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This easy creamy Caesar salad dressing recipe comes together fast, and you don’t need any fancy ingredients to make it. It’s better than store-bought or at a restaurant!
Making Caesar salad? You definitely need to add in my Easy Homemade Croutons.
Why you’ll love it
This quick and easy Caesar dressing is the one you’ve been searching for. It’s so good. It’s incredibly simple to whip up on busy weeknights, and it doesn’t make a mess like other more involved versions do. You don’t have to deal with a blender, no food processor, nada.
You will never go back to the stuff in a bottle after trying this homemade Caesar dressing with pantry ingredients since you can feel good knowing exactly what’s going into it. I’m pretty picky when it comes to Caesar dressing, and this is by far my favorite!
What you’ll need
- Mayonnaise – mayo makes a wonderful creamy base so that there are no raw eggs, and it eliminates all the guesswork. I use Hellmann’s mayo. You can also make your own mayo, but honestly the pre-made stuff is great for salad dressings.
- Sour cream – adds more creaminess and a tangy zip
- Worcestershire sauce – Worcestershire sauce contains anchovies, so we’re not using whole anchovies like other recipes do. This gives it just enough of that signature anchovy umami flavor in a great Caesar dressing without it being overwhelming!
- Fresh lemon juice – for a pop of acidity and bright freshness
- Dijon mustard – it’s a beloved trick of mine to give dressings and sauces even more savory depth of flavor
- Garlic – we’ve got a good amount of fresh garlic here
- Parmesan – freshly grated parmesan cheese is an absolute must in any Caesar dressing for that nutty, cheesy quality
Tools for this recipe
Check out Natasha’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and cookware!
- Use this garlic press to make it that much easier to mince the garlic cloves. No need to peel first!
- For the parmesan, use a Microplane zester to finely grate it from a block.
- These scissor salad tongs are awesome to serve up any salad, and here’s my favorite salad spinner for the lettuce.
- I love storing salad dressings in these covered yogurt jars.
Pro tip
The S&L kitchen feels this Caesar dressing is perfect as written, but not everyone’s tastebuds are the same, and that’s totally okay! Feel free to adjust to your own preferences. Need more lemon juice? Add it. More salt or pepper? More garlic? Don’t be shy!
How to make Caesar salad dressing
This is an overview, and full ingredients & instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Grate your parmesan.
- Add all the ingredients to a small bowl or a measuring cup. Stir or whisk until smooth.
- Chill if desired in the fridge, and then drizzle it over romaine lettuce, croutons, and parm!
Substitutions and variations
- You could leave the parmesan cheese out, but I recommend including it. It really tastes much better with it in here. You could also sub for asiago cheese in a pinch.
- If your heart is set on using anchovies or anchovy paste, you could, but I prefer Worcestershire sauce. Be careful not to overdo it if you do go that route!
- Need to make it vegetarian? Sub in some minced capers instead of the Worcestershire sauce for that briny, savory flavor. Start with 1 tbsp and adjust from there.
Leftovers and storage
- This Caesar dressing recipe yields about a cup of dressing, so it’ll make two decently sized salads or one large one, so you probably won’t have leftovers!
- But if you do have leftovers or doubled the recipe, this dressing will keep in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge.
What to serve with Caesar salad
- Caesar salad goes with basically any main course, but I love it with this Creamy Garlic Chicken, Easy Pan Seared Pork Chops Recipe, or these Garlic Butter Steak Bites!
- Want to make something other than a classic Caesar salad with this dressing? Try my Chicken Caesar Crostini or this Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad.
Is this your new favorite Caesar salad dressing recipe? You’re only about 10 minutes away from finding out. Leave a star rating and review below if you made it!
Easy Caesar Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup mayo
- 2 tablespoons sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 large clove garlic minced
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Grate your parmesan cheese.
- Add all ingredients to a medium bowl. Give everything a good stir (or whisk it) until the dressing is smooth. Taste and adjust as needed.
- Serve immediately or chill first. Dressing will keep in the fridge, covered, for a few days.
Notes
- I encourage you to play with the ingredient quantities if the taste isn’t exactly what you’re looking for. I’ll occasionally make this without measuring and I usually end up adding more Worcestershire and Dijon than written.
- Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information. Serving size in this salad dressing is one tablespoon (it makes about a cup in total).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I LOVE THIS DRESSING…I choose to use the Vitamix. I have late stage Melanoma. But God has been giving me extended time. And I do many things including to up the garlic…because it fights my cancer. Like 4 more cloves. But it’s excellent as written,
Glad you like it, Denise!
Good, easy and quick. I did go half and half on the mayo and Greek yogurt then added extra garlic, Dijon and Worcestershire. Pepper for a little kick and chilled for an hour to let the flavours meld. Thank you for this recipe 💕
You are very welcome, Marle!
any substitution for mayo?
Not that I can think of. The mayo is what gives it a nice silky texture.
This is my go to salad dressing easy to make and delicious! I’ve made it a few times for the family and kids and everyone enjoys. Taste way better than store bought dressing!
Yay!! That’s great to hear, Marlen!
I followed the recipe exactly but I.must have done something wrong because mine was very thick. Even after I attempted to thin it with milk it was too thick to pour. I didn’t want to add too much milk because I didn’t want it to affect the taste. It’s very good but thicker than what I am used to for a salad dressing.
Hi Joan! Hmm… it is a fairly thick dressing, but it does sound like yours turned out very thick. I wonder if perhaps the brands of mayo and sour cream were particularly thick? You could add in some more lemon juice and/or Worcestershire sauce in addition to the milk if you like.
I am surprised at how good this is! Each step of the way I’d taste. Worcestershire sauce is ideal but I was really unsure of the mustard which is essential in a vinaigrette but this? Well it took it over the top! My go to dressing. Thank you!
You are very welcome!! 😀 Thanks, Cindy!
Great recipe!I had Some leftover chickenschnitzels from sundays familydinner, a good excuse to make your Caesar salad. The only thing I changed is that I used garlic powder for the dressing, but it was Just fine.
And I Will never use croutons from the store anymore, they were so delicious!
Excuse me for my poor language, I’m from the Netherlands.
I surely will make more of your recipes, even though I have to do the maths for the quantities😅
Thanks, Peggy! So glad you enjoyed it! 😀
This is delicious! I have made it (right by your recipe) several times and my family loves it!
That makes me so happy, Lois! Thanks for your review!