Caesar Salad Dressing is a classic Italian dressing that’s rich and creamy yet simple to whip up with just a few simple ingredients. The dressing with croutons, romaine lettuce, and parmesan cheese are key ingredients in a caesar salad.
The dressing joins our ranch dressing, the italian dressing, and 2-ingredient balsamic glaze for dressings that can easily be recreated at home.
Experience Caesar salad like never before with this homemade caesar salad dressing. The combination of mayo, lemon juice, garlic, dijon mustard, Worcestershire, and parmesan cheese creates a harmony of flavors that take the classic recipe over the top. Dress your salad, and of course, you can’t forget to finish with homemade croutons.
Why You’ll Love This Dressing
- Easy to make. The recipe comes together in a total time of 5 minutes!
- Minimal Effort, Maximum Flavor. The recipe demands little effort while delivering a burst of flavor.
- Perfect Anytime Dish. Enjoy it as a light lunch, a side dish, or a hearty dinner—the Caesar salad is versatile and fits any occasion.
- Family Favorite. Loved by both kids and adults, making it a family-friendly option for meals.
Ingredients
Below are the ingredients to make the creamiest Caesar salad dressing!
- Mayo – adds the richness to this recipe.
- Lemon – add fresh lemon juice to get the tanginess of Caesar salad dressing.
- Worcestershire sauce – dating back to the original recipe, this is the secret ingredient that adds that special umami flavor!
- Dijon mustard – dijon mustard will remove the taste of mayo, all the while adding flavor.
- Seasoning – salt and ground black pepper.
- Garlic cloves- fresh and minced, for the best flavor.
- Extra virgin olive oil – adds even more creaminess to the dressing.
- Parmesan cheese – an integral part, dating back to the original recipe!
For a full list of ingredients and quantities, see the recipe card below.
Expert Tips:
- Use high-quality ingredients to get the best flavor of caesar dressing.
- Grate a block of parmesan cheese right before assembling the dressing for the best consistency and flavor.
Substitutions and Variations
Caesar salad dressing is customizable and has a few variations that you can choose from!
- Add protein: You can add anchovies to this recipe if you would a depth of flavor.
- Dairy-free: For a dairy-free alternative, you can replace milk, cheese, and mayonnaise with your favorite, dairy-free ingredients.
- Seasonings: Besides salt and pepper, you can add your favorite seasonings to bring your own twist on this Caesar salad dressing!
How to Make Caesar Salad Dressing
Caesar salad dressing just has 2 easy steps!
- Combine: Add all ingredients into a mason jar, or bowl, and whisk together. You can also use a food processor, or blender to incorporate the ingredients.
- Serve: Add your dressing to your salad, wrap, or pasta, and enjoy!
Tip for Getting the Best Dressing:
Emulsifying: drizzle the olive oil slowly into the ingredients to get the best consistency.
Ways to Use Caesar Salad Dressing
- As a salad: Enjoy this amazing Caesar salad dressing as a salad in our classic caesar salad, in our pasta chicken caesar salad, or in our easy pasta salad. You can even use this dressing to make a kale caesar salad.
- As a dip: You can use the caesar dressing as a dip for air-fried brussels.
- As a wrap: Another amazing way to use this classic caesar salad dressing is in our chicken caesar wrap!
Serving Suggestions
Creative ways you can pair the dressing!
- Italian: Feeling Italian? Enjoy this Caesar salad with spaghetti and meatballs, our chicken alfredo, or even chicken parmesan!
- Chicken: Caesar salad is always a great pairing with chicken! Some of our favorite chicken recipes are oven chicken thighs, the chicken shawarma, and our crispy baked chicken wings!
- Seafood: If you love shrimp, salmon, and other seafood, Caesar salad can go great with them! Some of our favorite seafood recipes are easy grilled shrimp, our baked shrimp salmon, and of course cod fillet!
Recipe FAQs
This recipe does not use anchovy fillets, but if you would like, you can totally add them or anchovy paste!
A lot of recipes use raw egg yolk, but our recipe simplifies the dressing and offers an option without eggs!
Fresh lemon juice is always best, but store-bought lemon juice can be used in a pinch
Milk is part of this recipe because it balances out the thickness of all of the other sauces and makes the dressing lighter, but if you do not have milk, you can skip this step.
Store & Freeze
- Storage. Store Caesar salad dressing in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze. We do not recommend freezing Caesar salad dressing.
More Dressing Recipes
If you loved this Caesar salad dressing, be sure to try our other salad dressings:
Caesar Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup mayo
- 3 Tbsp whole milk
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, or incorporate using a food processor. Drizzle olive oil in slowly while mixing.
- Store and use when needed.
Notes
- Store the dressing in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freshly grate parmesan cheese for the best flavor.
- Use high-quality olive oil, for a distinctly better dressing.