Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette (Copycat)
That smoky-sweet Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette you love and crave, now made in your own kitchen with easy pantry ingredients. Your new favorite salad dressing!
“Do you want the vinaigrette on the side?”
They ask this every time I go to Chipotle and order a salad. Little do they know, the vinaigrette on the side is a primary driver to order a salad in the first place.
Sure, I love the chicken, the rice, the veggies, the guac, this salsa, and that salsa… but the vinaigrette. It’s the yin to my yang, the perfect smoky-sweet compliment to an oversized (and is there any other kind?), delicious bowl of Chipotle goodness.
Do I want the vinaigrette on the side? Yes, preferably an entire vat. And a spoon.
Faster than you can spell Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette, you can whip up a batch in your food processor or blender using mostly (or all) pantry ingredients. I say “mostly” because if at all possible, you’ll want to use fresh oregano here. For the most authentic flavor.
Speaking of authentic, Chipotle uses Rice Bran Oil in all of their food products. While I’d love to try it in my Chipotle Copycat recipes, I haven’t tracked down a high-quality rice bran oil locally yet. So, I always use olive oil in my recipes with superb results. If you have another neutral-flavored oil on hand, feel free to try that as well.
Last: The adobo sauce. One reader left a great comment on my Chipotle Chicken recipe about buying a container of straight adobo sauce. This is genius! Normally I take 1 Tablespoon out of a can of Chipotle peppers in adobo and then try to figure out what to do with the rest. (By the way, my Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers recipe uses leftover/homeless chipotle peppers). But with straight adobo, you can use what you want with no waste.
As with any blender-salad-dressing, you first blend all the non-oil ingredients, then drizzle in your oil until it emulsifies. It takes literally one minute once you hit “process” and you’re done.
I’m pretty sure this salad dressing has potential as a future marinade for grilled meats. Trying that next!
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Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette (Copycat)
Ingredients
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon salt (see notes)
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups rice bran oil or olive oil (see notes)
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, combine the vinegar, honey, salt, water, adobo sauce, cumin, garlic powder, oregano, and pepper. Turn on the processor.
- With the motor still running, drizzle in the oil until the salad dressing comes together and emulsifies. Serve immediately or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe Notes
It’s okay to use a lighter hand on the salt and taste as you go.
Chipotle uses Rice Bran oil in all of their products. Olive oil is more widely available (probably already in your pantry) and works equally well, especially if it has a neutral taste.
Adapted from Chipotle's ingredient statement.
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Chipotle’s vinaigrette is really good and I’m excited to make it. Thank you for sharing :)
Thank you so much, Janette! Calvin’s favorite way to eat it is on Chipotle’s cilantro-lime rice. Just the rice and the dressing, that’s all he needs. ;) I feel like we’ve had this conversation before….
Awesome post! Would you believe I have yet to try their salads? I’m a burrito bowl girl… Currently working on a sofritas copycat recipe :) I can’t stop glaring at these pics! Gorgeous!!!! And I really love how easily it comes together in the blender!!! Killer!
You know, I just order a salad to get the dressing. I WANT a burrito bowl, and I’m sure they’d give me the dressing to go with it, but I just feel weird! For no reason! The sofritas are SO GOOD too! Yum!
I love this, must try. Just found your blog and I’m really excited about all the beautiful Southern Californian cooking – will come back for inspiration!
Thank you so much, Hanna! I try to keep things colorful if nothing else. :)
OK, so if I ever visit the USA again (hopefully I will some day!) I’m heading straight to Chipotle. Thanks to you I know exactly what to order! :-)
In the meantime, with your help I can make my own. Thanks, honey!!
Not IF you visit the US – WHEN. When, Helen. You are getting your little British bum over here someday! If you make the dressing (I know being a blogger means you so rarely get to cook for fun) I hope you love it. It’s my fave!
OMG! I don’t need Chipotle any more. I have you! (This looks so good!)
Ha ha, thanks Abbe! This recipe has definitely been put through the ringer. I hope you love it!
Love everything “Chipotle” ! And all your copycat recipes are awesome, Meggan! Need to try this vinaigrette very soon!
I bet this luscious dressing has a healthy kick to it. I can only use a teaspoon (at the most) for my dressings. The Hubby has a “wuss mouth”. But he is getting better.
A sweet and spicy dressing? Count me in. This is my kind of dressing. It will go great with any salad recipe. Maybe with potatoes too.
I’m pretty sure it’s good on anything, especially potatoes! My son eats it on rice all the time. :)
That is one gorgeous salad!
This sounds really delicious! I’m always on the lookout for an easy dressing recipe! And a Chipotle one none-the-less?! Will be trying soon!!
If you want it exactly like Chipotle makes it, omit the cumin and garlic powder,
Really? I can’t wait to try it that way! Thanks for the tip, I’ll likely update my recipe based on your feedback. Thank you so much!
Funny bc chipotle lists garlic and cumin as part of the ingredients..
Right! I always base my recipes off their ingredient list. Or at least I try to. :) Been working on the Barbacoa lately, there’s not much too it! It’s crazy how simple it is. Thank you for your support Nancy. :)
Hola Meggan, te saluda Juan Carlos desde mexico, te felicito por todas estas recetas tan sabrosas, un fuerte abrazo.
How long can this stay refrigerated for?
Hi David, for stuff like this I always refer to CDC guidelines and say – 4 days. Most of the ingredients are shelf-stable. The only one that isn’t is the adobo sauce, so that would drag the whole thing down to “4 days for leftovers” per the CDC. However, I have let it hang out in my fridge for a week or more with no issues. So, feel free to use your own judgement! Thanks for the question.