Easy Garlic Scape Vinaigrette: Tangy Salad Dressing Recipe
This tasty garlic scape vinaigrette is the ultimate dressing for salads, meats, and roasted vegetables. With the vibrant flavors of fresh garlic scapes, tangy vinegar, and green onions, you’ll love adding garlicky goodness to every meal!
I love when garlic scape season comes around. It always feels like the true start to summer. I also have way too much fun trying garlic scapes in new and exciting ways!
Garlic scape dressing is one of my favorite ways to use these tasty seasonal delights. You don’t need buckets of scapes to make it and this dressing makes everything better! I drizzle it on just about everything until the very last drop is gone.
If you have garlic scapes and don’t know how to use them, you will love this recipe. It is tangy, delicious, and so easy to make!
What are Garlic Scapes?
Garlic scapes are the green stalks that emerge from a hardneck garlic plant in late spring or early summer. If left on the plant, garlic scapes become garlic flowers and produce seeds. However, most gardeners opt to remove the garlic scapes before they flower to allow the plant to put its energy into a larger garlic bulb. They don’t go to waste, fortunately, as garlic scapes are a seasonal delicacy. These tender, green stalks taste like garlicky asparagus and can be used in a variety of delicious recipes.
How to Get Garlic Scapes
The most common way home cooks obtain garlic scapes is by growing them at home! If you have hardneck garlic growing in your garden, you will inevitably get garlic scapes when the time is right. Hardneck garlic does require some planning ahead as it must be planted in the fall for a harvest the following summer. If you didn’t plant garlic last fall, there are some other options.
Garlic scapes are not usually found in a grocery store, but many small farmers sell their garlic scapes when they are in season. Look for garlic scapes at the farmer’s market or in a CSA box around May or June. If you aren’t sure when they are in season in your area, ask your local farmer when they expect their garlic scapes to be ready!
Why You’ll Love This Dressing
Easy to Make: It doesn’t take long at all to whip up a batch of garlic scape vinaigrette! All you have to do is toss everything in a blender and hit the start button.
Tangy: If you love garlic, you will love this recipe! This vinaigrette has so many delightful flavors that will make your salad pop.
Seasonal: I love using what’s available in the present season in all of the creative ways I can (that’s why most of my recipes are seasonal!). This recipe will allow you to experience garlic scapes in a new way and enjoy them to their fullest potential.
Uses for Garlic Scape Vinaigrette
This vinaigrette is more than just a salad dressing, though that is one of my favorite uses for it. Here are just a few ideas for spicing up a meal with garlic scape vinaigrette:
- Marinade: This dressing makes a great quick marinade for chicken, tofu, and more.
- Sauce: Drizzle this dressing over roasted potatoes, salmon, or grilled veggies to add some flavor. To make it a thicker sauce, you can add some yogurt or sour cream when blending.
- Pasta salad: The dressing is a critical element that can make or break a pasta salad! You will love any pasta salad that’s made with this tangy vinaigrette.
- Try it on my quinoa arugula salad! This dressing makes a great addition to one of my all-time favorite salad recipes.
More Delicious Garlic Scape Recipes
I went all in on the garlic scapes this year! Check out my garlic scape pesto, garlic scape compound butter, or find all of my favorite garlic scape recipes in one place.
Tangy Garlic Scape Vinaigrette
This tasty garlic scape vinaigrette is the ultimate dressing for salads, meats, and roasted vegetables. With the vibrant flavors of fresh garlic scapes, tangy vinegar, and green onions, you’ll love adding garlicky goodness to every meal!
Ingredients
- 4 garlic scapes
- ½ cup avocado oil
- ¼ cup vinegar of choice (I used white wine vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 green onions
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Begin by blanching the garlic scapes. To do that, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Remove the flower buds from the end of the scapes and place the stems in the boiling water. Boil the scapes for 2 minutes, then promptly remove them and place them in an ice bath for a few minutes.
- In a blender, combine the garlic scapes with the rest of the ingredients. Blend on high for about 30 seconds, until the scapes and onions are completely pulverized.
- Store in the fridge for up to two weeks in an airtight container.
Notes
To make a creamy sauce instead of salad dressing, add some cour cream or plain yogurt before blending.
