10-Minute Caesar Salad Dressing

By Candice Walker on Jan 27, 2017 (Last updated Jun 12, 2023) · This post may contain affiliate links.

5 from 8 votes

Popular as an appetizer or side dish, Caesar salad is known for its distinctive garlicky, creamy, and slightly salty dressing. Making your own delicious salad dressing at home is no mystery – I'm providing all the steps necessary to create a perfect Caesar salad dressing whenever you want it!

Caesar salad dressing in a glass beaker in front of a plate of lettuce.

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🌟Why you'll love this recipe
🧾Ingredients in this recipe
👩‍🍳How to make this recipe
🍞How to make homemade croutons
🥗 Make it a chicken Caesar salad
📋Recipe FAQs
🍍Related Recipes
10-Minute Caesar Salad Dressing

🌟Why you'll love this recipe

No cooking required – This dressing doesn't require any cooking equipment or heat.
Simple ingredients – Caesar dressing may seem fancy, but it has a lot of familiar elements you probably already have at home! The anchovy filets are a more specialized item, but easy to find in your local grocery store.
Super-quick – This dressing comes together in just 10 minutes!
Way better than store-bought dressing – This dressing tastes AMAZING. It's perfectly fresh, garlicky, and savory. It tastes so much better than store-bought versions.
Versatile - You can use this dressing for salads, as a spread for sandwiches or wraps, as a dip for veggies, in pasta salad, as a drizzle on your pizza, or even as a marinade for chicken! These Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps are a favorite.

🧾Ingredients in this recipe

Ingredients laid out and labeled to make caesar salad dressing like anchovies, parmesan, oil, and lemon.

Parmesan - Classic in Caesar dressing, parmesan is a hard Italian cheese with a distinct nutty, savory flavor.
Anchovy filets - These provide a salty element to the dressing. Some people leave these out of Caesar dressing and you can too, but they do add crucial flavor.
Olive oil and flavorless oil - I use sunflower seed, avocado, or canola oil for my flavorless oil, you can use any you prefer.
Dijon mustard - Tangy mustard adds another layer of flavor. Do not substitute with anything else.
Egg yolks - The egg yolks help emulsify the other ingredients together.
Garlic - The essential flavor! You need one whole garlic clove. Fresh works best in this recipe.
Lemon juice - The acidic element that balances out the garlic.
Pepper - To taste.
Salt - The coarseness of the grains of salt help turn the anchovies and garlic into a paste.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

🌟 Pro Tip

I recommend not skipping the anchovies in Caesar dressing! Many people say they don't like anchovies, but the truth is that if you don't know it's there, you definitely will like the special salty flavor it brings. One great example is Pasta Puttanesca.
Recipe for Pasta Puttanesca →

👩‍🍳How to make this recipe

Mincing anchovies and garlic on a black cutting board with a knife and hands with green nail polish.

Mince together the garlic, anchovies, and salt.
Mixing in a bowl: use the side of your knife blade to mash it into a paste.
Using a food processor: add the minced mixture to a food processor bowl.

Chopped anchovy, musard, and egg yolks in a food processor bowl.

Mixing in a bowl: In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, lemon juice, and Dijon mustard.
Using a food processor: Add the egg yolks, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and olive oil to the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times.

Caesar salad dressing in a food processor bowl.

Mixing in a bowl: very slowly whisk in the olive oil, then the flavorless oil.
Using a food processor: add the lid to the food processor bowl. While running, slowly pour in the flavorless oil.

Mixing some parmesan into salad dressing in a food processor bowl.

Fold in the parmesan and pepper.
Taste the dressing at this point to see if you need more salt, pepper, or lemon juice. Trust your tastebuds!

Top view of caesar salad dressing in a glass beaker next to a plate of lettuce.

🍞How to make homemade croutons

Cut your day-old bread into 1-inch cubes, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper (or herbes de Provence), and bake for 15 minutes at 300F.

🥗 Make it a chicken Caesar salad

Drizzle some boneless skinless chicken breasts with olive oil or any flavorless oil and season with salt and pepper or lemon pepper. Roast at 425°F for 30-40 minutes until cooked through. The internal temperature should read 165°F.

Add chopped romaine, the roasted chicken, your homemade croutons, and some extra shaved parmesan to a bowl. Pour in your dressing and toss to coat.

Take it one step further and make these incredible chicken Caesar salad wraps.

Sliced chicken breast on a bed of lettuce next to gold serving utensils.

📋Recipe FAQs

Does all Caesar dressing have anchovies?

Most Caesar dressing from the store or at restaurants does have anchovies in it. The anchovies provide an amazing salty flavor to round out the dish. Anchovies are actually in a lot of great sauces and dressings you may not even realize.

Does Caesar dressing have dairy?

Traditional Caesar dressing does have dairy from the Parmesan cheese. If you eat dairy-free, you can easily substitute with vegan parmesan cheese.

Does Caesar dressing have gluten?

Caesar salad dressing is gluten-free.

Is Caesar salad dressing healthy?

Caesar salad dressing does contain oils and fats in the ingredients, but these are healthy when eaten as part of a balanced diet. If your Caesar dressing is really heavy on the oil and Parmesan cheese this dish can be a little less healthy for you.

Caesar salad on a plate with croutons and large pieces of shaved parmesan.

🍍Related Recipes

For more tasty salad recipes, try these favorites.

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