh mint dressing (the chisaya mama at The Mixx, which is made with kale, arugula, quinoa, fennel, radish and Parmesan).
I finally developed one of my own for my fattoush salad recipe, but it’s so good that I decided it deserves its own post.
Homemade salad dressings, as a whole, taste infinitely better than the stale store-bought options. This one tastes particularly fresh since it’s loaded with fresh mint!
Mint Dressing Salad Suggestions
This mint dressing would be lovely with any of the following ingredients:
- Greens: kale, arugula, romaine, spring greens
- Berries: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries
- Melon: watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe
- Peaches
- Radish
- Fennel
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Bell pepper
- Summer squash
- Red onion or green onion
- Fresh herbs: basil, cilantro, chives, dill, parsley
- Beans: chickpeas, lentils
- Whole grains: quinoa, farro, wheat berries
- Cheese: Parmesan, goat cheese, feta
Please tell me how you like this dressing in the comments! If you ever want to change things up, try my green goddess dressing, which is made extra-creamy with Greek yogurt.
Watch How to Make Fresh Mint Dressing
Fresh Mint Dressing
This mint salad dressing recipe is refreshing, delicious and easy to make! You’ll need fresh mint, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, and honey or maple syrup. Recipe yields a little over 1 cup.
Ingredients
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- ¼ cup packed fresh mint (spearmint) leaves (about half of a ⅔ or ¾-ounce package)
- 3 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Taste, and add more salt and/or pepper if necessary. Use as desired!
- This dressing will keep well, covered and refrigerated, for up to 1 week.
Notes
Recipe inspired by The Mixx in Kansas City, and adapted from dressing recipes in my cookbook, Love Real Food.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
made the fresh mint dressing, i am a mint lover so ihave fresh mint around. the dressing was the best iever made or tasted and so simple
Wonderful to hear, William!
This is absolutely delicious and tastes so fresh. I tossed with kale, quinoa, toasted pecans, blueberries, orange pepper and feta. Colorful and so healthy.
Thank you for your review! Sounds like a great combination, Marliee!
This is one of my favorite dressings and my friend just asked me for the recipe because it was soooooo gooooood!
I love when that happens! Thank you, Sera.
Absolutely love this wonderfully refreshing salad dressing. I use it on cucumber and watermelon salad.
That sounds delicious!
Great way to use the overabundance of mint from my garden. I wasn’t sure about the combination of these ingredients at first, but it tastes DELICIOUS! So fresh and yummy.
Would this go well with fresh tuna steak?
Can I make a larger quantity and seal it in jars in my water bath canner?
Jan
Can I substitute lemons for lime?
You could, although it will change the taste.
This is our absolute favorite dressing. I tried it last month, and then panicked when I could not recall where I had placed it! Luckily I found it on my tablet. Can’t wait to try your other recipes and new cook book!
I’m glad you were able to find it! Also, I have a great search function you can always use to search for recipes by keyword :)
I just love your simple but super flavourful recipes that inspire my cooking shows on Radio! Thanks so much..oh and I’m a dog/cat lover too..people don’t understand what peace and clarity they give you as well as Joy. Thanks again..The Yummy Chef from Lusaka,Zambia
This taste wonderfully delicious! Plan to use on romaine with sliced pears, apples & dried cranberries. Added 1/2 soft fresh pear. Really is a perfect dressing and so easy!
Thanks for sharing, Kay!
That’s beautiful! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Carolyn!
Hi Katie, do you think that dressing would go well with pan fried salmon?
I’m not sure, sorry! I’m a vegetarian so don’t eat meat :)
I am a vegetarian as well, but was still wondering about how the flavor profile and texture variations would work together…trying to design my own food. :) Thanks for your reply.
I’m trying not to use oil in salad dressings. What would you recommend to substitute for the oil? Thank you!
Hey Erica, the only thing I can think of would be water—maybe start with less water than oil and add more as it suits you?
This is my favourite salad dressing recipe and has been shared many times by me to all my friends who love it too! I don’t put quite as much maple syrup in as it can tend to be a bit on the sweet side. I’m going to try the Sunshine dressing and ginger salad dressing next but the mint one is hard to beat, so I’ll let you know the feedback from “the gang of friends” Love your posts and I read every recipe.
This is a wonderful recipe!! Very refreshing and can be used on a variety of salads. I always make extra to have on hand and pour generously on anything I’m eating that week :)
The last time I made this I cut the honey back from 3T to 1T since I’ve been trying to watch my sugar intake and found it to be just as delicious!
So I made this and it didn’t look like the pic and didn’t taste as expected but it wasn’t BAD but when I added the Dijon mustard and mixed there was ALOT of like clumps so I had to drain it. Also put a little less honey but I guess it wasn’t too bad maybe it was just me idk
Delicious! I used it with a salad that contained home grown sugar snap peas!
That sounds amazing, Lisa! Thank you for your review.
This recipe is absolutely delicious! I made it exactly as published here except I only had one lemon. That is why I added 1 green kiwi. OMG! Heaven!
Thank you very much Kate
Hooray! I’m glad you love it. Green kiwi sounds very interesting.
I’ve been wanting to make dressings myself for a long time now and this is definatly one I will make again. Delicious, fresh and an easy recipe. It must be good, it’s my first foodie review ever :)
This is a delicious salad dressing recipe that I don’t even have to prepare for, just grab a bunch of fresh spinach from the garden, throw everything in the blender & done! Definite do over & over & over! Thanks
so delicious! – you have the best recipes Kate! Always find myself on your page whenever i want to find a recipe, and you never disappoint. Thank you :)
Delicious recipe! I used mojito mint from my garden to make green bean and potato salad.
This recipe is simple, light, fresh, and delicious! We used chocolate mint from our garden. :)
My Italian Mom made something like this with mint leaves, garlic, oil and vinegar that went well over fish and garlic bread, they called Mogie!
This was amazing. End stop.
Thank you, KC!
This was absolutely delicious. We put it on salads and veggie wraps. Can other herbs be substituted ? I’m thinking of trying oregano?!
Hi Briana! This one was specifically designed for this flavor combination. If are looking to test out different herbs, I recommend my green goddess dressing.
I LOVE this recipe and it has a five star rating from friends as well! I had some fresh mint from a garden and this recipe fit the bill. It is fresh and easy to make. I am going to freeze some for camping. Thank you!
Kate, this was fantastic! A friend had given me fresh mint and I came across your recipe. Wonderful flavor! My new favorite salad dressing! Thank you!
I love it! Thank you for sharing, David. I appreciate the review.
So amazing! Made this for my mom and a family friend and they were raving about the dressing. Made a salad that was sort of a combination of Fattoush and Taboulleh and used kale and a healthy amount of parsley for the greens and nobody batted an eye at the kale because they loved the dressing. Paired the salad with this dressing alongside some shawarma and it was awesome.
If I were to substitute lime for lemon to make more of a mojito type dressing, should I adjust anything else? I’m planning to have it with a chickpea or black bean salad, likely with feta.
Hi Colleen, that could be interesting! Without trying it myself, I can’t say for sure. You could try the citrus change and see how you like the flavor. Lemon and lime usually changeout nicely.
We have mint growing like crazy here so i was looking for recipes to use it in. And i found this! So delicious!! Ty for this recipe. Try it everyone–you won’t be sorry :)
One of the best dressings ever! I’ve made it with both honey and maple syrup – honey was definitely my favorite. It gave it a sharper flavor. I also accidentally dumped a bunch of pepper in – and it was still great!
Amazing salad dressing. It’s so fresh and full of flavor. I found that making this in the blender resulted in a thicker dressing which, I think I prefer. This is my new go to dressing. Thanks!
Can I replace the garlic for ginger garlic paste?
Hi Maria, I guess you could try it, but I can’t guarantee the results or how much to use.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe Kate! It’s sensational. I made it for the first time last week and have already made another double batch this week. I’ve been using it on my salads and also over fried eggs and toast for breakfast.
That sounds like a delicious way to use this dressing! Thank you for sharing, Emma.
So good. I serve this on cold lentils. Kids love it.
That’s great to hear, Tashcha! Thank you for taking the time to review.
wow, thank you for this easy and soooo delicious recipe. The taste is amazing! I could eat it by the spoonful! I only had normal garden mint, not spearmint and I used honey wholegrain mustard and having no maple syrup in my cupboard, I used some coconut nectar.
Amazing! So bright and fresh. Highly recommend this salad dressing. I have used it all week on arugula with some pine nuts. So simple and I always pour on extra to enjoy with the rest of my meal. Love it with rice, fish and asparagus, too. So good.
Can I use quinoa or farro Instead of bulgur to make tabbouleh?
Also, when a recipe calls for mint is it spearmint or peppermint?
Hi Pat, I have some recommendations in my Best Tabbouleh recipe at the bottom. Mint is just mint here in the U.S.
Hi there I made your dressing but i put lime juice instead of lemons and used on a citrus salad.It was delish. Also it is good on watermelon salad with fete and pistachios. Thanks so much! Caroline
Wow, just wow. I put this on a spinach/arugula/kale salad with carrots, craisins, apple, red onions, and goat cheese. Then, I liked it so much I poured some on my plate to dip my sandwich in. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to post such a nice recipe.
Absolutely LOVE this twist on the traditional fattoush dressing. It’s now a staple in my fridge :)) thank you so much!
You’re welcome, Asia!
Fresh Mint Dressing
This recipe is fabulous! So fresh and delicious and so easy to make!
That’s great to hear, Sandy!
I’m late to this party but just made this to use on barley grain bowls for weekday wfh lunches and it is GREAT. Like maybe the best dressing I’ve ever made. The honey adds body in addition to the sweetness and complexity and I didn’t find it too sweet at all.
Is wonderful with goat’s cheese as well!
I’m glad you love it, Jennie! Thank you for taking the time to review.
This mint dressing is to die for! Also makes awesome dip for veggie or fruit trays
That sounds like a great idea! Thanks for sharing, Dolores.
Seriously one of the best dressings I’ve ever had! Perfect balance of tart and sweet – the fresh mint adds such an earthy, freshness to every bite. Will definitely be making again!
Wonderful, Mouna! Thank you for your review.
This is a great recipe. If you have dried sumac, add about 1/2 tsp for a real Mediterranean feel. I also added the lemon zest from the two lemons, as I hate to waste. Thanks for a great and simple recipe.
You’re welcome, John!
Hello Kate,
Would you please provide instructions to store this dressing? Can I make it in a big batch and store it? How many days will it stay in the refrigerator and the freezer?
Hi, See the final step in the comments.
Hello x I intend to make this recipe with chunky cut tomatoes , Cucumber and maybe sliced red onions to serve with Moussaka , crusty bread on Saturday eve x
I used Aquafina and some cornstarch instead of oil, was still yummy without the fat.