This homemade Caesar dressing recipe will blow any store bought version out of the water. Made with just 7 ingredients, it's creamy, savory, and rich.
Purists will tell you that you can’t make a good Caesar dressing without an egg yolk, anchovies, and Worcestershire sauce. But here’s the thing: what I love about Caesar salad dressing is that it’s creamy, briny, tangy, and rich. I thought there had to be a way to make a dressing that checked all those boxes with totally vegetarian ingredients (and no raw eggs).
Turns out, I was right! This homemade Caesar salad dressing recipe is every bit as delicious as the traditional version, and it’s so easy to make. It calls for just 7 simple ingredients, and you don’t need to haul out the food processor or blender to mix it up. Just stir together the ingredients, and enjoy!
Caesar Dressing Recipe Ingredients
Raw eggs, anchovies, and Worcestershire sauce aside, traditional Caesar dressing is made with Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice. These ingredients are all staples in my kitchen. They make this classic dressing rich, sharp, tangy, and bright, so I knew I wanted to use them as a starting point for my recipe. Then, to add creaminess and briny flavor, I turned to these key ingredients:
Whole milk Greek yogurt – It makes this dressing just as luscious and creamy as the traditional version, and it adds an extra punch of tangy flavor.
Capers – With their salty, briny flavor, capers perfectly replace the anchovies and Worcestershire sauce. Along with the lemon juice and Dijon mustard, they give this dressing a crave-worthy savory, tangy flavor.
Whisk the ingredients together and taste the dressing, seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Of course, I love tossing this dressing with with romaine lettuce, homemade croutons, and Parmesan cheese to make a classic Caesar salad. But your options for using it don’t end there! It’s also yummy drizzled over a simple green salad, mixed with massaged kale, or with roasted veggies like cauliflower or Brussels sprouts.
If you love this homemade Caesar salad dressing…
Try my cilantro lime dressing, carrot ginger dressing, chimichurri sauce, or ginger miso dressing next!
For more salad inspiration, check out this post.
Homemade Caesar Dressing
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup whole milk Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoons capers, minced
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, capers, and several grinds of black pepper. Season to taste.
Notes
Just made the honey mustard dressing! My family loved it.
Love it! I put in a bit of honey and parmesan, of course not vegan, but maybe an idea for vegetarian 🙂
Hey, Jeanine! I haven’t tried this yet, but I’m excited to. Even though I’m not vegetarian, anchovies and raw egg make me squirm, so a caesar dressing without them sounds wonderful.
One of my family members hates capers, though. Does this dressing have a caper-y flavor to it? If so, is there something else I can use so she’ll want to eat it?
Hi Madeleine, they add the briny flavor that’s otherwise in anchovies. I wouldn’t say it has a strong caper flavor, they just give it that caesar-like flavor. I might just make the dressing in a small food processor so that the pieces aren’t as noticeable. Or you can skip it and add extra salt, to taste, but it’ll be more of a lemony yogurt sauce and less of a caesar-like dressing. Hope that helps!
Hi. Can I use sour cream instead of yogurt? I accidentally bought vanilla yogurt.
Hi Suzanne, I haven’t tried but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.
Just made a Caesar salad for dinner with this dressing, Lacinato Kale, tomatoes, and roasted chickpeas. My partner will not stop talking about how good it was.
A BIG improvement over the vegan Caesar dressing recipe we were using previously (embarassingly for years) that ended up basically being ground up almonds. (I know this L&L recipe isn’t vegan but neither are we!)
I’m so glad you both loved it!
Are these recipes free?
yep, all the recipes on the blog are free.
Great recipe! Can you share where the cute dressing pitcher is from? Many thanks
Hi Justine, I think it’s from Crate & Barrel!
Hi Jeanine,
Been a big fan of your page for a while now. Do you have any suggestions for a vegan substitute of the yogurt? I’m thinking either vegan mayo or vegan yogurt (or both?)
Thanks!
Julia
Hi Julia! I’d try vegan mayo or a mix of vegan mayo and kite hill’s almond yogurt. If you have the new cookbook, there’s a cashew based recipe with the grilled romaine wedge salad.
Can 0% milkfat Greek Yogurt be substituted for the whole milk yogurt for the dressing?
Hi Erin, you can if you’d like, although I prefer it with full fat yogurt for richness.
How long will it keep in an air-tight container in the fridge?
Hi Elianne, about 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
Taste wonderful. What would you recommend to thin it a bit?
Thanks!
Hi Mary, you can stir in a little olive oil or water until it’s a drizzle-able consistency.