Bottle of chive blossom vinaigrette and a jar of honey on a wooden tray with purple chive flowers and green grass background.

Honey & Chive Blossom Vinaigrette

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Bottle of chive blossom vinaigrette and a jar of honey on a wooden tray with purple chive flowers and green grass background. Text overlay reads "Honey Chive Blossom Vinaigrette Recipe." Fresh chives are abundant this time of year, and this honey and chive blossom vinaigrette is a frugal, easy and healthy homemade addition to fresh green salads all season long.

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Chives are one of my favourite fresh herbs to grow at home. They’re incredibly easy to grow, and they’re one of the first things to bloom at the start of the growing season (and the last to die in the fall!) Plus, they will come back year after year with little to no effort at all.

Fresh chives are also packed with flavour, they make an excellent addition to a wide range of dishes and can easily be dried for use in the winter months. But personally, I think the real star of the chive plant has to be the gorgeous purple flower heads that burst open in the middle of spring.

These chive blossoms are not only stunning to admire, but they’re edible too! You can crumble the flower petals over your green salads or pasta dishes as a garnish that gives a similar flavour to fresh chives, but with a pretty pop of purple colour. Or you can use the blossoms to make an infused vinegar, oil, or salt, and add these infusions to your cooking. You can even use the chive flowers as part of a handpicked spring bouquet!

One great way to use chive blossoms is to infuse them into plain white vinegar and use this as a base for one of my favourite homemade salad dressings: honey and chive blossom vinaigrette.

Chive-infused vinegar and a little raw honey are all you need to make this simple and delicious homemade vinaigrette that pairs beautifully with fresh, hand-picked garden salads full of whatever is on offer at the time. Whether your garden is full of lettuce, peas, strawberries, tomatoes, red onion, carrots, blueberries, or radishes…this vinaigrette goes great with them all, so feel free to get creative!

How to make chive blossom infused vinegar

Making chive blossom infused vinegar is really easy. Just pinch or cut the blossoms off of the chive plant with a pair of kitchen or garden shears, clean them up and make sure there are no unwanted pests on them (I just brush them off with my hand), then stuff them in a Mason jar and cover with plain white vinegar. Let the mixture sit for a few weeks while the vinegar infuses and turns a deep purple/pink colour.

on a rustic wooden table, vibrant purple chive blossoms are in glass mason jars with white vinegar being poured over them

Once it’s had time to infuse, strain the blossoms out and mix the vinegar with a little raw honey to add sweetness. I usually add about two or three tablespoons of honey to every pint sized (16oz) jar of chive blossom vinegar, but you can adjust this according to your own tastes. You can then use the vinaigrette as-is or blend it with a little olive oil and pour over salads, much like you would with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Once ready, the vinaigrette is a useful addition to your own kitchen and also makes a beautiful, functional and frugal gift. Since it’s a vinegar, it keeps well for a long time. I do personally store mine in the fridge once I’ve strained it and mixed it with honey. But it should be pretty shelf-stable since both vinegar and honey have a very long shelf life.

The best part of all though, is that you’re able to use a part of the plant that you might have otherwise gone to waste. Plus, this is an extremely frugal, healthy, organic homemade vinaigrette that makes an excellent alternative to anything you’ll find on store shelves.

on a wooden table, a glass bottle of chive blossom vinaigrette sits next to a jar of honey with a wooden dipper and a bundle of fresh cut chives with bright purple flowers

So, what are you waiting for? Grab some jars & some white vinegar and go take advantage of the chive blossoms that are probably already growing in your garden. And if you’re not growing chives, then plant some! But in the meantime, check with friends, neighbours and family members, because chances are someone you know will have chives growing in their garden and will be happy to share with you, especially since most people don’t use the flower heads anyway.

Just remember to ask for permission before harvesting anything out of anyone else’s private garden. And maybe make them a bottle of honey and chive blossom vinaigrette as a token of appreciation. After all, there’s no better way to say thank you than with a gift that’s grown from soil, made by hand and given from the heart.