Caesar Salad Dressing

This Caesar Salad Dressing recipe is light and lemony and you’ll love that this is a homemade Caesar Dressing without anchovies and tastes just as good as traditional Caesar salad dressing.

This Homemade Caesar dressing rivals any restaurant or store-bought Caesar dressing out there.  It’s deliciously creamy and light and super easy to make!  It’s my go-to dressing when I make this Broccoli Kale Caesar Salad.

What’s in Caesar Dressing

Traditional Caesar salad dressing recipe is a mix of garlic, tangy Dijon, Parmesan cheese, freshly-squeezed lemon juice, raw egg yolks and anchovies.  The popular Caesar salad (made with Romaine lettuce tossed with Caesar salad dressing) was the creation of  Caeesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who owned restaurants in America and Mexico. 

This Caesar salad dressing recipe veers a bit, using mayonnaise instead of raw egg yolks and omitting the anchovies altogether.  If you’re like me, you’ll have these simple Caesar dressing ingredients on hand so you can make it on a whim any time you like. 

Caesar Dressing Recipe

When you mix the mustard and mayonnaise with the olive oil, the ingredients will will emulsify giving this homemade Caesar dressing a slightly creamy texture.  Here’s the short list of Caesar dressing ingredients that you’ll need to make this delish dressing with:

• Garlic – Fresh garlic adds so much flavor to a good Caesar dressing.
• Lemon juice – Lemon juice really blends so well with the other ingredients, giving this dressing an amazing flavor!
• Dijon mustard – Dijon not only adds flavor to this dressing, but it also helps to emulsify the dressing making it a little creamy.
• Mayonnaise –  We use a little mayo instead of raw egg for this recipe. It adds to the creaminess of this dressing.
• Extra-virgin olive oil – I typically use extra-virgin olive oil, but you can use avocado oil if you prefer.
• Parmesan cheese – You can use either parmesan or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for this recipe. It adds so much flavor to the mix!

Find printable recipe with the measurements below.

How to Make Caesar Dressing 

The easiest way to make this Caesar salad dressing without anchovies is to add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.  This is my preferred method for making this dressing because it turns out creamier.  But if you don’t want to pull out your blender, then here’s the method for hand-whisking this dressing.  Either way, this dressing comes together in about 5 minutes start-to-finish.

• Slice garlic:  Thinly slice the garlic and mash the slices with a fork or the side of a knife to form a paste.
• Whisk lemon juice, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and garlic: Add the lemon juice, Dijon mustard, mayonnaise and garlic to a bowl and whisk to blend well.  
• Add olive oil:  Gradually drizzle the olive oil in with the lemon juice, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise mixture until emulsified.
• Stir in parmesan cheese:  Stir in the parmesan cheese and blend well.
• Season:  Add salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste.

Caesar Dressing Anchovies

If you prefer to add anchovies to your Caesar dressing, you’ll need 1-2 oil packed anchovy fillets to add to this recipe.  Mash the anchovy fillets with the garlic clove using the side of a knife to form a paste, then transfer to a bowl and whisk together with the lemon juice, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise. Then continue to add the olive oil, parmesan cheese and seasoning per the recipe.

Looking for more healthy salad dressing recipes to make?

• Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette
• Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Ginger Salad Dressing
• Greek Salad Dressing
• Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette
• Immune Boosting Avocado Oil Salad Dressing
• Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
• Homemade Ranch Dressing

Want more ideas? Check out all my homemade salad dressing recipes.

Continue to Content

Print

Yield: 4-6 servings

Caesar Dressing Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

This Homemade Caesar dressing rivals any restaurant or store-bought Caesar dressing out there.  It's deliciously creamy and light and super easy to make!  Your whole family will love it!

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 3-4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Whisk lemon juice, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise in a mixing bowl.
2. Gradually drizzle in olive oil and whisk until emulsified.
3. Whisk in parmesan cheese.
4. Add black pepper to taste.

Note: You can also add all of the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. This is my preferred way to make this dressing.

Notes

Adding Anchovies

If you prefer to add anchovies to your Caesar dressing, you'll need 1-2 oil packed anchovy fillets to add to this recipe. 

Mash the anchovy fillets with the garlic clove using the side of a knife to form a paste, then transfer to a bowl and whisk together with the lemon juice, Dijon mustard and mayonnaise.

Then continue to add the olive oil, parmesan cheese and seasoning per the recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 210Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 142mgCarbohydrates: 2gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 1g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations.