Soy-Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Having a go-to dressing is essential. If you'd rather not memorize one, just right this one down on a squeeze bottle.

Updated January 07, 2025

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Why It Works

A combination of two assertive vinegars and soy sauce ensures this vinaigrette is packed with flavor.

My wife loves salad dressing, particularly the soy sauce-balsamic vinaigrette that I keep in constant supply in a squeeze bottle in the fridge. I know the recipe by heart, but problems arise when I'm out of town, my wife has a brand new box of arugula, and the dressing's just run out.

Here's a little trick I devised to make sure that never happens again: just write the recipe directly on the squeeze bottle. Since good vinaigrettes are all about the ratio of ingredients, it doesn't really matter if you measure them out precisely using measuring spoons and cups. Rather, I draw a line on the side of my squeeze bottle with a permanent marker indicating the proportion of ingredients.

Balsamic soy vinaigrette is dispensed onto greens from a squeeze bottle. — Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt

All you have to do is read the labels from the bottom of the bottle to the top, filling it as you go along. Voila! Perfect vinaigrette, no recipes to memorize, no spoons or cups to clean up.

I've recently started a collection of these built-in-recipe bottles so that I'll constantly have an easy-to-refill supply of sauces and vinaigrettes on hand.

June 2011

Recipe Details

Soy-Balsamic Vinaigrette Recipe

Prep 5 mins

Active 3 mins

Total 5 mins

Serves 32 servings

Makes 1 quart

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Ingredients

2 medium cloves garlic, very finely minced or grated on a Microplane grater (see notes)
2 teaspoons (10ml) Dijon mustard
1 small shallot, very finely minced or grated on a Microplane grater (see notes)
2 cups (473ml) canola oil
1 cup (237ml) extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons (30ml) balsamic vinegar
6 tablespoons (90ml) sherry vinegar
4 tablespoons (90ml) soy sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to sealed container. Shake vigorously to emulsify before each use.

Special Equipment

Microplane or other rasp-style grater, squeeze bottle (optional)

Notes

This recipe can easily be scaled up or down. If you have plastic squeeze bottles, there's no need to first whisk in a bowl—construct the dressing in the bottles using the same ratio of ingredients, scaling down to fit in one bottle. Cover the top and shake before each use.

Note that if the garlic and shallot are not minced finely enough, they can clog the spout of a squeeze bottle. You can widen the spout by cutting it (the hole gets larger the closer you cut it to the bottle), but you should still endeavor to mince very finely, or grate with the Microplane.

Meak-Ahead and Storage

The dressing can be refrigerated for up to 1 week (storing raw garlic in oil carries the serious risk of botulism; the cold temperature of a refrigerator combined with the presence of vinegar in the dressing helps reduce that risk, but we still do not recommend storing this vinaigrette longer than 1 week).

Salad Dressing

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
187	Calories
20g	Fat
1g	Carbs
0g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 32
Amount per serving
Calories	187
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 20g	26%
Saturated Fat 2g	10%
Cholesterol 0mg	0%
Sodium 139mg	6%
Total Carbohydrate 1g	0%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 0g
Vitamin C 0mg	1%
Calcium 3mg	0%
Iron 0mg	1%
Potassium 23mg	0%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.