This homemade Caesar Dressing recipe is so easy to make. With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll create a creamy Caesar dressing that is better than storebought or restaurant versions. And guess what? The anchovies are optional.
It’s surprisingly easy to make your own dressings like Homemade Ranch Dressing or Italian Dressing from scratch and creamy Caesar dressing is no exception.
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Use this creamy dressing to make a Classic Caesar Salad, tossed with crisp romaine lettuce, and Homemade Croutons. Sure, you could buy a storebought dressing, but why would you when you can effortlessly make your own umami-packed, lemony, garlicky, parmesan-cheesy, and creamy dressing that tastes so much better?
Our Caesar dressing is kid-friendly – it tastes like the creamy restaurant-style Caesar dressing that my kids love, yet it’s made with the best ingredients right at home. My kids get excited when I make Caesar salad because of this dressing.
Easy Caesar Dressing Recipe Video
Watch Natasha make this homemade Caesar dressing. Don’t blink, because it’s so simple to make and comes together quickly. You’ll make this Caesar dressing again and again once you see how easy it is.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- One-Bowl – Instead of hauling out a blender, food processor, or immersion blender, (which always creates issues for people, plus it’s messy), I’m so excited to finally have a Caesar dressing that’s easy to whip up in one bowl with just a whisk.
- Easy – I find myself making this dressing way more often for my kids (who love it!) because it’s so easy (measure, pour, stir) and mess-free.
- Keeps Well – The creamy texture remains intact, allowing you to enjoy it straight from the fridge.
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise – Use real mayo for the best flavor. The eggs in the mayo thicken this dressing so you don’t have to worry about the mixture separating. A Homemade Mayonnaise will make your dressing taste even better!
- Dijon mustard – We like to use the Grey Poupon brand, but any dijon will work
- Worcestershire sauce – Adds a rich umami flavor. If you are a vegetarian, see the pro tip below for more information.
- Oil – use a neutral oil like extra light olive oil and avoid using extra virgin olive oil which will give it a different flavor profile.
- Garlic – use fresh, not canned. It will give you more punch and flavor.
- Lemon juice – Opt for freshly squeezed lemon juice and not from concentrate.
- Parmesan cheese – We use freshly grated cheese, but finely shredded will work as well. You can also use pre-grated parmesan and add it according to taste since it’s more finely grated.
Pro Tip:
Did you know anchovies are an ingredient in Worcestershire sauce? So you can skip anchovies or anchovy paste since they’re technically already in there! If you are vegetarian or have a fish allergy, choose a Worcestershire sauce that does not have anchovies listed in the ingredients.
How to Make Homemade Caesar Dressing
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper until combined.
- While whisking vigorously, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Once all of the olive oil is in, continue whisking until it’s well incorporated. Add parmesan cheese and whisk together to combine.
- Transfer to a mason jar, cover with a lid, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Pro Tip:
The key to a thicker dressing is to slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking vigorously. This keeps the dressing emulsified and also helps incorporate more air into the dressing to help it thicken up. It will get even thicker in the refrigerator as the oil cools.
Storage
Transfer to a mason jar or airtight container and store homemade dressing in the refrigerator for up to a week. Add a label to track how old the dressing is and refrigerate promptly after use to maintain its freshness. You will love that it doesn’t separate when chilled and you can use it directly out of the refrigerator without re-whisking.
How to Serve Caesar Dressing
This dressing is so tasty you’ll be tempted to use it on everything, not just salads. Here are some of our favorite ways to enjoy this homemade Caesar dressing:
- Caesar Salad: add baked chicken breast to make it a complete meal, or make a chicken Caesar wrap for a healthy lunch option.
- As a dip for raw vegetables such as cut carrots, sliced cucumbers, or cauliflower florets – perfect for snacking!
- Pasta Salad Dressing – try it in Caesar Pasta Salad, Tortellini Salad with diced broccoli and tomato, tossed with parmesan cheese, or Macaroni Salad.
- As a grilling marinade for meat or chicken to tenderize the meat and add flavor.
- Potato Salad dressing – try this as the creamy base for a Classic Potato Salad.
More Homemade Dressings and Sauces
If you enjoy this homemade Caesar salad dressing recipe, you’ll love our other dressings and sauces made from scratch. They’re so fresh and easy to make and, in my opinion, taste better than anything store-bought.
- Chimichurri Recipe
- Classic Pesto
- Tartar Sauce
- Easy Marinara Sauce
- Tzatziki Sauce
- Barbecue Sauce
- Creamy Horseradish Sauce
Easy Caesar Dressing Recipe (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, *
- 2 garlic cloves, grated or pressed
- 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, from 1 large lemon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup extra light olive oil, not extra virgin*
- 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, grated garlic, 3 Tbs lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and whisk to combine.
- While whisking vigorously*, slowly drizzle in 1/2 cup olive oil. Once all of the olive oil is in, continue whisking until it’s well incorporated. Add parmesan and whisk together to combine.
- Transfer to a mason jar, cover with a lid, and refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
so delicious !! I would put a tiny bit less oil, but this recipe made my day ! thank you.
I’m so happy you liked it! Thank you 🙂
Waaay too much oil
I made this recipe 3 times. The first time I used my food processor. It turned out thick and creamy but I used extra virgin olive oil and found it to have a strong taste. The 2nd time I made it I used just regular olive oil. I started to use my food processor, then switched to my hand cuisinart hand mixer as I was making a half batch. It worked out perfectly, nice and thick and smooth, until I decided to mix it just a bit longer, it turned runny, but still tasted good. The 3rd attempt I used my cuisinart hand blender with the whisk attachment and also made a half batch. This way I could drizzle the olive oil in with one hand mix with the other. It turned out perfectly.
Maureen
Thank you so much for sharing all your tips! I also did not have great results when using extra-virgin olive oil. Mine did not thicken and the taste was a little strong.
I love the fact that this has no raw eggs, which gross me out. Having some friends over next week for lunch and so I’ll mix up a batch and see how good it is.
Same here – and raw eggs are not very safe for young children, pregnant women or the elderly. I hope you all enjoy it! 🙂
This truly is the best Caesar dressing I’ve ever had! It has all of the deliciousness without the anchovies. My whole family loves it. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for such a great review Jenny and you are welcome :).
Hi,
Can I make this in a regular blender?
Olga, you can use it if you have powerful enough blender to cut air in to it for the dressing to thicken. Readers had mixed results with using blenders so I won’t recommend it. Hope this helps :).
i made this tonight in my blender, but I had no problem getting it to thicken up. It helps if your ingredients are at room temperature when doing it in the blender. I also added some red wine vinegar and some Worcestershire sauce. Very yummy!
What kind of blender did you use? I think a powerful blender like blendtec or vitamix would work but I’m not sure a regular one would incorporate enough air into the mixture like a food processor would.
BEST. CAESAR. DRESSING. EVER….PERIOD!!!! I don’t know how long it would last, because we ate it all the first day! FRESH & DELICIOUS!
Thank you!
I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
I made this in a Vitamix with Just Mayo (vegan) and it was SO thick I had to add an extra cup of olive oil. And it’s still really thick! Like aioli! I might dilute it with water as I use it for dressing?
I know the Vitamix is a very powerful machine and in my experience, the longer I mixed it in my food processor, the thicker it became. It may just have gotten overmixed. Since the mayo acts as an emulsifier, it won’t help to add oil and continuing to beat it at really high speeds – it will just thicken more. I haven’t tried diluting it with water so I’m not sure what it would do to the dressing. Let me know what you ended up trying.
I made a double batch of this dressing for my grandson’s christening party. I used a hand manipulated food processor and regular olive oil, adding 2 tbsp. of the oil at a time and cranking 10x in between. It came out perfectly. The guests loved it!! The salad was the first thing to go! Thank you for a terrific recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing how you made it! You’re the second person to have great results with an immersion blender. Thanks for the great review 🙂
Great recipe! Thanks! Super easy, I don’t have a processor so I just used my Braun hand mixer inside a large mason jar. Followed the recipe exactly and poured the oil in a slow thin stream while pulsing the hand mixer. Thickened up perfect. We like ours a bit creamier so I added 2more tbsp of mayo, put the lid in the jar and kept in fridge until dinner. Super easy and fresh!
I’m so glad you liked it! I never would have thought to use my immersion blender for this! It’s awesome to know that it works. Thanks so much for sharing!
Natasha, this dressing is sooo good! I tried and tried but eventually gave up on trying to buy a good caesar dressing from stores, and I also tried making it myself going off of another recipe site and it was a complete disaster. With your recipe, I took the liberty of adding a few anchovies and lowering the amount of salt (because I added anchovies), and it turned out simply amazingly delicious!!! Also, because I didn’t have any lemons, I used a packet of True Lemon and I don’t believe that by doing so I made the results worse :). Thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you for a great review Mila, keep checking the site, I might have one or two more dressings on the site shortly :).
I will :), thank you! For now, I am making a 2nd batch of caesar :), had peope over and even my sister-in-law who doesn’t do dressings at all loved it! So now it’s gone, time to make more 🙂
That’s awesome! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the recipe. I’m working on a great ranch dressing currently. It’s still in the testing stages but I’m getting there! 😉
Really like this one. However I did use a blender as I have no processor. I have to say mine turned out just fine. Thick and creamy with a few bits cheese but not really bad at all. Maybe the very slow drizzle of the oil is the clue.
I’m so glad you liked it. I think a good blender will do the job too 🙂
Easy and delicious! Thank you for an excellent recipe! I used a blender, came out thick and creamy.
Thanks Martin! I’m so glad you liked it 🙂
Just thought I would weigh in. I made this for supper tonight. The kids loved it. In their minds the only competition is Red Lobster’s ceasar dressing. Thanks for making me look good. By the way, I used a blender and dumped the oil in all at once and it came out creamy. Obviously results do vary. If you leave the blender on it doesn’t mix well. If you pulse or just turn it on for a few seconds, turn it off until the air bubble comes up, and repeat. It will mix.
That’s fantastic that the kids loved it (isn’t that the best feeling?). Thanks for weighing in 😉
Natasha,I made this dressing and it was easy and delicious.I used a wisk since I couldn’t find the blade to my food processor. It came out creamy and it was sooo good I wanted to lick the bowl. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
That’s awesome! Doesn’t it smell amazing too? I’m so glad you loved it 😉
Went on line this morning to look for a good Caesar dressing and came across yours. I read the comments and I have all I need to try it out for dinner. Can’t wait to let you know how it turned out. I am rating this on what goes into the dressing right down to the type of mayo that is being used.
I hope you love everything about it! 🙂
This came out really, really bad when adding the olive oil. I find that it’s just fine when all the other ingredients are combined in a food processor sans the oil. (I tried two batches; once with extra virgin, and once with ‘normal’ oil)
Thank you so much for your input! I’ve just updated this recipe today (actually about to put in new pictures and I reduced the oil quite a bit. New and improved 🙂
Hello …I’m wondering, where are the anchovies? It seems like that’s a pretty vital part of a Caesar. Unless I’m missing something and this is a vegan site, but no, there are eggs (mayo)? Just curious.
Also, for those having trouble thickening the dressing an added egg yolk will help, along with adding the oil slowly (as I believe you’ve mentioned).
This is an anchovy free version. I’m not a fan and this is definitely not a vegan site 🙂 I haven’t tried the egg yolk for food safety reasons and my son was sensitive to eggs for awhile, but yes, you’re right. A typical caesar dressing has anchovies.
I found your recipe last night and tried it in my “Ninja”. Didn’t blend everything in stages as your recipe recommends, just dumped all the ingredients in and blended. Came out runny because I did not follow your instructions but it tasted amazing – love it, thanks! Enjoyed a fantastic Caesar Salad for lunch today.
You are welcome Rosemary, I just bought more salad ingredients today, so might make some of that dressing again :).
easy recipe. Made it in my vitamix, it was nice and thick. But it was somewhat bland and tooooo lemony. I had to add extra mayo, some sugar, and more garlic, plus another half a cup of fresh parm to make it palatable.
It’s good to know that a Vitamix works well for this. A regular blender wouldn’t cut it 😉