A Traditional Caesar Dressing that will upgrade your salad with a homemade flavorful addition! Top it off with some parmesan flakes and croutons for a Caesar salad better than any restaurant will ever serve you in under 15 minutes!
Homemade Dressings
A traditional caesar dressing made by your own hands is a great addition to any salad. Well, not ANY salad. It's great for a caesar salad. I feel like once you put the caesar dressing on the salad, it becomes a caesar salad. But maybe I'm wrong. Either way, this dressing is so fresh and creamy with a classic caesar salad.
I stopped buying dressings pretty much altogether in college. I was so broke that it made no sense to spend an extra $4 on ranch or Italian dressing just for a salad. It was so much more cost-effective to use olive oil and vinegar. Now, I just really don't like eating salad dressings because 9 times out of 10 they have like a bunch of added sugars and nonsense.
Don't get me wrong, I still love some Hidden Valley and some Kraft French dressing, but I just don't need that to make the salad. My preferences have just changed and there's something about a homemade lemon basil vinaigrette, Cilantro Lime Ranch, or in this case, a caesar dressing that just works on the daily for me and the family.
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 anchovies, chopped
- ½ tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
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Whipping Together a Traditional Caesar Dressing
Step 1: Add 2 egg yolks to a bowl and whisk until creamy, about 2 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil and whisk until well combined and emulsified.
Step 2: Stir in the anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and lemon juice until completely combined. Then add the salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Serve with romaine lettuce, Homemade Italian Parmesan Croutons, and shaved parmesan cheese.
Pro-Tips
- Use a food processor if you're not confident in your whisking skills. You really need to whisk the olive oil fast and hard to get an emulsified dressing. The food processor will make this a lot easier for most people.
- Adjust the thickness of the dressing by adding a tablespoon of water if it is too thick.
This is the easiest recipe ever and it's so tasty. Yes, it's a little more work than glopping on some dressing you like, but the flavor depth of the ingredients is so much more worth it. You will actually taste all of the flavors instead of the typical "caesar" flavor.
Don't sleep on a traditional caesar dressing. Put in that little bit of extra work and try this dressing. you won't be disappointed.
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📖 Recipe
Traditional Caesar Dressing
Equipment
- 1 food processor you could use a whisk instead
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 anchovies, chopped
- ½ tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- ¾ cup freshly grated parmesan
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Add 2 egg yolks to a bowl and vigorously whisk or add to a food processor and mix until creamy.
- If continuing with the food processor, slowly add the olive oil and process until creamy. Then add the remaining ingredients and combine. If whisking, slowly drizzle in the olive oil into the bowl as you intensely whisk it and emulsify the fat to become creamy. Once creamy, add the anchovies, garlic, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, and lemon juice until completely combined.
- Whisk in salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Serve with romaine lettuce, croutons and shaved parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Whisking is incredibly hard. You have to pour in the olive oil EXTRA slowly and whisk vigorously to be able to emulsify the fat. It takes practice. If you try it and it doesn't work though, just pour the whole mixture into the food processor and combine. It will emulsify it just fine.
Dale says
Can I also add capers to your recipe and if so what would be your preferred amount?
Thanks.
Vinny says
You could, I probably wouldn't. Maybe you can substitute 1-2 tsp of capers for the anchovies.
Rebecca says
Authentic recipe uses Lime juice, not lemon. Regardless this recipe is okay. But not authentic.
Jennay says
This is great! How long does the dressing last at room temp? Or is it best to store it in the fridge?
Vinny says
It can sit an hour or 2 at room temp max. Definitely store in the refrigerator.
Micki says
Easy and delicious
Kim says
Mine ended up super thick and “gloppy” when I did it in the food processor. Any idea why that happened?
Vinny says
A food processor is like an ultra emulsifier so it will give you thicker results then by hand. If it's too thick, I adjust the texture by adding a tablespoon of water at a time.
Cassandra Bitterwolf says
How long will this last in the fridge?
Vincent DelGiudice says
7 days
Billy says
It says 6 servings but doesn't say how much a serving is, could you clarify?
Vincent DelGiudice says
About 3 tbsp
Elizabeth says
Brought back delicious childhood memories of my father making it in a blender with egg yolks! You are so right. It's going be hard to just open a bottle now. thanks for sharing!
Alejandra says
Hello! The nutritional information values are representative of 1 serving or 6 servings? Thank you!
Vincent DelGiudice says
1 serving
Alaynna Fourroux King says
Brought me back to my childhood in New Orleans and fancy restaurants where they made the dressing at the table. DELISH!!! Thank you!
Alli says
How long can this stay in the fridge after it is made?
Vincent DelGiudice says
up to 1 week!
Michelle says
Real caesar! Most other recipes use mayo as an ingredient and that is not a real caesar dressing!
Kimmie says
That’s actually not true… to an extent. A historical Caesar uses egg yolks and oil which is what mayonnaise is when emulsified. They are just skipping the step of furiously whisking yolk and oil. So, this recipe is great! I love it. But in terms of ‘quick’ recipes using mayonnaise… it’s almost more accurate than this eggless recipe.
KH says
What about the 2 cloves of chopped garlic?
Vincent DelGiudice says
The garlic would be part of the "remaining ingredients" listed in the recipe card. You whisk or process the oil in.
Peter says
Good recipe!
Thank you!
I added Tabasco though
Aud says
The lemon kills salmonella, thats why its safe to eat mayo.
Kerri says
I couldn't find the only bottled Caesar dressing I like at the store today so we made this. It was delicious! I'm thinking we might not go back to bottled.
CW says
How do you prevent salmonella exposure when using raw egg yolks? I’ve been reading that even using pasteurized eggs carry a risk of salmonella poisoning.
Vinny and Marisa says
Short answer is you can't. Eating raw/undercooked eggs will always carry a threat of salmonella. Most journals say that the risk of salmonella is about 1 in 20,000. eggs carry salmonella.
Barb says
Use organic eggs
Dr. Dave says
Barb, all organic means is that they’re fed organic feed. It has nothing to do with salmonella.
Dale says
I'm not sure the reason but Japanese eggs are not refrigerated or pasteurized. I've been buying them for 30 years in local convenience stores and have never heard of anyone getting ill. They are always date-marked and expired product is never displayed. Go figure.
Din says
My son raises chickens and I get fresh eggs. He tells me the reason store bought eggs are refrigerated is because they are washed. He said there is a natural barrier that when left intact protects the eggs. Once the barrier is washed off they must be refrigerated.
Don says
My son raises chickens and I get fresh eggs. He tells me the reason store bought eggs are refrigerated is because they are washed. He said there is a natural barrier that when left intact protects the eggs. Once the barrier is washed off they must be refrigerated.