Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
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This homemade Caesar salad dressing is rich, creamy, and so much better than store-bought. Toss it with crisp romaine, crunchy croutons, and plenty of Parmesan for a classic Caesar salad everyone loves.
There are countless Caesar dressing recipes out there, but this is the version my whole family loves. It’s rich and creamy, and not too garlicky or too fishy—it’s just right.
Unlike traditional Caesar dressing, which is made with olive oil and thickened with raw egg, this version has a mayonnaise base, making it perfect for anyone who’d rather not eat raw eggs. My kids love it so much that they’ve learned to make it themselves. They don’t even wait for me to make a salad; while I’m cooking dinner, they’ll sit at the kitchen table with a big heart of romaine and dip the leaves right into the dressing.
“Without a doubt, this is the best Caesar salad recipe I have found and I’m 73 years old!”
What You’ll Need To Make Caesar Salad Dressing
- Anchovy paste: Instead of whole anchovies, paste makes the recipe 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!)
- Mayonnaise: Used in place of the raw egg and oil found in traditional Caesar dressing; gives this version a rich, creamy texture. Use Hellmann’s or Duke’s.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano: You can always tell if it’s authentic from Italy 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.”
- Fresh lemon juice: This brightens the rich dressing and balances the Parmesan and mayonnaise. Freshly squeezed makes a noticeable difference.
- Garlic: Caesar dressing needs garlic, but it can easily take over. This recipe uses just enough to give the dressing a little bite without overpowering the other flavors.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Caesar Dressing
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. That’s all there is to it! The dressing will keep well in the refrigerator for about a week. Keep in mind that it will thicken as it chills; if it’s too thick, simply whisk in a teaspoon or two of water until it reaches your desired consistency.
How to Make Caesar Salad
Place chopped romaine in a large bowl and add just enough dressing to lightly coat the leaves. Toss well, then add homemade croutons and freshly grated or shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve it as is, or turn it into a main course by topping it with grilled chicken, salmon, steak, or shrimp.
Video Tutorial
More Salad Dressings You’ll Love
Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 small cloves garlic, 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 or Duke's
- 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, then serve or refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
- Anchovy paste can be found near the canned tuna in the supermarket.
- Storage: The dressing will keep well in the refrigerator for about a week and will thicken as it chills. If needed, whisk in a teaspoon or two of water to thin it to your desired consistency.
- To make a Caesar salad: Toss chopped romaine with enough dressing to generously coat the leaves. Add homemade croutons and freshly grated or shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, and toss again. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Information
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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Look no further. THIS is the best!
This is so delicious. Used fish sauce since out of anchovy paste. It is so good we ate some of it as chip dip with crinkle chips. Yum!
Absolutely delicious and so easy!
The absolute best!
I use this dressing every day and love it! I ad 1/4 cup sour cream and thin it a bit if needed with half and half. It’s delicious!
Hi Jenn. I love the flavor of this dressing, but I find it’s a bit thick to toss with the Romaine. Is there any way to thin it out a bit? Thank you!
Hi Mary, I’d add some water just a bit at a time until you get to your desired consistency. Hope that helps!
Yes add olive oil a bit at a time
There’s a trick that helps with that: put the dressing on the sides of the bowl rather than directly on the lettuce, then start tossing. The dressing will get where it needs to be. 🙂
I followed this recipe fairly close, lowering the amount of mustard and mayo a bit and adding in some frank’s red hot and additional lemon juice. It still tasted just a bit too mayo-y though the flavor is very comparable to typical store-bought dressing in my opinion (like renee’s mighty caesar but less garlicy). Regardless I recommend giving this a go in a pinch especially if you aren’t fond of the oil and egg method.
Excellent as written!
I have no idea why this has no many good reviews. This dressing is DISGUSTING. All you can taste is mayonnaise. I had to try to cut it down by adding more lemon juice and worchestershire. 0/10 stars.
I didn’t have quite enough mayo so I used mayo and plain Greek yogurt. Best dressing I’ve ever had.
Agree I cut down Mayo by 1/3 and still had to add 2 tablespoons olive oil
I agree. Not good at all
Yep, agree. The recipe would be unusable as written. I, too, cut the mayo down to 1/4 cup, increased the lemon juice by 0.5 tablespoons (or so–I don’t really measure), added a few shakes more Worcestershire sauce, a bit more kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper. Jenn does provide good basic recipes.
Time consuming because I opted to grate the Parmigiano-Reggiano myself and mince a tin of anchovies… but well-worth the outstanding results!!! Used all the juice from the lemon which was about 5 Tbsp… 1 1/2 cups Duke’s mayo… almost a cup of parmesan… heaping tablespoons each of fresh minced garlic, anchovies, Maille Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Went easy on salt and heavy on fresh ground black pepper. Made about 2 cups of dressing that filled a small mason jar. Had a heaping tablespoon each of minced garlic and anchovy remaining… so put those together with some of the anchovy oil in an airtight container to refrigerate and use in my next batch of this fabulous Caesar dressing!!!