Caesar Salad Dressing is creamy, tangy, easy to make from scratch, and perfect for homemade salads as well as other dishes.
This is a bold dressing that’s perfect for topping off a classic Caesar Salad. For more homemade Sauces and Dressings, check out my recipes for Blue Cheese Dressing, Ranch Dressing, and Greek Salad Dressing.
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Sabrina’s Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe
This is a fantastic recipe that’s quite easy to make as long as you have the right ingredients. You’ll simply combine all the ingredients in your food processor until a smooth dressing forms. It only takes a few minutes, and this simple recipe is great for salads as well as sandwiches and to use a dip. It also makes enough that you should have leftover dressing to use on more than one recipe.
Chef’s Note: Homemade Dressing
While you can easily get store-bought salad dressing, making the recipe yourself results in a much more delicious topping. The homemade Caesar Salad Dressing is wonderfully creamy, and the fresh ingredients create an incredible flavor that will take your recipe to the next level. It also only takes a few minutes to do, so it’s an easy way to make your salads and other dishes using dressing even better. Making dressing yourself also makes it easier to swap out or leave out ingredients according to your dietary restrictions.
Ingredients
- ¾ Cup Mayonnaise: Mayo makes an easy, creamy base for your salad dressing. It thickens the mixture and has a slightly tangy flavor, but mostly it lets the other flavorful ingredients shine. If you want to lighten up the dressing, you can swap out the regular mayonnaise for low-fat mayo.
- Sauces: Along with the mayo, mix in 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce. This gives the recipe a bolder flavor with a bit of bite and spice. The Worcestershire sauce adds rich umami flavor with a mixture of sweet, savory, and spiced taste.
- 3 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese: You’ll also add shredded parmesan to the dressing mixture. As you blend the recipe, the parmesan breaks apart to blend into the creamy dressing. So, you won’t have chunks of cheese throughout the recipe, but you will taste the delicious, nutty parmesan flavor.
- 4 Anchovy Filets: You may be shocked to learn that there are actual anchovies in Caesar Salad Dressing. This recipe calls for four anchovy fillets to go into the mixture. As the fillets puree, you won’t have any texture from them, but they add a bold umami taste that’s essential for a classic caesar dressing. You could also use anchovy paste to add anchovy flavor instead of whole anchovy fillets.
- 3 Cloves Garlic: Another important ingredient in the blend are garlic cloves. Cut three cloves in quarters so that the food processor can easily break the garlic apart and spread it throughout the dressing. You could also use garlic powder, but fresh garlic makes a bolder, more delicious flavor.
- 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds a bright, citrus flavor to the dressing and really helps bring the flavors of all the ingredients together nicely. The lemon helps the dressing taste fresh, so using fresh lemon is best. However if you only have a bottle of lemon juice then that will work in the dressing as well.
- Salt and Pepper: You’ll use ¼ teaspoon each of kosher salt and black pepper to finish off your dressing. They are the perfect seasonings to enhance the other flavors.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Food Processor: Take out your food processor to mix the ingredients into a creamy Salad Dressing. If you don’t have a food processor, you could also use a blender to bring the ingredients together. An immersion blender would also work well to blend you ingredients.
- Knife and Cutting Board: Use a sharp knife and good cutting board to cut your garlic cloves blending them into the Dressing.
- Measuring Cup and Spoons: Grab your favorite measuring cup and spoons so you can get just the right balance of flavors in your Salad Dressing.
How to Make
Time needed: 5 minutes.
- Combine
First, cut 3 garlic cloves into quarters. Then add the garlic cloves, mayonnaise, anchovies, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, fresh lemon juice, kosher salt, and black pepper to your food processor.
- Process
Pulse the food processor until the Caesar Salad Dressing is smooth and creamy. Note, if the emulsified dressing is too thick, you can add a tablespoon of olive oil or avocado oil to thin out the mixture to the desired consistency.
- Store
Transfer the salad dressing to a mason jar or another airtight container to store in the fridge until your ready to serve. Drizzle the creamy salad dressing over fresh salad as needed.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 3 garlic cloves , cut into quarters
- 3/4 cup mayonnaise
- 4 anchovy fillets
- 3 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
- Add garlic, mayonnaise, anchovies, Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to a small food processor.
- Process until smooth and creamy.
- Refrigerate until using.
Nutrition
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Nutritional Facts
Recipe Tips & Tricks
Get perfect Salad Dressing every time by following these tips.
- Don’t skip the anchovy.
- You might not like the idea of anchovy in this dressing and you might not like anchovy or seafood at all. However, if you’ve had Caesar Dressing before then you’ve likely already had it with anchovy. It does not give the dressing a fishy taste, if that’s what you’re worried about. Throw it in there and give it a try before you decide to skip it.
- Ensure the dressing is fully blended.
- Check your dressing carefully after you run it through the food processor or blender. Make sure there are no chunks, as that won’t be pleasant on a salad to bite into a chunk of anchovy or garlic. If you see any lumps or bumps, blend it for a little longer and check it again.
What to Pair with Caesar Salad Dressing
Outside of the classic salad, there are other recipes that you can use this homemade topping for. It can be used to marinate meat, used as a dip, and spread in burgers or other sandwiches. You can also use it in the dressing for pasta or potato salad. Make it into a flavorful coleslaw or chicken salad. There are many uses for this delicious dressing, and making the dressing from scratch just makes it all the better.
How to Store
- Serve: You can enjoy this salad dressing fresh or keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to use. Do not keep Caesar Salad Dressing out at room temperature on its own or on a salad for more than a couple of hours, or it will start to go bad.
- Store: Kept stored in the fridge in an airtight container, this dressing will stay good for up to 1 week. It’s great for meal-prepping and adding to your lunch or side salads throughout the week.
- Freeze: Unfortunately, the dairy ingredients, specifically mayo, make this recipe unsuitable to store in the freezer. Although the dressing will freeze easily, it will lose its texture when thawed. It’s better just to make a new batch of fresh dressing than to try to keep it longer in the freezer.
Ideas to Serve Caesar Salad Dressing
To assemble the perfect Caesar Salad, start with a base of fresh romaine lettuce. Then top the lettuce with shaved or shredded parmesan cheese and croutons. You can use store-bought seasoned croutons or combine seasoning, french bread, and olive oil to toast homemade croutons. After adding all the salad ingredients, you can drizzle homemade Caesar Salad Dressing over the fantastic base recipe. Then toss to coat.
If you want to add some protein to make the side salad into a filling meal, use leftover Roast Chicken or Grilled Chicken. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, then add it to the Cesar Salad. You could also serve the fresh salad along with a bowl of soup for a Panera Bread experience. Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup and Classic Chicken Noodle Soup would both taste amazing.
Frequent Questions
Although some think Caesar Salad was named for or invented by Julius Caesar, that’s not the case. It’s a much more recent invention only dating back to the 1920s. It was first created by an Italian chef, Caesar Cardini. He created the dressing and caesar salad at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.
Along with the delicious dressing, a classic Caesar salad is comprised of freshly chopped romaine lettuce, seasoned croutons, and often grilled chicken. Other add-ons like bacon bits and cheese may also be enjoyed in the simple dish.
No. While these creamy, white dressings may look similar, they have different ingredients and taste quite different. This is because ranch calls for more mild ingredients. While they both have a simple, mayo base, ranch is flavored with herbs like parsley and dill. Caesar, on the other hand, has a strong, zesty flavor from the garlic, anchovy, lemon juice, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce in the recipe.
Variations
- Vegetarian Caesar Dressing: The great thing about making homemade dressing is that you can make it match your dietary needs. If you’re on a vegetarian diet, you don’t have to include anchovy filets in your salad recipe. Worcestershire sauce also typically contains anchovies, so if you don’t eat fish, you’ll want to leave that out too. If you want to mimic the umami flavor from the anchovies, you can add other ingredients like soy sauce or miso paste, according to taste. This makes the dish vegetarian. However, if you want it to be vegan, you’ll have more to worry about than the anchovy factor. Mayonnaise is typically made with egg yolks, so it’s not vegan. You can find vegan mayonnaise at most grocery stores. You’ll also need to leave the parmesan cheese out to keep the recipe dairy-free.
- Yogurt: If you don’t like mayonnaise or don’t have any on hand, you can use Greek yogurt as the creamy base for the Dressing recipe. You could also use a mixture of sour cream and egg yolks instead of mayonnaise.
- Spicy Caesar Dressing: For a spicy version of this salad dressing, you could add a dash of hot sauce, chipotle powder, or a bit of chili paste to the homemade salad dressing.
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