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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The absolute best quick and easy Caesar salad dressing I have ever made. It’s now a staple on our house.
I’ve been making this dressing for years and people always love it. Not difficult to make, but the results deliver. We had New Year’s Eve dinner at Ruth Chris, my husband had the Caesar salad, he said the dressing wasn’t as good as the Jenn’s recipe I make at home.
This recipe came out Amazing! My husband said this is better than some of the nicer restaurants we order it at.
I actually decided to use the leftover for my charcuterie board for celery, and it went pretty darn fast! A definite hit! 😊
I made the brave decision to make this for the first time the same day as a Christmas party and I have no regrets. I added another tablespoon+ of lemon juice to lessen the hint of mayo and a drizzle of olive oil to get the consistency I wanted. I prefer a bit more pepper than 1/4 tsp so I sprinkled a bit more at the end.
To paint the picture, I used 3 Romaine lettuce hearts and maybe 2/3 of the dressing and it was PERFECT- fed ~12 people. Don’t listen to the negative comments- make the dressing and never look back!
What would you recommend in place of anchovy paste if I have a guest with an allergy to fish?
Hi Samara, the dressing will taste a bit different, but I’d just omit it. 😊
Fantastic! Had a couple over for dinner for their first time. He’s a gourmet cook and I was a little nervous! He really loved it and took some home with him.
A highlight of the dinner.
This sadly was not good. Tasted too much like mayo. I followed recipe exactly as is, I don’t get what went wrong, there is so many good reviews.
Made this today, and then made a second batch right after! It was delicious. Easy enough that I could make it! Serving it tomorrow, but had some with carrots. Will definitely keep this in my regular dressings.
Family absolutely loves this!!! I have made many Caesar’s before (using a similar recipe, pasteurized eggs, etc.) but this one has the balance of flavors one is looking for. I don’t think I made any significant tweaks, other than a bit more anchovie paste, but I am an anchovie guy!
I thought this recipe had anchovies in it. Is this the original recipe I have made it before, but just remember putting anchovies in it.
Hi Beverly, This is the original recipe – it has always just called for anchovy paste.
Killer recipe ! I’ve worked at posh restaurants that did table side ceasar salad. They never tasted this great! The recipe is perfectly balanced. I can’t wait to serve this salad to my family on Christmas !!!
You should give recognition to whover gave you the recipe. My mom has used this exact recipe for years. She found it in the Blackhawk cook book back in the 90s. You’ve shared the exact same recipe, word for word and you made it sound like you came up with it. I think whomever you learned this from deserves some credit. It’s an amazing recipe and whoever came up with it deserves at least a mention.
Hi Melisa, Glad you enjoyed the dressing. I’m not familiar with the Blackhawk cookbook but this recipe is adapted from Gourmet magazine (as cited on the recipe card), which sadly isn’t around anymore.
This is an amazing site with AMAZING recipes – it makes me sad to see people be critical before checking facts. Jenn always gives credit as to where recipes originate. Also, the site is FREE.
I have made so many of her recipes and they are always WINNERS. I have given her cookbooks as gifts as I know they will soon become family treasured recipes.
Horrible … Taste like mayo. Go old school and make with eggs.
What do you think mayo is?
At its basic, Oil and egg. What does your JAR say for ingredients? And there in lies the difference. Helmans is going to taste like a helmans base(or whatever your tastebuds are used to). It’s hard to mask an extremely familiar flavor from a jar. You’ll notice. “What do you think mayo is?”is just not the right answer unfortunately. If it works for you, that is great. But as a base, those flavor combinations in the jar are just too noticeable. They’re a bit of a science behind a bland mayo carrying the additional flavors and making them shine. It’s a bit harder to do with “flavored” jar mayo. And that’s the over all point. I hope you understand, now, that that is what people are saying.
Fabulous! Easy and delicious.
Soooo good! Used anchovies instead of paste & blend in blender, Yummy!
I have anchovies on hand. Can I smash them up to form a paste? If so, how many?
Thanks.
Sure – I’d start with 2. Enjoy!
Thanks for your speedy reply!
Excellent and easy!
This dressing was so good! My husband said “entertainment worthy”. I love how you can take simple romaine lettuce and make a delicious salad and therefore meal with this dressing. As always, thanks Jenn!
Love this recipe, however, this particular recipe doesn’t have a switch for metric measurements. Can this be added?
Glad you like it – I just added the metric measurements. 😊
Yes…Mayo….and use a Name Brand for best resultsl! Totally worth it…could even call it bathe-able!😜 but we will pass on the bathing and just crawl into the jar to live!😍 Thank you for the perfect recipe! 🙏🏽
The perfect Ceasar and so simple to make.
Mayo? Really?
SO good and so easy to make! Our new go-to Caesar dressing! I added a couple drizzles of good olive oil to thin it out just a bit. Otherwise it’s perfect!!
I have been utilizing this amazing recipe for years. Yet, somehow, I keep forgetting how delicious it is! 🤦♀️An absolute keeper.
My go to for years, memorized and although I tweak most recipes I 100% follow this one exactly…the best.
How much fish sauce do you need to use in lieu of the anchovy paste?
I’d stick with the same amount, so 1 teaspoon. Enjoy!
Tried this tonight & was impressed with how great it came out! This will be my new “go to” recipe!
This dressing is a staple in our household now. We have it a couple times a month at least! It’s perfect as it’s written. We add shrimp sometimes and have a big kale salad for dinner, other times we have it as a side with chicken… perfect either way. Crispy capers and croutons are great toppings
This recipe is FIRE! My new go-to!
Creamy Caesar dressing with BIG flavour! Super easy and quick to make
I dont usually comment but this recipe is absolutely amazing, i’ve been making over and over. One note though, i also add extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 cup, to make it a bit runnier. Delicious.
Excellent!
Love this recipe! I did use fish sauce in place of anchovies. Delicious and so easy to whip up. Thank you.
Delicious! I’m glad to get the authentic flavor without the raw egg. Thank you, Jenn!
I’ve tried many Caesar salad dressings over the years, but this is the best, and it’s simple and fast.
Wow! THE BEST! Thank you!
This is my go to salad and dressing. Everyone loves it. Thank you.
Has anyone made this without the cheese. Anything dairy free I could sub for the cheese? Craving Caesar but have to be dairy free for my newborn!
For vegan, you need vegan mayo, Vegan Fish sauce in lieu of the anchovies, vegan Worcestershire too. The cheese could be nutritional yeast or vegan cheese. All this is possible and would probably be tasty…good luck.
My new go to Caesar dressing recipe!
This recipe is amazing. I did switch out anchovy paste for jarred anchovies, which I minced. The only thing was I used too much lemon. But with all that, this dressing came out great (with the exception of too much lemon)
Excellent recipe! I’ve tried several over the years and this is the best by far. My family and dinner guests always comment on how good it is. Only change I prefer is to use chopped anchovy over the paste. And, I usually double the amount of anchovy that it calls for.
Much thanks to Jenn Segal @ OnceUponAChef.com for sharing!
It was soo good I doubled up the ingredients but used half Greek Yogurt and a cup of Mayo😀
This recipe is AWESOME!! The best I’ve ever made. I used canned anchovies instead of the paste. This will be my go to homemade dressing!
OMG this recipe is PERFETTO!!! The best Caesar dressing I have ever made. I did add fish sauce instead of anchovy paste since I had it on hand, but otherwise made it exactly as stated. You know what I’m having for dinner :o)
This is absolutely the BEST Caesar salad dressing that I have ever had! And so easy to make! I never liked Caesar salad before I had this dressing! Now I can’t have it often enough!! I had my neighbors over for dinner and they loved it, too! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe with us!!!
I made this to go with grilled romaine. I followed the recipe exactly and it was very good and flavorful. I don’t like a lot of anchovy flavor but this recipe has a nice balance.
This recipe is perfect! No changes needed, though I like the suggestion below from the user who added a few drops of Tabasco for a kick!! Totally going to try that.
This is my FAVORITE Caesar dressing recipe!!!! Been making it for years. Only thing I do different is add more lemon juice.. I love lemons. Which gives it a thinner consistency (makes it easier to pour)! Thanks for a wonderful recipe!!
This recipe is a GODSEND! Thank you so so much! My husband does all our shopping and always buys me fat free ranch ….everytime. He means well but man have I been itching for some Ceasar! We are vegetarian so I substituted the mayo with hellmans vegan mayo, the Worcestershire sauce with liquid smoke and the anchovy paste with soy sauce. It worked perfectly! Oh my goodness was the best salaf in my life! Haha ! There’s plenty for more salads. Thank you so much! I’m sharing this with my cooking group on fb!
2 months later and I made this again! This time I didn’t measure as I was holding baby and had 2 other ones running around so it was a tad bit different. Overall was delicious on my vegetarian chicken wrap! Thank you it’s a keeper!
Sorry for saying this….
It should be noted that Mayonnaise is made from a raw egg (or raw egg yoke) and seed oils. So like 3 cups of seed oils. New evidence is being presented that shows long duration consumption of seed oils are more dangerous for human health, such as significantly increasing cardio vascular disease, diabetes or metabolic syndrome risks. Even mental acuity is compromised over the long term. The oil in store bought mayonnaise typically uses cotton seed oil, (crisco) which has health ramifications, (decades of abuse is usually required to create the scenario of your body breaking down and laden with disease), and it would be highly recommended not to use it. These dangerous seed oils are produced through subsidies by the US government, so financially incentivized.
No one plans on living off of caesar dressing, Dan. Did you even try the recipe before giving your two cents and submitting a rating?
Oh Dan. My Hellman-loving grandparents all lived into their 90’s. So another dollop for me please!
Ditto- I’m from the South- Dukes mayo all my life! Yummmm
This is so true Dan. Thank you for posting.
I agree with you completely and most of the time avoid Hellman mayonnaise. But I am going to use this recipe since having a few tablespoons very rarely isn’t going to kill me. I just want you to know that I appreciate your information. It wasn’t well received but it is true so thank you for posting about seed oils and the damage they do.
Agreed Lynn. There is nothing wrong with making informed choices. I’m not sure why people get upset and health information. He judged nobody and didn’t say to never do it. Nor did he chastise the recipe nor the author. Very defensive people unfortunately. Such is life. I appreciate your reply. We are all out of something in common. Enjoy !
So good!!! We add tobasco sauce to give it a little kick. We have it at least once a month. 🤩