Name: Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 2 small cloves garlic; 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1/2 a lemon); 1 teaspoon anchovy paste (or 2 to 3 anchovy fillets); 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; 1 teaspoon water (or as needed to reach desired consistency); 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper; 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil; 1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

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This easy Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing is super fresh and creamy with that familiar briny kick and takes just 5 minutes to make! It turns a basic Caesar salad into something amazing.

Salad dressing in a mason jar with a spoon.

Chopped romaine, Parmesan cheese, and croutons make up the basis of a classic Caesar salad. When you break it down, there’s really nothing special about it. But when you add a made from scratch, flavor packed dressing, you’ve really got something. It’s ALL about the dressing.

A top down shot of Caesar dressing in a mason jar on a cutting board.

I avoided making my own Caesar dressing for years because most recipes include raw egg in the mix. Although the risk is small, there is a risk in serving recipes made with raw eggs and I just don’t think any risk is worth it. Especially with little ones and older folks. The egg is there to add creaminess and texture to the dressing when it’s blended but you can get that same affect with mayonnaise. After all, if you’ve ever looked at the ingredients in mayo, it’s just (pasteurized) eggs, oil, and two or three other ingredients. It works perfectly to provide the right taste, texture, and body to Caesar dressing.

Not light on the waistline but stay with me because I’ve got some tips for you on how to lighten it up.

Ingredients

I like to add both olive oil and a neutral oil, like vegetable or canola oil, to my salad dressing recipes. Olive oil has a prominent flavor and we want the other ingredients in this recipe to shine.
Anchovy paste is a vital ingredient in any Caesar salad dressing recipe. It adds that must-have briny kick. You can substitute 2 or 3 canned anchovy fillets, if preferred.

A mason jar filled with salad dressing on a cutting board.

Creating this dressing could not be any easier. I like to prepare it a couple of hours before serving so it has time to chill and become even more flavorful.

How to Make Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

You can use a full size food processor to prepare this recipe but I like to use a smaller unit like the Cuisinart Mini Prep Plus for small jobs like this.

Place the garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
Add the remaining ingredients, except the oil, and pulse until well combined.
With the unit running, add the olive and vegetable oil through the feed tube of the food processor. Process for a minute or two until creamy and emulsified.
Add additional water, a teaspoon at a time, to thin to desired consistency.

Ligthen It Up

Replace up to half of the mayonnaise for nonfat plain Greek yogurt to reduce both fat and calories.

Caesar salad dressing drips from a spoon into a mason jar.

How to Store Caesar Salad Dressing

Transfer the dressing to a mason jar or other airtight container and refrigerate it immediately.
Properly stored, it will keep well in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days.

This stuff is so good I honestly would like to just grab some croutons and use it as a dip. Would that be bad? Once you’ve tried it, there’s no going back to the bottled stuff.

a salad topped with chicken with a mason jar filled with dressing.

It works perfectly to dress a basic side dish Caesar or my Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad, a fabulous, stupendous, ridiculously easy dinner idea you can put together in nothing flat.

More Fresh and Tasty Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes

This post was originally published on December 18, 2014. It has been updated with new text and images.