Copycat Recipe: Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
This copycat Chipotle honey vinaigrette is smoky, sweet, tangy, and just like the original—perfect for drizzling over salads, grilled meats, or whatever you’re craving.
I love Chipotle’s chipotle honey vinaigrette so I came up with this copycat version by fiddling around with the ingredients listed on the Chipotle website. It tastes almost identical to the original. Toss it with romaine lettuce, beans, corn, avocado, grilled meats—or all of the above!
And if you’re a big Chipotle fan, you’ll also love my copycat Chipotle chicken, cilantro-lime rice and fresh corn salsa. Once you try it all together, you might not miss the takeout version at all.
“DELISH!!! Exactly the same as the restaurant. I’ve made it at least 6 times…always have it in my fridge. It’s good on everything!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
- Red wine vinegar: Adds the tangy kick that balances the sweetness of the honey and richness of the oil.
- Honey: A touch of sweetness goes a long way here—it rounds out the flavors and gives the vinaigrette some depth.
- Vegetable oil: The neutral base that ties it all together.
- Dried oregano & cumin: For that earthy, unmistakably Chipotle-style flavor.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce: The key to that smoky heat—don’t skip them. You’ll find them in small cans in the Latin section of most grocery stores.
- Garlic: Adds a savory flavor without overpowering.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
Step 1: Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or small food processor.
Step 2: Blend. Pulse or blend until evenly combined. The vinaigrette will keep nicely for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Just give it a good shake before using to recombine any separated ingredients.
Pro tip: Leftover chipotle peppers in adobo freeze beautifully. Spoon them into an ice cube tray (or drop tablespoon-sized portions onto a parchment-lined baking sheet), freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe container. You’ll be glad to have them on hand for next time.
More Salad Dressings You May Like
Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and process until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I was super skeptical and figured this would mostly taste like the dressing you get at Chipotle and turns out, it tastes exactly like it. I subbed olive oil for the vegetable oil as I’ve been reading a lot lately on cheap, processed oils caused a lot of inflammation and not being super healthy. Turned out amazing, and enough to last me at least a week or 2. Thank you for the recipe!
This is amazing! Came out PERFECT!
Hello, I decided to try this recipe…I just have one issue…it came out too thick. The taste was about the same but the consistency was thicker than Chipotles. How can I make it thinner?
Hi Michelle, You can add a little water (just a bit at a time) until you get it to the consistency you want. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
I wanted to make my own chipotle salad bowl at home but it’s just not the same without the dressing. Enter this recipe to the rescue. Sooooo good! And it was super easy to make. I only used a teaspoon of salt.
We don’t have Chipotle here in Ireland so I can’t compare it. However, it’s super delicious, I made mine slightly spicy as I could only get chopped chipotle peppers in sauce, so bit off with my guessing.
Thank you so much. I love this dressing at Chipotle and now I can put it on all my salads (and more) at home!!!!!
We were having taco salad tonight and I gave this recipe a try since I had all of the ingredients on hand. I used avocado oil and cut the salt to 1 teaspoon. It is delicious, so close to the real deal! I would probably make 1/2 the recipe next time, meanwhile I will be putting it on everything this week to use up what I made.
Not exactly like Chipolte…..BETTER!!!
Taste exactly like chipotle dressing thanks so much my chipotle is always out of it
I’m sorry to be rude but I bought all the ingredients and feel others coming behind me should know this is NOTHING like the chipotle dressing it is WAY too spicy.
Hi Rachel, in case you aren’t used to cooking with chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, it’s always best to add a little bit at a time. For various recipes, sometimes I need to add more than what a recipe calls for, while other times I need to add less than what’s in the recipe. To me, it also seems like the heat in the chiles varies a bit from can to can. It could be that you still won’t like this as much as Chipotle’s dressing, but it is awfully good!
I used everything but the oil, I subbed the oil for vegetable however mine came out tasting too much like chipotles and it made it hard to eat. Maybe I did something wrong?
Hi Thao, you mentioned you used vegetable in place of the oil. Can you clarify what you mean by vegetable? And are you saying that was too spicy?