Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
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My family loves this rich and creamy Caesar salad dressing. It’s not overly garlicky or fishy — it’s just right.
Though most people buy Caesar salad dressing in a bottle, homemade is incredibly easy to make and tastes so much better than store-bought. There are many variations, but this rich and creamy version is the one my whole family loves. It’s not too garlicky and not too fishy – it’s just right. Unlike authentic Caesar dressings which are made with olive oil and thickened with raw eggs, this one has a mayonnaise base, which means you don’t have to worry if you’re squeamish about raw eggs. My kids love this dressing so much that they’ve learned to make it themselves. They don’t even wait for me to make a salad; while I cook dinner, they sit at the kitchen table with a big heart of romaine and dip the leaves in.
This recipe is part of my classic salad dressing collection, which includes go-to recipes for oil and vinegar based dressings, like vinaigrette and balsamic vinaigrette, as well as creamy dressings, such as buttermilk ranch dressing and blue cheese dressing, which are typically made with mayonnaise and dairy products.
What You’ll Need To Make Caesar Salad Dressing
Instead of whole anchovies, I use anchovy paste — makes it easy, especially if you’re squeamish about anchovies (just hold your nose and add it in; the dressing needs every last bit to taste like the real deal!)
For the cheese, it’s important to use imported Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy; domestic Parmesan pales in comparison. You can always tell if it’s authentic by looking at the rind, which is embossed with the name over and over. If the cheese is already grated, it should be labeled “Parmigiano-Reggiano,” not “Parmesan.”
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by whisking together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce.
Next, whisk in the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, and pepper.
The dressing will keep well in the fridge for about a week. For a main course Caesar, try pairing this with my best grilled chicken. Enjoy!
Caesar Salad Dressing Video Tutorial
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Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
My family loves this rich and creamy Caesar salad dressing. It’s not overly garlicky or fishy — it’s just right.
Ingredients
- 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (see note)
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, from one lemon
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (I like the brand Maille)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's Real
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the garlic, anchovy paste, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Add the mayonnaise, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt and pepper and whisk until well combined. Taste and adjust to your liking. The dressing will keep well in the fridge for about a week.
- Note: Anchovy paste can be found near the canned tuna in the supermarket.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 servings)
- Serving size: About 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 184
- Fat: 19g
- Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 1g
- Sugar: 0g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 2g
- Sodium: 296mg
- Cholesterol: 13mg
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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Comments
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Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your recipe! It’s great. I got tired of coddling eggs and this is as good as my more involved one. I ~double the Dijon and Anchovy paste and add a bit of Tabasco. Cheers!
My son, who was not big on salad, discovered Caesar salad in restaurants, loved it, and wanted it at home. This kid loves chicken fingers and french fries, so how hard could it be to find a bottled dressing he would eat? I bought every store brand I could find, but he nixed every one of them as tasteless. Then I looked at countless recipes. When I found this one, I knew it was the one. Tried it tonight, and success! Caesar salad at home, “just like in the restaurant.” I like it too!
We make this salad dressing all the time and just love it! Quick, easy and delicious!
My son loves caesar salad so I tried this for part of his birthday meal. He loved it and so did I. Thanks for the recipe.
This is the best dressing ever! I can’t even order Caesar salad in a restaurant now bc nowhere measures up. Thanks!
Yummy and natural. I used the Olive Oil Mayo and it was great. Will definitely be using this from now on… Thank you!!
This is by far the BEST recipe I have found! I made it once and the fam fell in love! We are die hard caesar salad fans and this surpasses any bottled one out there! I make it at least once a week. Thank you so very much!
I will be trying this recipe the next time I have salad for dinner.. I’m anxious to make it.. The good reviews have given me great confidence.
how could mayonaise be based on anything except raw eggs?
Thank you for the recipe! My husband and I loved the dressing! Will make this often!
My first attempt at home made dressing and it turned out Fantastic! Even my hubby, who NEVER likes my home made attempts, Loved it. Thanks!
Thank you I love it! But you have to excuse me for not using Hellmanns “real’ mayonnaise. I’m from Europe and I have to say: this does not deserve the name mayonnaise. Neither does the Kraft stuff. Brrrrr. That’s even worse. You make Mayonnaise fresh. or if you have to buy Belgian like Calvé. Big difference. Now I understand why John Travolta in the movie Pulp Fiction was so surprised that we put mayo on our fries. I wouldn’t touch it if it was American either. It’s really not what it should taste like at all. Great recipe thank you.
Spoken like a true pretentious European.
I made this dressing exactly as the recipe says, did not change any measurements or ingredients.
My family and I all loved it. Thanks for this fantastic recipe.
Mmm.. This is a really good recipe!!! Just made it yesterday for me and my friends. It was delicious. Made the salad with Romain lettuce, fresh grilled chicken, avocado, fresh croutons, boiled eggs, Parmezan and this dressing. Yummie. Definitely gonna use this recipe again!!!
I just finished making it- it’s so flippin’ good! Just finishing up the chicken for chicken ceasar wraps tonight- cheers!!
Hmmm…drown anything in mayonnaise and it is bound to taste delcious…I would leave out the cup of mayo and do one raw egg and 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil instead. That would be an authentic Caesar Salad dressing and healthier to boot!
This dressing is perfect! I replaced part of the mayo with yoghurt which worked out fine. Used a little too much garlic so I’ll be more careful with that next time, but there definitely is going to be a next time 🙂 Thanks heaps!
I’m eating this right now and I must say its very good. However, my batch came out tasting almost spicy! Not sure if it’s the insane amount of garlic I added (two large cloves) or my Worcestershire substitute (some concoction of red wine, soy and steak sauce), but it’s still quite tasty.
Must be more careful about what I’m adding next time. 😉
Yes, it’s the garlic! If the garlic is strong, it can be very spicy.
This dressing is amazing! My whole family loved it… Including my 2 year old! I will never by the bottled stuff again!!
Just made this for all of the CSA lettuce that is coming in. It was so easy to make, and tastes fantastic. My 5 year old ate an entire plate of salad! This recipe will carry us through the summer.
Five Stars ***** Absolutely fantastic Caesar Salad Dressing! I used 3 anchovy filets in-lieu of the anchovy paste and only 3/4 cup of a quality mayonnaise. Other then that, I followed the rest of the recipe as written. Found myself mopping up any remaining dressing with a piece of crusty bread. What a wonderful satisfying flavor! Many thanks for sharing your recipe.
What happens if you dont use anchovy paste? My family hates it. And how does it taste with the worcestershire sauce
You can leave out the anchovy paste but the dressing won’t have that distinctly Caesar taste. As for the Worcestershire sauce, you won’t really taste it but it adds depth of flavor.
Yum! Very good dressing! We stopped buying bottled once we started making this.
I made this today. I will never buy caesar dressing again. This was fantastic and so easy to make. I don’t like anchovies but I had the paste and used it-not bad!! Thanks!!
This was fabulous and so easy!
your like the best cook EVER!
the dressing is soooooooooooo yummy
This recipe is excellent, my guests said to never buy store bought ever again. Or any other recipe for that matter.
A couple years ago, some friends were over for dinner and I served Caesar salad with commercial salad dressing to which I added garlic and lemon juice. I’m overly proud of making a lot of things from scratch and was quite taken aback when my friend referred to this as like Sandra Lee’s ALMOST Homemade. I was horrified! You posted this recipe in time for their next visit for dinner and I’ve been making it ever since! It’s wonderful! I still add more garlic and lemon juice, and replace some plain yogurt for some of the mayo.
THANK YOU!
This recipe is PERFECT as is!! I made it for my in-law’s surprise anniversary party and I ended up emailing the recipe to every woman who was there. All of us have made it since and it’s truly become a staple in all of our households!
Our dinner guests, once again, loved the salad. Delicious Ceasar Dressing! Thank you.
Making it tonight for a family dinner can’t wait
Can’t wait to try this recipe. My mouth is already watering!!
How many is a Cup in grams of ml
Hi Ellen, It really depends on what you have in the cup (a cup is a measure of volume, while a gram is a measure of mass). Sorry I can’t be more helpful.
A cup is 237 milliliters
How can you say that “This one, on the other hand, has a mayonnaise base, which means no raw eggs”
Mayonnaise is made with raw eggs.
Tony, Commercial mayonnaise is always made with pasteurized eggs, which means they are cooked briefly at a high temperature and then cooled. Pasteurized eggs still have the consistency of raw eggs but they are safe to eat.
So many great comments, I have to try this! Would you think Helmans mayo light would work? Just trying to lighten things up a bit. This sounds like A great recipe! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Linda, I’ve never tried Hellmann’s light so I can’t say for sure, but I think this recipe would be best with regular mayo.
Love this recipe… A smash hit every time.. Living in AK We smoke a lot of salmon which is what I add.. Yummy
Also to cut down on calories I use Hellmans light mayo.. Never noticed a difference….
Literally standing here with the ingredients on the counter. This is the most amazing recipe I have made. I will never go back to store bought. Amazing
I make my own vinaigrette dressing, so I told myself “why not try the ceasar salad dressing?!”… anyway, this one is very tasty, so glad that I tried your recipe!:)
I tried this recipe and it’s very good! I’ll definitely make it again, I did add more lemon juice but that ‘s only because my family and I seem to like our Caesar salad more tangy. However, I did want to mention that when I went to purchase the ingredients the anchovy paste was not kept near the canned tuna fish. It has to be refrigerated so I was told to find it in the same aisle as chip dips. There’s a sticker on the box of my anchovy paste that says “keep refrigerated”.
Anchovy paste need not be refrigerated before cracking the seal. IT IS BEST TO DO SO AFTER, HOWEVER.
I found this recipe by searching in Google…when I stumbled across this site. I have since then, been so faithful!! This dressing is so wonderful, the best I have ever had. Everyone I have made this for has absolutely loved it!!
Had a ladies dinner last night and made this recipe for ceasar salad dressing…was fabulous….another addition to my recipe book :))
trying out tonight my mouth is watering allready !
Thanks for this recipe! It was delicious. I couldn’t find any Parmigiano-Reggiano locally (I live in Asia). Used Italian Grana Padano instead. Still yummy, especially topped with more freshly grated cheese and pepper.
This dressing was easy to make and DELICIOUS! I love Ceasar salads and will use this to make my own instead of those partially browned, romaine, bag versions!
First time I’ve ever made Caesar Dressing on my own – and your recipe was amazing! I couldn’t get over how tasty it was and my husband was so impressed. I just got into cooking over the past year and I am so proud of myself for being able to make wonderful meals for my family using fresh ingredients. Thank you for posting this, and I am for sure going to try some of your other recipes!
The ABSOLUTE best Ceasar dressing on EARTH! My boyfriend and I make some and eat this with our salad almost every day …. Little does he know this is how I get him to eat veggies >:) lol
this is SINGULARLY THE BEST caesar dressing i have ever had in my life!!!!!!!!!!
I have a ceaser dressing that has only one TBL of mayo, and lots of fresh lemon juice and at least 1 TSP of Red wine vinaigrette. How long will it last now
Alecia, It’s hard to say w/o seeing the whole recipe but my guess is about a week.
If using real anchovies instead of the paste, how many fillets?
Hi Peter, I’d start with one, then add more to taste.
How long will this dressing last in the fridge (considering the mayo content)?
Hi Quinn, It keeps well for about a week.
I notice the salt you have in your photo is sea salt…do you recommend sea salt over regular salt for this recipr?
Hi Joan, I love this sea salt and use it for all my recipes but no need to go out and buy it — regular salt will work just fine.