With fragrant toasted pecans, rice wine vinegar, and maple syrup–this homemade maple pecan vinaigrette is tangy, slightly sweet, and oh. so. creamy!
Here’s your zippy enhancement to dinnerโs crisp green lettuce salad. Sprinkle a handful of crunchy candied pecans on top of that salad = winner! We like it as a creamy no-mayo dressing on cabbage coleslaw too!
For all the tasty reasons, this easy blender recipe stays in the salad dressing rotation at our house.
Click here to save this salad dressing recipe on Pinterest!
Maple pecan vinaigrette is easy to make:
Time needed: 15 minutes
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Toast the pecans until theyโre barely golden.
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Put the cooled pecans in a blender along with the oil, vinegar, and maple syrup.
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Mince some garlic or shallots for a hint of sharpness. Add that too.
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Whir until smooth!
This recipe makes a 2-cup batch, so youโll have a delicious vinaigrette dressing ready for drizzling on a weekโs worth of salads!
Questions and answers about this salad dressing:
Olive oil congeals when chilled and avocado oil stays liquid. You wonโt need to remember to pull the dressing from the refrigerator ahead of time. Also, the subtle pecan and maple syrup flavors appreciate the lighter flavorless avocado oil.
For a similar reasonโthe pecans make a pretty thick dressing, so adding water makes it more pourable. If you prefer a thicker dressing, use only ยผ cup of water.
If you want creamy dreamyโyes. In a blender, the toasted pecans become one with the rice vinegar, oil, and maple syrup.
Stovetop, in a skillet! On medium heat, stir frequently for about 5 minutes, or until they turn golden on the edges.
Yes, lightly toasted walnuts work well in this recipe. If you have some walnut oil on hand, swap in a ยผ cup for ยผ cup olive oil.
You want some allium flavor in this dressing. A couple of tablespoons of minced shallot will give the dressing a less intense allium essence than garlic. Or, you could sub in minced red onion if that’s what you have. To soften the sharp red onion flavor, rinse the onion slices before chopping into smaller pieces.
Homemade salad dressings are so much better than what you get in the store-bought bottles. With homemade, you know the ingredientsโreal food, quality oils, no additives. Not to mention a less expensive salad dressing!
Here are some more delicious homemade salad dressings:
- A bottled copy-cat dressing–roasted red pepper vinaigrette.
- Mellow miso salad dressing–another creamy salad sauce!
- This red wine vinaigrette gets its tomato tang from V-8 juice!
- Sesame shiitake salad dressingโloaded with umami flavor!
*** Years ago, I created this dressing for a salad of baby white salad turnips with avocado and candied pecans. I’ve separated the recipes into two blog posts, one is this maple pecan dressing, the other, which I’ve not yet published, will be the salad with baby white turnips.
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PS If you make this recipe and love it, please consider leaving a blog post comment. Your comments help other readers learn more about the recipe. If youโd also give the recipe a ***** rating, I’d be delighted!
Maple Pecan Vinaigrette Dressing
Ingredients
- โ cup pecan halves lightly toasted
- ยฝ cup avocado oil
- ยผ cup olive oil
- ยผ cup rice wine vinegar
- โ cup water
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 clove garlic minced, or 2 tablespoons minced shallots
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper as needed
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, continually stir the pecans until they are light golden, about 5 minutes. Let cool.
- Put the toasted pecans and the remaining ingredients in the blender. Whir until very smooth.
Hello Letty,
How I made it here is difficult to imagine. I am having a dinner party and was looking for a segway to the pork tenderloin main course, and here I am. I like your recipe. i used a high quality olive oil and maple syrup with your recipe and it was “perfect”. It was really pleasant to think of you again. I have spoken of you to my students. I am a Kindergarten to Fifth grade Computer Teacher now, but my culinary roots are always with me. Take care and be well. Roger · 3 February, 2012
Hi Roger,
Thanks for writing, very nice to hear from you and I am glad you found my blog–however you got there. The dessert life at Deer Valley is the income and the vegetarian life at home is the balance.
All the best to you and yours…
Letty · 4 February, 2012
I see those little white turnips every spring at the Hollywood Farmers Market. They don’t last long (they are long gone by now) and I consider them a harbinger of spring. I just assumed they were young turnips of some regular variety. Thanks for the info. GREG · 13 July, 2015
Thanks Greg. I appreciate your thoughtful comments always! · 13 July, 2015
I have made three winner dishes from this lovely website in a row: strawberry ice cream pie, confetti lentil salad and now this. I did use daikon radishes! Thanks for the fun foods! I am dairy free so the “ice cream” pie was appreciated! · 13 July, 2015
Thanks Sally for the kudos! I am delighted to know the recipes work out for you! · 13 July, 2015
Sounds heavenly to me. And I love the tip about using two kinds of oil. · 19 May, 2022
Thanks Kalyn. I’m using the new Yoast schema blocks for “How to” and “FAQ”.
Supposedly Google likes them.
Love,
Letty · 21 May, 2022
Really delicious recipe. I love it yummy!!! It’s really awesome · 21 May, 2022
Thank you! · 21 May, 2022