A creamy and tart lemon poppy seed salad dressing that’s destined to become a family favorite and staple in your fridge for the summer! Use it with your favorite salads, like strawberry avocado spinach salad.
Sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to get when you come to this site. Sometimes might find yourself scouring through pages of decadent desserts, and other times you’re pinning gluten free almond honey protein bars.
On Monday you might be craving some baked mac and cheese, and then on Tuesday you need some raspberry rosé sangria.
I like to believe I’ve got options for you, regardless of the day or the craving.
Here’s a prime example:
My last new recipe used strawberries to create this ridiculously rich, ooey gooey, chocolatey no-bake strawberry s’mores cake.
This recipe is light, creamy, and intended to be poured on salads. But those salads could have strawberries in them, so… that’s the dotted line to any relevance between the two.
Quick story: So, the head of my tripod recently broke which left me without a mount for my camera to take any kind of action shots. I had ordered a new one, but on the day I wanted to do a last minute shoot for this dressing it hadn’t yet arrived.
I hadn’t even planned on making this, it was just a last minute addition to dinner and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to grab a few pictures before the light completely disappeared.
And of course, I couldn’t remember where all my lighting equipment was in the mess that is our office, so I just threw it on a windowsill that still had a touch of light.
Seriously, you guys – moving turns a completely organized person with OCD into a scattered lunatic that sometimes walks out the front door for work while wearing slippers. True story.
So you know what happens when you try to frantically take action shot pictures on a windowsill with waning light without the help of a tripod?
Spoiler alert: A giant mess, is what happens.
All over your new, white windowsills.
And then a cat jumps up to investigate while you walk away for five seconds to get paper towels.
And then another cat tries to “help” and you end up pushing two cats out of the way with your ass and one hand while you sop up pooled dressing with the other hand.
No cat photo-bombing photos this time – I was too busy trying not to throw them out of said window and preventing salad dressing from becoming a permanent window garnish.
SO ANYWAY. The lesson here is that you shouldn’t do what I did, and just make this lemon poppy seed dressing with an immersion blender (aff link) and just pour it into a jar like a normal person. #foodbloggerproblems
My favorite way to use this dressing is on a spinach salad with strawberries, blueberries and almond slices. I’m so basic, I know.
But there’s a reason it’s such a popular combo – it’s delicious! It’s the perfect spring/summer salad and requires very little effort.
A few more ideas for using lemon poppy seed dressing
- If you’re not into avocado dressings, try my girl Lauren’s gigantic and fantastic Grilled Corn Salad and swap the avocado dressing for this lemon poppy seed liquid sunshine.
- Swap the leafy greens for heartier greens like asparagus and broccoli in this side dish salad from Foodal that’s perfect for any summer BBQ.
- We’re getting crazy here, but stay with me – try swapping it out the standard dressing in this ultimate chicken caesar salad!
- Or try it as a marinade for some grilled chicken! Plating Pixels has tips for making the best grilled chicken you possibly can.
However you use it, I hope you also call it liquid sunshine. I know people use that phrase and “liquid gold” for all sorts of things, from melted butter to bright yellow cheese sauces, but I feel like this is the only justified use for the phrase.
Maybe we can tweak it a little and call this liquid lemony sunshine. Or creamy dotted sunshine. Or really goddamn good salad dressing.
[shrug] Tomato, tomatoe.
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of one lemon, about ¼ cup
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons greek yogurt, optional
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and thoroughly combine with an immersion blender (or use a food processor if you don't have an immersion blender).
- Pour on your favorite salad and enjoy!
Lisa
Do you prefer it with or without the Greek Yogurt?
Leslie Kiszka
Personally, I like it with the yogurt when I’m using it as a salad dressing because it makes it a little bit thicker and I like my dressing to cling to greens rather than pool in the bottom. But, when I use it as a marinade, I make it without the greek yogurt!
Lisa
Thank you! Much appreciated. I made it today and it is wonderful.
Leslie Kiszka
I’m so glad you liked it!
Eileen xo
Such a tasty dressing, perfect for salads and poultry. I hear you about moving. We are planning on moving next year and I do not look forward to not knowing where to find things. I love that you call this dressing your liquid lemon sunshine.
thepackmomma
Hahaha… I don’t have cats any more but I do have have 4 very ‘helpful’ dogs so I feel ya on this!!! But please know that your pictures are lovely and this recipe is amazing. Super refreshing and easy.. perfect to pour on EVERYTHING!!
Claire | The Simple, Sweet Life
Lemon poppy seed is such a refreshing combo but I would have never thought to put it in a salad dressing! I’m definitely going to have to give this a try now!
Ahead of Thyme
Yumm! This poppy seed dressing looks so refreshing, I bet it tastes amazing on everything!! Pinning to try it on the weekend!
Sara
I feel you, girl. On the moving AND the cats. I especially love when I’m about to start shooting and I start getting yelled at by one of them because she wants to be pet. #catmomlife BUT, the important part here is that your dressing looks amazing. I’m all for light and healthy when it’s hot outside – and I love that your blog jumps around just as much as mine does. Can’t wait to check back in later!
Marisa Franca
You’re telling me about brains and moving — I swear I’ve lost it!! Put the house up for sale and it sold the first day — OMG now the boxing. Well, regardless, lets talk about your delicious dressing. Whenever I think of poppyseed dressing I think of a special occasion salad. It does turn a fruit salad into a real treat.
Anne Murphy
We just moved last winter, and I love your description… Me – “NO! You can’t put that there! It’s the only place in the house with natural light!” I bet there are people who don’t think that way… But that dressing looks so lovely – lemon and poppyseed are a wonderful combination, and I have to try this!
DK Desu
I liked this recipe and am looking forward to lemon poppyseed dressing. I have a bumper crop of Meyer lemons and am trying everything to use them up well. So I have the lemon juice and always have the EVO and honey. Turned out I had spicy brown mustard but was out of Dijon. Then the Greek yogurt got eaten, so I used regular yogurt. And finally, that little packet of poppyseeds in the back of the cupboard had gone bad (seriously bad). So I used some toasted sesame seeds. Turned out fine, lovely roasted sesame flavor and nicely piquant. However, I”m looking forward to lemon poppyseed dressing soon. Thank you for the recipe!
Leslie Kiszka
Sounds like you were super resourceful, glad it worked out! Thanks so much for sharing your experience and leaving a rating.
prasanna hede
This is the perfect time to share this recipe,homemade dressing is so awesome! Need to try this as fed up of regular one’s.
Kitty
I have to make this dressing! I love berry salads but get sick of the standard balsamic. This looks so bright and refreshing!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness
Haha, your cats sounded like they just wanted to help you clean up your mess ;)
I love lemon poppy seed muffins, so I imagine I would love this dressing as well!
amarrison42
I love the simplicity of this recipe and I always like to have a bunch of different salad dressings up my sleeve for summer salads. The addition of the poppy seeds gives it a really unique twist too!
vanprice
Oh, I bet this is delicious. It looks just wonderful! Pinning for later.