Sunshine Salad Dressing
This creamy honey-mustard salad dressing recipe is lightened up with Greek yogurt. No mayo here! This homemade dressing is easy to make, too. I love it so much that I nicknamed it "sunshine salad dressing."
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on October 1, 2024
Let’s rewind to my trip to Costa Rica last month with my grandmother. It was the last day on our group trip, and we arrived at Sibu for our final dinner together. Sibu produces the best chocolate I’ve ever tasted, and they greeted us with rum-spiked, spiced hot chocolate.
I was literally a kid in a candy store all night as they presented a lesson in chocolate history (with wine and chocolate) and moved on to an incredible dinner.
After appetizers, they handed us chopped salads that looked fairly basic at first glance—I remember lettuce, tomato, avocado, feta and dressing. Then I took a bite and forgot about chocolate for a minute. That dressing!
I immediately tracked down the owner of the place to ask about it. He said it was a “honey-Dijon vinaigrette with yogurt base” and I vowed to recreate it at home. Mind you, this dressing is quite different from a classic vinaigrette.
I started with the honey-mustard vinaigrette that I made for my cookbook, which I love as written. I reduced the oil and added plain Greek yogurt until it tasted like the dressing at Sibu.
This dressing is essentially a creamy honey-mustard dressing made with Greek yogurt instead of mayonnaise. It offers a more luxurious texture than any other honey-mustard dressing I’ve tried. I’m usually skeptical of using yogurt in place of mayonnaise or sour cream (mayo and sour cream have their place), but this salad dressing wouldn’t be the same without it.
Healthy Honey-Mustard Dressing
The only problem with this dressing is that “honey-Dijon vinaigrette with yogurt base” doesn’t do it justice. “Healthy honey-mustard dressing” sounds bland, and “creamy honey-mustard dressing” doesn’t quite capture the tangy deliciousness of the yogurt.
I dubbed it “Sunshine Salad Dressing” since it brightens up my salads so well. I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer, so I’m sharing it today for all of your side salad needs. The recipe yields a lot (almost 1 1/2 cups). I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finishing it off. It makes a stellar dip for vegetables, too!
I’ve been keeping a big jar of it in my fridge for the past couple of weeks, and it goes with just about everything. Try this honey-mustard dressing with any of the following:
- Fresh greens of any kind
- Avocado
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Carrots
- Apples
- Bell peppers
- Goat cheese, feta or cheddar cheese
- Sunflower seeds, pecans, or almonds
Don’t miss my sunshine slaw with quinoa or my roasted and raw carrot salad with avocado, which both call for this dressing. I have more salads over here.
Please let me know how you like this honey-mustard dressing in the comments! I hope you love it as much as I do.
Watch How to Make Sunshine Dressing
Sunshine Salad Dressing
This creamy honey-mustard salad dressing recipe is lightened up with Greek yogurt. No mayo here! It’s so easy to whisk this dressing together. Recipe yields almost 1 ½ cups and keeps well for 10 to 14 days.
Ingredients
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (any % fat will do)
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup Dijon mustard
- 3 to 4 tablespoons honey, to taste
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or more lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 twists of freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup or bowl, combine all of the ingredients as listed. Whisk until blended. Taste, and season with additional pepper if necessary.
- This dressing is intentionally bold, but if it tastes too tart for your liking, whisk in another tablespoon of honey.
- Store leftover salad dressing in the refrigerator, covered, for 10 to 14 days.
Notes
Make it dairy free: If you have a favorite unsweetened dairy-free plain yogurt, it should work well here.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
That looks delicious! I’m always looking for something a little healthier than ranch to dip my veggies in!
This would be a great dip too! Anyway I can eat it right now, I do. :)
Yes! Making no this asap!
Would love to hear what you think, Sarah!
I LOVE honey-mustard dressing, and this sounds fantastic! Thanks so much for posting the recipe. I’m making it tonight! Love your blog <3
You’re very welcome, Lisa! And thank you. What did you think?
Absolutely delicious, and so easy to make. I really have no excuse to buy pre-made dressings!
Could I substitute plain yogurt for the Green yogurt?
Yes, you can. Just note that the consistency might be more runny and the flavor might change a little depending on the type of plain yogurt you are using.
Thanks, Kate!
I’d use plain fat free yogurt if making dressing and Greek if I were doing a dip. I’m making this today and I have a tub of plain, f/f yogurt in my fridge I’m going to use. I prefer that because I’m using it for a salad.
Hi Kate! This looks great. I read the whole post (as I usually do), and not looking for one, I think I spotted a typo in the last paragraph (“I have a few salads lined up using this salad”). Just thought I’d mention it to you. :) Can’t wait to try this recipe! I don’t know how you make all recipes so delicious, but I’m so grateful!
Oops! Thank you for pointing that out, Sara. Just fixed it. Hope you enjoy the dressing!
looks yummy, can’t wait to try it!
I would love to hear what you think, Karl!
I love your cookbook and this dressing sounds amazing. Can you give us an insight on your trip to Costa Rica? Thank you.
Thank you, Phyllis! I appreciate it. My trip was really fun. I went with my 80-year-old grandmother. We got to see a lot of things and the weather was amazing!
Love your honey-mustard vinaigrette, so I bet this will be a keeper as well!
It’s so good! I’m seriously putting it on everything.
Could this be made with mayo if that’s all I have in my fridge right now ? :)
The yogurt is really key here, but you can try it!
I know this is an old comment but I’ve always made my honey dijon/honey mustard with a bit of light mayo and it’s delicious.
Your salad dressings are the mosssst reliable! Can’t wait to try this twist on my fave from your cookbook!
Thank you!
Let me start by saying I’m not a salad or dressing lover….. I just made this and it is really really delicious!
Wonderful to hear, Ashley!
I love Sibu! Best chocolate in Costa Rica, but I have yet to eat at their restaurant. Thank you! <3
Welcome! I love that you know what I’m referring to.
I love honey mustard dressing and i actually have all the ingredients!
I would love to hear what you think, Sandy!
This is amazing! I love making my own salad dressings and this one will be added to the rotation. Thank you
Thank you, Megan for your review! I’m glad this will be added to your rotation.
This looks like a perfect dressing for the hum-drum winter weather!
It’s so bright and wonderful! Let me know what you think Deb, once you try it.
Sounds delicious! One of the things I like to do for dressings of this type is using one of those little electric whiskers/frothers (a la ikea, 3 euros). It whisks in a second and makes it even a bit more creamy!Also it doesn’t split once on your salad.
I will have to think about trying that! Thank you, Lynne for sharing.
I love that you put the number of twists of black pepper in the recipe, so much easier than measuring out fresh-ground pepper:) I’m making this dressing for my salad today, excited to try it out!
I’m glad you found that helpful, Anne! I would love to hear what you think once you try it.
Yummy! I am addicted to kale salads. This lovely dressing stands up to the kale in zesty & lively way.
I have to admit – I licked the spoon :)
I love that! Licking the spoon is the cook’s right. :) Thank you, Angela for sharing.
You’re dressings are always great, but this was fantastic!! It really was sunshine on a salad with avocado, strawberry, red onion, walnuts, and feta :) My husband also loved it with his salad topped with salmon. Is it summer yet????
Delicious, Tricia! I know, summer will be here soon enough. :)
Ooooh, Kate! This dressing was fantabulously yummy all by itself! But here is a twist for you…for the “extra veggie fried rice” recipe, instead of adding the soy sauce, I drizzled some of this dressing over the rice it and it was slammin’!
That sounds interesting! I love the creativity, Kecia. Thanks for sharing!
I made this tonight. So easy, and so delicious! Better than any honey mustard I’ve ever bought in a store!
Thank you, Sarah for sharing! It’s pretty great and I would have to agree with you.
This is delicious, perfect as written. Been eating it every night on my salad.
Thank you, Cathryn!
Looks fabulous! Love your book too! Keep up the great recipes!
Thank you, Nikki! I appreciate it. :)
This dressing is absolutely delicious, a new favorite! Thanks as always for the consistently awesome recipes, I rarely cook anything that isn’t on your blog or in your cookbook! :)
You’re so sweet, Mary! I’m happy you have been able to enjoy the recipes. I appreciate your review, so much!
Kate, I couldn’t wait to make this dressing. I made it last night and absolutely LOVED it. I served it with a very large salad, but unfortunately, didn’t take any pictures. I used the larger amount of honey and added some extra pepper, but other than that I went right by the directions. My husband is having a Super Bowl party and wants my “baked wings”, so I may put this out for them as one of the dipping sauces. He loved it too! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
Great! I’m happy you liked it so much and are already thinking of what you can use with it next. Thanks for the review, Sharyn!
Made this last night, and everyone loved it!! Thanks for the recipe! So simple – and yet sweet, tangy, and creamy all at the same time!
You’re welcome, Chloe!
I made this dressing this morning to go with my afternoon snack :). I can’t wait to try it. Thank-you for the recipe!
What did you think, Sandy! What did you pair it with?
I made this last night and it is seriously delicious! Kate, you are the salad dressing master! I have made all the dressing in your cookbook too, they are all SOOO good! This one is yum yum yummy!!
Aww, thanks Katy! I’m happy you’re a fan. I love making dressings!
Honey mustard is among my very favorites, so thank you for posting. However, I don’t like yogurt at all, It’s just too sour for me, and in my experience it makes everything taste yogurty. Would sour cream and mayonnaise, combined, do the trick?
Hmm… I’m sorry to hear that! You could try to use mayonnaise for it. Hope this helps!
This was so simple to make, and with ingredients that I always have as staples. It was delicious!
Great, Anne!
What a great dressing!!!!!
Thank you, Patti!
Your salad dressings are great, and I love this one, too. My only edit would be to reduce the honey. It was a bit sweet for my taste so I “tarted” it up a little. It will work as a dressing, a dipping sauce and marinade, too. It’s a triple threat!
Thank you, Jean! Yes, adjust if you need to. I like the sweeter version of this as it balanced well with the tart.
I’m with you! I only had about a tablespoon or two left in the jar so I scraped out as much as I could and worried that it wouldn’t be sweet enough, but it was perfect!! Really loved it.
Since I started making your dressings, I have found that I can’t stand the store-bought anymore. One thing that is so great about your recipes of all kinds is that the ingredients are mostly things that keep well on the shelf of in the fridge for a long time!
Crazy what happens when you start to make your own dressings, right!
As I type this, I am enjoying my first salad made with this dressing! I LOVE it! I will absolutely make this again and again!
Love, love! thank you, Dede. I appreciate the review.
Delicious, had 2 bowls of crunchy slaw with it, love the tangy flavor, dijon always makes my nose tingle a bit! This was great, enjoyed every bite!
Wonderful! Thank you, April for sharing.
Absolutely love this dressing! I whipped it up as soon as I read your post (at 11 pm) becz I had all the ingredients on hand and I knew it would be a hit. I was not disappointed! Since I prefer savoury over sweet, I also reduced the honey to 2 tbsp, added a few drops of Tabasco and a squeeze of umami paste. Now I can’t wait to try your slaw recipe!
Ha, that’s great! Thank you, Suze for your review and for trying the recipe immediately.
Would you use coconut yogurt to make it vegan? Cheers
You could, yes. It might make it a little more rich rather than adding a tart flavor. But let me know how it goes if you try it!
For anyone wondering about a dairy-free option – I made this with Forager Unsweetened Plain Cashewgurt and it was creamy and delicious! I also reduced the amount of honey to 2 TBSP for a more subtle sweetness.
Thanks for sharing, Alissa!
I finally made one of your recipes after drooling over them for months…this dressing is so perfect! You know something’s good when you taste it and have to stop yourself from continuing to stand at your counter and eat the rest with a spoon! Looking forward to trying more of your recipes :)
That’s great! What a great problem to have. I appreciate the review, Dani.
By far, the BEST salad dressing recipe I have ever made- and I have made a lot. A little sweet, just a little spice but with the yogurt, it all blends so well together. I can’t say enough good things about this recipe. This goes into the permanent recipe file!
It’s a new favorite of mine! I’m glad you agree, Kelly.
I made this salad dressing yesterday and it is absolutely delicious. Very quick and easy to make also which of course makes it even better.
It’s a new favorite, that is for sure! Thank you, for your review Annika.
Delicious! I roasted some cauliflower & made a salad with arugula, strawberries, radishes for crunch, the cauliflower and this awesome dressing. It was fantastic!!
Sounds like a great compliment for this salad! Thank you, Vanessa for sharing.
I’ve only made salad dressing myself a couple of times, but I’ve resolved to stop buying it from the store. My husband was a skeptical critic of this idea but his mind was changed after trying this! I know this is a vegetarian recipe site, but I look forward to having my leftover dressing on a nice big salad with chicken, it will pair perfectly.
Once you find the right ones, it beats store bought that’s for sure! This is a very versatile dressing. Enjoy :)
Omg, this dressing is fantastic. Made it on the sunshine slaw for a dinner tonight and my guests raved. Have already shared the recipe. Will definitely be making again.
Happy you think so, Sonia! It’s addicting for sure.
This is my favorite dressing now! It’s so delicious and addicting that oftentimes after I’ve finished a salad with it for dinner I’d sneak into my kitchen a few hours later and finish this thing by dipping carrots in it :D I just can’t stop, it’s soooo good! Thank you Kate!!!
I know right?! You’re welcome! I appreciate the review, Maryna.
I am always really skeptical of/don’t like the taste of dressings that use yogurt in place of mayo or sour cream, but this dressing is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing. It literally is a game changer!
It is a game changer for sure! Thank you, Karina for the review.
Perfect and delicious! Loved it!!
Thank you, Cara!
Yum! I finally picked up some lemons and made this today for my lunch. I love honey mustard and this is delicious. Thank you!jeni
Wonderful! Thank you, Jeni.
Delicious! :-) I made this dressing tonight with a quinoa-amaranth-green peas salad, it was amazing! Thank you very much for this nice treasure!
Delicious way to have it! Sounds great. Thank you, for sharing.
Hi Kate!
I give your Sunshine Salad Dressing 5 stars! I used it as a dressing for a kale, broccoli sprout, and Chinese cabbage salad. It tasted amazing. It’s a recipe that I will pass-on because it deserves to be shared. Thank you.
Tasty! Thank you, Julie for sharing how you used it.