Got 2 minutes? Make homemade salad dressing! We love making salad dressings from scratch and our Low FODMAP Balsamic Vinaigrette is the one we turn to most often. The sweet yet tangy flavor profile of balsamic vinegar accents our daily green salad perfectly. All you need is balsamic vinegar, good olive oil and a bit of Dijon mustard.

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Balsamic Vinegar Is Low FODMAP

Are you surprised to see balsamic vinegar in a low FODMAP recipe? Perhaps that is because it has a big fat Yellow Light next to it on the Monash app indicating “Moderate” FODMAPs?

As always, you must click through to read the entire app entry. You will see that 1 tablespoon or 21 g is Green Light Low FODMAP. And that tablespoon is an Australian tablespoon, which means that it is really about 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon in volume that is low FODMAP. As part of a vinaigrette that is plenty!

About Balsamic Vinegar

Traditional balsamic vinegar is made in Reggio Emilia and Modena, Italy and the production is overseen by a special certifying agency. “Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale” carries a D.O.P. (“Denominazione di Origine Protetta”) stamp. This is a European Union certification that guarantees quality, production and place of origin. The only ingredient is grape must.

Grape must is made by pressing whole grapes complete with stems, skin, seeds and juice. The resulting must is cooked down until concentrated, then naturally fermented for a few weeks. Then it is matured for a minimum of 12 years in a series of barrels, each made from a different type of wood: oak, chestnut, cherry, juniper and mulberry wood are used. Every step of the process is important in producing the complex flavors, texture and color of the final vinegar.

This kind of vinegar is used sparingly, as a condiment, and can cost $200 an ounce or more. This is not the kind of balsamic vinegar you will be using for your vinaigrette.

Here are our recommendations for some balsamic vinegars that are much more affordable and work quite well in our Low FODMAP Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Roland Diamond Balsamic Vinegar (economical)
Oliviers & Co. Balsamic Vinegar of Modena
Acetaia Malpighi Balsamo of Modena
Star Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (mid-level budget choice)
Monari Federzoni Balsamic Vinegar of Modena (economical)

Dijon Mustard Is Low FODMAP, Too!

We love mustard as a condiment. Spread on bread for sandwiches, added to sauces (like cheese sauce, or Maple Mustard Sauce!) or in salad dressings like this. Monash University has lab tested several types of mustard, including Dijon.

Dijon mustard is low FODMAP in 1 Australian tablespoon portions. We always have a jar in the Test Kitchen fridge!

(If you are a condiment fan like us, check out our Ultimate Guide to Low FODMAP Condiments article).

What Is “Good” Olive Oil?

First of all, let’s talk about the fact that any pure oil is low FODMAP as it is a fat and contains no carbohydrates. When it comes to olive oil, we have always used it in our cooking, pre-FODMAP and now as well.

A “good” olive oil is one that you enjoy. Some are buttery and smooth. Some are sharp, peppery and/or astringent. They all have their place and we often have more than one bottle going at any given time. Use what you like for this vinaigrette.

Here are some olive oils that we love:

California Olive Ranch Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Napa Valley Naturals Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
O-Live & Co. Everyday Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Gaea Greek Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Frantoia Barbera Sicilian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil (a good budget choice)
Kirkland Signature Extra Virgin Olive Oil (another great budget choice)

We usually stick with cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oils for our salad dressings.

Ratios

A classic vinaigrette is all about ratios. The classic is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar. Usually that is too oil-rich for me and I go heavier on the vinegar, but when it comes to balsamic, we need to heed low FODMAP portions.

Malt vinegar, for the record, contains no FODMAPs, so you can be as liberal as you like.

Red wine vinegar, another salad dressing favorite, has a generous low FODMAP serving size of 2 Australian tablespoons, as does rice wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar.

So, you can see that you have choices. If you love balsamic vinegar, then simply test it on yourself when you are stable and in your Challenge Phase and see if you can tolerate more.

Serving Size Of Salad Dressing

We have set our serving size of salad dressing at 2 tablespoons, however, if you are trying to max out your serving, you could have more.

&frac13; cup (75 ml) of balsamic vinegar equals 5 &frac13; tablespoons. That equals 16 teaspoons. The low FODMAP serving size of balsamic vinegar is 4 teaspoons. This means that you could divide this recipe into 4 servings, which would be quite a bit.

How To Make Low FODMAP Balsamic Vinaigrette

LOL, no I didn’t do step-by-step images for this recipe! Just shake the ingredients together in a jar! That’s it.

The jar pictured is an OXO cruet that I LOVE. It closes airtight, no matter how hard you shake, and the spout makes pouring easy. And it even has measurements on the side.