12 Easy Salad Dressings to Brighten All of Your Summer Meals

Spice up your salads with these mouthwatering seasonal salad dressings! Ten of our favorite homemade recipes, perfect for summer salads.

Did you know that a new salad dressing can brighten your menu and add fabulous flavor to an everyday salad? It might be just the thing you need to renew your love for salads. All of these seasonal salad dressings are loaded with fresh, unique flavor and are perfect for pairing with the wonderful, fresh produce just beginning to abound.

 

Right now I have tons of fresh basil and little cherry tomatoes beginning to ripen in my little driveway garden. I'm making the fresh basil dressing and plan to serve it on a simple salad paired grilled steaks. Yum, the perfect summer meal.

Check out this collection of tried and true recipes (along with reader reviews) and make one today - you'll thank yourself  all week long!

 

Feeling a bit bored with salad? This Red Pepper Jelly Salad Dressing will be a game-changer! We love it on this Watermelon Arugula Salad but it will bring fresh, delicious life to just about any salad and is fabulous drizzled on grilled chicken, pork, shrimp, salmon…

Here's a comment from one happy reader:

"I made this dressing to go along with your Watermelon Arugula Salad -- it was SO delicious!! I agree with your comment about wanting to drink it all up, as I couldn't stop taste-testing it!! I mixed some spring greens in with the arugula, and used a package of honey-roasted pecan pieces, to save time! The bleu cheese was such a great compliment to all of the other ingredients in the salad!"

This fresh, delicious Chili Lime Salad Dressing is fabulous on any salad - it also makes a wonderful sauce for chicken, shrimp, salmon, etc!

Don't just take my word that this dressing is wonderful. Here's a reader review and suggestion for a lovely-sounding salad:

"This dressing is quick and delicious. Made it exactly as listed in a small mason jar and shook it up. Combined beautifully. I had some leftover veggies I made into a slaw... shredded green cabbage, julienned carrots and radishes. This dressing was perfect to liven things up."

 

With bright, fresh flavor, this Lemon Dill Dressing is super easy to throw together and is delicious on greens and veggies as well as chicken, fish and shrimp! Try it on this fabulous Israeli Couscous Salmon Salad for a perfect summer meal!

Thinking about trying it? Here's another delicious-sounding ways to use this dressing from a reader:

"This dressing was delicious! I put it on a Mediterranean salad with chicken, quinoa, cucumbers, tomatoes and feta and it was the perfect compliment. We were even dipping our pita chips in it!"

 

This Fresh Herb Greek Salad Dressing is one of those simple, throw-it-all-in-the-blender recipes. The base dressing is delicious on its own, but fresh herbs take it WAY over the top!

A five-star review from a reader:

"Just made this last night. Wow! Absolutely delicious and you are right, the fresh herbs make all the difference. Thank you."

 

This fabulous White Balsamic Honey Dressing, with a throw-it-all-in-a-jar-and-shake recipe, takes salad from ordinary to extraordinary.

Our readers go crazy over this dressing:

"This is better than any dressing or kit I have ever bought! Thank you!"

This super easy, Light and Spicy Cilantro Buttermilk Dressing is one of those insanely good delicious salad dressings that will make you want to skip the main course! It's also low-carb and WW-friendly!

I love this recent comment from a reader:

 

If this fabulous Sweet Basil Vinaigrette could talk, it would be shouting "summer!" It's sweet, tangy and bursting with vibrant, delicious basil flavor! You'll flip with the first taste!

There are a zillion wonderful comments on this dressing post but here's a recent one:

"Oh my goodness this is the best dressing ever! Had it on chopped homegrown tomatoes and cucumbers tonight, with tiny mozzarella balls. I could eat this till the cows come home, and the hubs said it was the best he'd ever had.
Thank you so much for making me a star in my kitchen!"

 

Delicious and super easy this Mango Salad Dressing is the antidote for boring salads! Try it on salmon, shrimp and chicken too!

 

Need a little convincing? Here's how one of our readers reviewed this dressing:

"I just made this dressing and all I can say is " WOW"! I've never ventured this far into the " fruity" salad dressings and I am not leaving any time soon."

 

Fresh and vibrant this Lemongrass Cilantro Salad Dressing is delicious on salads, grilled chicken, shrimp, salmon, pork and so much else!

A little variation from one of our Café followers:

"Tried this recipe, loved it. I also added some mint leaves to it. Thanks for the recipe!"

Exactly as the title says, this Rosemary Balsamic Salad Dressing goes with everything. It's delicious drizzled on salads, veggies, entrees, etc!

We love to keep a jar of this dressing stashed away in the fridge. Sounds like someone else does too:

"Making your Balsamic dressing for the 2nd time in 2 weeks. So easy to make and we just love it! Thanks for sharing!"

 

This beautiful Lemon Basil Poppy Seed Dressing is bursting with vibrant flavor. It's fabulous drizzled over salads, entrees and veggies!

I love this comment from a reader:

"Dear hubby who doesn't love to eat salads said, this is so good dear, definitely repeat this one please. Thank you for another absolutely delicious recipe!"

 

You'll find yourself drizzling this delicious, sweet, tangy Honey-Cider Poppy Seed Dressing on a zillion different kinds of salads - and lots of other things too!

Everyone seems to love this dressing, including this enthusiastic reader:

"YUM! YUM! YUM! One of the BEST dressings I've ever found!!!! Everyone LOVE this AND your Cranberry Clementine Salad!!!! I could eat this ALL YEAR LONG!!!! Thanks again!!!"

Thought for the day:

I will instruct you and
teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with My loving eye on you.
Psalm 32:8

What we're listening to for inspiration:

All of My Days

 

If you enjoy any of these recipes, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It's so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.