Lemon Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

This Lemon Poppy Seed Salad Dressing is the perfect thing to put on all your spring and summer inspired salads. Homemade usually tastes best, and this dressing is no exception. It keeps well in the fridge so you can make a large batch for easy meal prep!

I think it goes without saying that a strawberry spinach salad without a poppy seed salad dressing is not really a strawberry spinach salad, right? Well, at least according to Pinterest it isn’t.

Just like with poppy seed fruit salad dressing, it took me a while to come around to poppy seeds in my salad. But now? I’m positively hooked! We always have a jar of homemade salad dressing in the fridge, and this is the one I make most during spring and summer. There’s just something about its freshness that I appreciate when it’s warm outside. This one and my white balsamic vinaigrette. The best!

What you’ll love about this recipe

• It’s almost too easy to call a recipe! Seriously. If you can handle a measuring spoon, you can handle this dressing in less than 5 minutes. Awesome!
• It’s meal prep friendly. Yep, you can make this ahead and keep it in the fridge for about 5 days. So convenient!
• It’s zingy and fresh. Just what you need after the loooong and dreary winter months.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Lemon: I highly, highly recommend using fresh lemon juice and zest for this recipe. Depending on their size/juiciness, you’ll need 1-3 lemons to yield ¼ cup of juice.
• Olive oil: I prefer a mild olive oil in this recipe. A strong/bitter one easily overpowers the delicate flavors of the dressing.
• Honey: A mild, runny honey works best. Alternatively, use maple syrup. You can technically use granulated sugar, although the honey does help to yield a thicker dressing and dissolves much easier, so there is definitely a disadvantage to using sugar.
• Mustard: I use a smooth Dijon mustard, although yellow mustard works as well.

How to make Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing from Scratch

Step one: Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

Done. Dusted. Ready to be poured over your fave summer salad!

Recipe tips

• If I’m only making one batch, I’ll whisk it up straight in the salad bowl (no need to dirty another dish!).
• If I want a large batch for storage I just add all ingredients to a Weck jar, close the lid, shake and place in the fridge.

Storage tips

The dressing keeps in the refrigerator for 5 days, as long as you keep it in a clean, tightly sealed jar.

I love using small Weck jars to store my salad dressings. Their lids are not THE most convenient ones, but I far prefer them over the metal lids Ball jars come with, because those lids get rusty very quickly when in touch with the acid from the vinegar. The Weck jars have glass lids (I don’t put a rubber seal when I just keep salad dressing in the fridge!) that can be washed indefinitely.

You can find small Weck jars (perfect for about half a batch of this dressing) (FYI, I make a small commission for purchases made through this link) here on Amazon, but there’s also large ones available if you want to store a larger amount of dressing.

PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.

Printable recipe

Recipe first published on 03/28/2018. Updated with new photos and better text on 05/25/2021.

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