Copycat Recipe: Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
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This chipotle honey vinaigrette tastes just like the original.
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! By the way, if you’re a big Chipotle fan, you’ll love this Chipotle-inspired cilantro-lime rice.
“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: Provides acidity and tanginess, balancing the sweetness of the honey and the richness of the oil.
- Honey: Adds sweetness and depth of flavor, enhancing the overall taste of the vinaigrette.
- Vegetable Oil: Helps create a smooth and emulsified texture, ensuring the vinaigrette coats ingredients evenly.
- Dried Oregano: Infuses herbal notes to the dressing’s flavor profile.
- Salt and Pepper: Enhance flavor and season the vinaigrette.
- Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce: Bring smoky heat and complexity, replicating the signature flavor of Chipotle’s vinaigrette. You can find them in the Latin section of most supermarkets.
- Garlic: Provides aromatic depth and savory undertones.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
Simply combine all of the ingredients in a blender or mini food processor.
And process until smooth. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Sure! It 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.
Yes, you can definitely freeze leftover chipotle peppers in adobo. Portion them into small amounts, freeze in ice cube trays, transfer to a freezer-safe container once solid, and thaw as needed for future use. If you don’t have an ice cube tray, simply spread the chipotle peppers and adobo sauce in tablespoon-sized portions on a baking sheet lined with parchment, freeze until solid, then transfer to a freezer-safe container for storage.
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Chipotle Honey Vinaigrette
This chipotle honey vinaigrette tastes just like the original.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon 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
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- Serving size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 173
- Fat: 17 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 6 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Sodium: 172 mg
- Cholesterol: 4 mg
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.
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I make this recipe all the time. Everyone absolutely loves it! It’s become a staple in my household.
I hardly ever post, I really should, but this recipe made me stop to post because its so freaking good. I would say exactly like Chipotle but honestly better, you know what’s in it. Absolutely lip smacking delicous!
Thanks, Kelly. I’m trying it tonight just because of your comment.
WOW! This was amazing! I really enjoyed my carnitas salad from Chipotle last night, so I decided to make my own rendition at home for dinner. My search for a similar honey-chipotle dressing with great reviews led me to your site. I’m so glad it did, as this dressing is outstanding! I’m not a huge fan of spice, so I scraped the seeds out of the chipotles. Other than that small omission, I followed the recipe as written. Right now, I’m contemplating sticking a straw in the mason jar of dressing…It’s THAT good! Thanks so much!
How long does this stay fresh in the fridge for?
Hi Jackie, It will keep nicely for 4 – 5 days.
Tastes just like Chipotle’s version! Super simple to make with most ingredients already at home. This is a winner!
My chipotle was out of dressing so I got home and made this one! It tasted just like chipotles, but I used honey from down the street and a little less oil and it was GREAT!!!! I wanna eat this on everything!! Thanks so much!!
Good grief! This is good. I made exactly as directed. I may drink it straight from the bottle. Bless you. Bless the adobo chipotle pepper gods.
So good! I actually substituted chipotle Adobe sauce that I had and it turned out amazing. I used about 1/4 cup. I think it was the frontera brand. So easy since it’s pre-mixed.
Hi Jenn,
You mention grilled meats here. Would this go well with your fajita chicken if I were to try to create some sort of a fajita chicken salad?
Thanks! Cookbook preordered!
Sure — that sounds like a great combo! (And thanks so much for ordering the cookbook!)
Wow! This is AMAZING! I’ve been putting this on everything. I’m with everyone else – I’m ready to stick a straw in this!
So amazingly delicious.
Soooo good and simple! I used 1/2 cup of oil because I was running low. Definitely will be saving this recipe.
So you just use 2 peppers out of the can? How much sauce?
You don’t need to use any of the sauce (the peppers will be covered in a little sauce and that’s fine to include). Hope that clarifies!
Not the same color but taste great
Great recipe, I did however use light olive oil which didn’t overwhelm the recipe also cut back on the salt, I’m used to low sodium anyway.
The peppers didn’t blend very well with what I had to blend with. Next time I make it I’ll scrape the meat of the pepper and discard the skin. Dressing is chunky; rather have it creamy.
Has anyone used a balsamic instead of the red wine vinegar?
How do I make it less thick in consistency?
Hi Kim, You could add a little water (just a touch at a time) until you get it to the consistency you want. Hope that helps!
I added lime juice and it really balanced out the chipotles and a little less oil
👍
Thanks so much for creating and sharing this. Since I discovered your page we have had this dressing numerous times. Your Thai dressing is another one of our favorites. It comes together easily! Appreciate you so much.
I’m so glad that I found this recipe because I absolutely love the Chipotle version! This is delicious!! One question, what do I do with the left over sauce that the chili peppers are in? Seems like a waste to discard it.
Hi Renecia, You can freeze it in small portions to use in future recipes. And glad you like the dressing! 🙂
I love repurposing the leftover adobo sauce/ peppers into a chipotle mayo. Super easy- just blend up mayo, the chipotle adobo sauce, garlic, and lime juice. Delicious on fish tacos or any kind of burger!
Sooooo good! I love southwest/taco salads and have never been able to find a dressing that stacks up to Chipotle’s or other take-out dressings. Very simple ingredients and easy to make. This will definitely be a staple in my home!
We made this, and it’s BETTER than Chipotle. Ours, also made in the Mini Prep Plus, did not separate during storage. Love having it here at home! THANKS!
I’ve made this hundreds of times. Excellent recipe. Others on the internet call for fresh lemon or lime. I’m a fan of those but not in this recipe. If you are looking for close to authentic then this is it.
This is awesome! I always make homemade dressing but usually rotate between a couple staples. Which of course, can get a little boring. So it’s always nice to try something different and tasty!
I LOVE this recipe! The flavors in this rice are spot on and the perfect side dish for taco night. I love how easy it is and the flavors. Winner.
This may be my all-time favorite salad dressing ever, and I’m one of those people who eats salad mostly for the dressing. I double the ingredients and add an extra chipotle pepper or two. We like spicy!!!
I love this recipe so much! I’ve made it so many times. It tastes just like Chipotle’s and it’s good on everything!
Delicious! The reason I go to Chipotle is the Honey Vinaigrette. Love this recipe
When you add the chipotle peppers, do you recommend deseeding first? Or only if sensitive to spice? Thanks!
No need to deseed them, unless you’re concerned about the heat. Hope you enjoy!
Quick caveat. I have not tried this recipe (as my diet is low sugar and low salt) however, I used to work at chipotle and make this everyday in bulk. One thing we would do is combine all the ingredients in a blender except the oil. As the ingredients are blending, slowly pour in the oil. This will prevent the dressing from separating before you serve it. After it sits for a while or cools in the fridge, it will separate anyway but not as much if you do the slow pour of the oil.
I, like many here, love the chipotle salad purely for the vinagriette, but I really cannot afford to spend $8+ on essentially the dressing + rice and beans. So this weekend I made a simple corn salsa of corn + lime juice + cilantro + finely diced jalapenos and red onions, cilantro lime rice (essentially white rice + lime juice + cilantro), romaine lettuce. This salad dressing was a perfect and QUICK way to get my chipotle fix on the cheap. Much appreciated!
This is delicious. First batch I made was a little spicy for my family cuz they’re sissy’s so I cut back on the Adobe peppers. Love it. Thank you
How long does this keep in the fridge?
Hi H, It will keep nicely for 4 – 5 days.
Made it for the first time and followed the recipe exactly as written with exact ingredients. No substitutions. It. Is. Delicious. It’s definitely going in the recipe box. Now that I know how amazing this is, I will prob use a healthier oil next time like olive oil to see what happens. Thanks so much for sharing.
Oh em gee!!!
Delicious! I was looking for something tangy and spicy minus dairy..yup!!!
Thanks Jenn!!
I love the Chipotle dressing so was searching for a recipe and found yours. I have made it about 4 times and it’s amazing and really very on point! So uniquely delicious and better than anything in the stores! Thank you!
I just made this 20 minutes ago. It is not an EXACT REPLICATE – but sooo dang good, and (maybe) even a little bit tastier! I used a bullet blender to blend everything in 5 seconds max, and I like the creamy consistency (as opposed to the more liquid-like original). I also feel a little healthier eating it, and I’m glad I have so much left over to use during the week.
This is SO delicious. I will often use the adobo sauce as a replacement for the chipotle peppers so that it doesn’t go to waste (or half & half). People ask for the recipe all the time when I’ve served it to them.
To make it vegan, can we substitute agave for honey, and if so, would it be the same quantity?
Hi Dessi, A few readers have commented that they’ve used agave in place of the honey and have been happy with the results. I suspect you’d use an equal amount. Hope you enjoy!
I love this recipe! Tastes just like the real thing! I had a hard time getting the honey to blend in with everything else in the food processor, so I put it all in a sauce pan and heated it up to dissolve the honey for it to blend in. It was AMAZING!! I made Chipotle marinated grilled chicken breasts to go with it for a salad. Definitely a keeper!
I have never had a salad from Chipotle, but this salad dressing is FANTASTIC. My goal is to find great homemade salad dressing. This tastes better than any bottled dressing I have EVER had.
Followed directions exactly except I used 1/2 cup of vegetable oil because that’s all I had on hand, and 1/2 tablespoon of salt (trying to watch my sodium intake, although I couldn’t see anyone needing more) I also added a heaping tablespoon of the adobo sauce. It was like a concentrated version and was absolutely delicious; prefer it over the chipotle version. So happy to come across this recipe, I love their salads but the dressing is what puts it over the top. They only give you one that’s half the amount they used to put in it, and with delivery sometimes they don’t put any. Now I don’t have to worry about that anymore.
I made this ahead of time for a cookout we’re hosting tomorrow, and I cannot wait to serve it to our guests! It’s SO good! Definitely saving this recipe.
This recipe surprised me. Better than I expected.
Amazing recipe! Exactly like in chipotle!
I made this and did not use chipotle peppers because I didn’t have them and I had to use apple cider vinegar instead of the red wine.
It turned out absolutely delicious!!!!
I make this all the time. My family loves it. Thanks!
This is a lick the bowl clean type of dressing! It’s soooooo amazingly good!
This dressing is fantastic for Spring/ Summer salads. I used 4 Chipotles because I love the heat. My lady and I used it in Flour Tortillas stuffed with garden salad & diced Avocado. Absolutely delicious! I did add a 1/2 Tsp of Cumin. Will be my go-to dressing for the warm weather Months. Thx Jen! Another great keeper recipe from you.🌹🌹🌹
I was a little weirded out about using vegetable oil in a dressing, so I used olive oil instead, and while the dressing was very good, the olive oil taste slightly over powered everything. I made it again this week and used vegetable oil. Holy smokes is it delicious! So, for anyone questioning the oil, follow the recipe as directed and you won’t regret it. This one is a keeper!
I thought the same thing so I’m glad that you mentioned this. Thanks!
Thank You Thank You Thank You…. You are a lifesaver!! I get a salad delivered from Chipotle on average twice per week and have had issues where approximately 90% of the time, they do not include dressing (even after talking to managers etc.)… and this dressing is the main reason why I love their salads so much.
I made your recipe this evening and it not only is a great substitute but I think is even better than the real thing! My only concern is that since it is so conveniently easy to make now, that I am going to use it on everything 🙂
LOL – glad you like it!
So good! Not a Chipotle Restaurant person, but I LOVE this dressing. I’ve made it before w/ lime and I like this version much better. Looking forward to my grilled chicken salad tonight. 😊
Thank you! I did not have honey or vegetable oil, so I subbed agave and olive oil. I reduced the oil to same measurement as the vinegar. It was amazing. I may never go back to Chipotle again!
I came here for the exact same reason! I treat myself to a chipotle salad one a week and they just never , ever remember the dressing. I’m gonna make this and give it a try!
I made this last night and it was fantastic! Tastes very similar to the dressing from Chipotle. This will be my new go-to dressing!
Oh my gosh, I could have written this myself. I have even written corporate about it and asked why it is impossible for them to remember to add the dressing to the bag. I know I won’t get it unless I physically pick it up myself haha. Glad for this recipe, too!
Oh my gosh!!! I literally just wrote to them complaining about it!! Whyyyy for the love of God can’t they ever remember to put the dressing in the bag?! It makes the whole salad. I’m glad someone else feels my pain… Although I wish we didn’t have to!
Made this tonight to make a big salad with leftover chicken. My whole family loved this dressing! It will always be in my refrigerator.
Yes! This recipe is spot on! We love to make our own Chipotle bowls at home, but without the dressing it’s just not quite the same….but now its perfect!!
This vinaigrette is EVERYTHING!!!!! My house goes into panic mode when it’s not in the refrigerator. It’s incredible on tacos, salads, frankly anything! After a meal, we even dip our tortilla chips in it LOL
YUMMY YUM YUM!!!! My college-aged son used to love Chipotle so much he took a job there during college. We were all dying for it, but being confined, I figured why not try to make it at home? I grilled marinaded thighs and served them with cilantro lime rice, black beans and a salad with your dressing which was absolutely delicious. It was just by luck that I had some left over chipotle peppers in adobo in the freezer and all of the other ingredients in my pantry. Usually I’m pleading with the kids to finish their salad, but today they licked their plates clean (my husband too)! My Chipotle-loving son gave it two thumbs up. Looking forward to trying some of your other recipes 🙂