Name: Sumac Vinaigrette: Quick & Easy Homemade Salad Dressing Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice; 3 teaspoons ground sumac (see notes); 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon; Kosher salt, if needed (see notes)

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Ground sumac is a wonderfully tangy spice used in Middle Eastern recipes. This 4-ingredient sumac vinaigrette is a quick & easy way to enjoy it!

Ground sumac is such a fun ingredient. The last time I bought some, the jar was so big that I was determined to find ways to use it other than just sprinkling it on top of my kebab.

And that’s how this sumac vinaigrette recipe came about. I wanted to make a homemade dressing to go with my fattoush salad with baked pita chips.

I figured that the tangy bite of sumac would pair beautifully with the other flavors in that dish, and boy did it!

Pouring sumac vinaigrette over a fattoush salad.

Jump To:

🧡 Why we love this recipe
📝 Ingredients
🔎 What is sumac?
👅 What does sumac taste like?
📌 Substitutions for ground sumac
✅ How to make this recipe
🥡 Storage recommendations
💡 Other ways to use sumac
📖 Recipe

🧡 Why we love this recipe

It’s quick and easy to put together.
This sumac vinaigrette makes great use of the jar of ground sumac hanging out in the pantry.
It only requires 4 ingredients.
The vibrant crimson color adds a nice pop to any green salad.
It can be made in advance and holds up well in the refrigerator for several days.

Holding a small pitcher of sumac vinaigrette.

📝 Ingredients

Here’s everything you need to make this homemade salad dressing (see recipe card below for ingredient amounts and full directions):

Extra-virgin olive oil
Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Ground sumac
Ground cinnamon
Kosher salt (only if needed – most sumac is already mixed with salt, so be sure to taste!)

🔎 What is sumac?

This recipe uses ground sumac which is available at most specialty spice shops and Middle Eastern markets. It can also sometimes be found at organic/health food markets or grocery stores with a big selection of international foods.

If you don’t have any of those options nearby, it’s readily available online.

Culinarily speaking sumac is a crimson-colored spice that is made from ground sumac berries. It is not the same thing as the poisonous sumac plant.

Ground sumac is often found in a shaker next to the salt and pepper in Persian restaurants. It’s delicious when sprinkled over grilled meat and seafood, kebabs, vegetables, rice, or hummus.

Sumac is a lovely addition to anything you’d like to lightly dust with its tart flavor and deep red hue.

👅 What does sumac taste like?

The flavor of sumac is tart and a little lemony with a slightly astringent flavor. It’s a bit sweet, and a bit sour.

Sumac is often mixed with salt, so I recommend leaving out any additional salt in recipes that call for more than a pinch of sumac until you’re able to taste it for seasoning.

📌 Substitutions for ground sumac

Sumac is a tricky spice to substitute, but you can get in the ballpark, flavor-wise.

If you don’t have ground sumac, you can omit it and add a little fresh lemon zest and kosher salt, to taste, for seasoning.

Many brands of za’atar also have sumac mixed in, so that’s another option. It won’t be exact, but it’ll be tasty!

✅ How to make this recipe

This sumac vinaigrette is super simple to put together. Just whisk together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, taste for seasoning, and serve!

See recipe card below for full instructions.

Adding cinnamon to a bowl of oil and spices.

Whisking sumac vinaigrette ingredients together in a bowl.

Whisk in a bowl full of sumac vinaigrette.

🥡 Storage recommendations

This vinaigrette will keep well in a sealed container in the refrigerator for several days.

Because of the oil, it may solidify when chilled. You may need to take it out of the refrigerator to let it warm up a bit before using it again.

You can speed up this process by running some hot water over the container to help re-liquefy any oil that has solidified.

Then just give it a good shake and use it as desired!

I like storing my homemade salad dressing in a mason jar or glass flask in the refrigerator. I also found this salad dressing mixer that seems like it’d be great for things like this that tend to separate when stored.

💡 Other ways to use sumac

Ground sumac is a versatile ingredient! Some of our favorite ways to use it are:

In a Middle Eastern fattoush salad
Sprinkled on top of hummus (along with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil)
As a topping for our favorite broiler kebab sheet pan meal
Dusted on top of this Instant Pot Persian Beef and Celery Stew (Khoreshe Karafs)
On beef, lamb, chicken, seafood, or tofu before it hits the grill
Shaken over the top of salad greens
As part of a spice rub or marinade for meat or veggies