This Golden Ratio Will Make The Perfect Vinaigrette, Every Time

Plus four delicious vinaigrette recipes, backed up by science.

November 21, 2023

four leaves of different types of lettuce are coated in four different flavours of vinaigrette

Produced by Aimee Nishitoba, Photography by Carmen Cheung, Food Styling by Michelle Rabin, Prop Styling by Madeleine Johari.

Every day at around 1 p.m., my stomach rumbles, reminding me to snap shut my laptop and shuffle to the kitchen to build my hearty lunch salad: leafy greens and toppings of different textures piled high with some protein. The whole plate gets drizzled with a velvety vinaigrette that softens the bitterness of the greens and highlights the sweetness of the veggies while seasoning it all to crisp, bright perfection. There’s a definite science—and a bit of art—to whipping up the perfect vinaigrette, which keeps me coming back to the same lunch day after day.

The Fundamentals: Oil and Acid

The classic recipe for a vinaigrette is three parts oil to one part acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice. The oil provides a smooth base and carries fat-soluble flavours, while the acid adds freshness. This ratio isn’t just a cook’s handy memory tool, however: It’s grounded in two specific principles. The first is balance of flavour. A good vinaigrette shouldn’t taste greasy or aggressively tart. The three-to-one ratio avoids both—you get the smooth richness of the oil with just the right touch of acidity to cut through. It also sets the stage for additional flavours: You can add honey or sugar for a little sweetness or aromatics like minced herbs, shallots or lemon zest without disturbing the balance.

The second principle is the physical forces at play. Oil and vinegar don’t naturally combine. By whisking them together vigorously, you break the oil into tiny droplets that scatter throughout the vinegar, creating a creamy emulsion that beautifully coats the salad. If the proportions are off, the oil droplets may be too big or too close to each other and they can come back together, causing the mixture to separate out enough that it doesn’t recombine right away, skewing the acid-to-fat flavour harmony.

Emulsifiers

In cooking, an emulsifier is an ingredient that helps stabilize a mixture of two or more non-mixable liquids, such as oil and water. This stabilization occurs because emulsifiers contain both water-attracting and fat-attracting parts. The emulsifier coats the droplets of oil with its fat-loving properties, while its water-loving side attracts the vinegar. Without an emulsifier, vinaigrettes are an unstable mixture; they will only combine temporarily, and the two liquids will eventually separate.

Common emulsifying ingredients include egg yolks, mayonnaise and—my personal favourite—mustard. Adding one of these helps bridge the gap between the two liquids, creating a more stable mixture.

Here are four ways to put these principles to use, with one universal vinaigrette recipe and three delicious flavour variations.

A small bunch of vegetable leaves set atop a bowl of universal vinaigrette

Simple Vinaigrette

This easy vinaigrette recipe is infinitely customizable to suit your flavour preferences—and absolutely delicious as it is. Whisking the salt fully into the vinegar first ensures that it dissolves completely for perfect seasoning in every drop. Get this vinaigrette recipe.