Have you ever made homemade Caesar salad dressing before? I’ll be honest, before recipe testing it for us; I hadn’t had the guts to give homemade Caesar salad dressing a try. It’s pretty daunting when you think about it right? A bunch of bold flavors, who knows what all goes in there. And didn’t someone say there’s anchovy paste? 

Fish in a tube? Yeah, no thanks!

I mean, I’m picky when it comes to the dressing – salty, but not too salty. Just the right amount of fishiness (where I can’t tell it’s there, but it’s doing the job in the background) and garlicky, but not to the point where that’s all I can taste.

It should come as no surprise that the only way to satisfy all my needs for a great Caesar salad dressing is to make it myself. That way, I can adjust it till I’m happy.

What I love about this homemade Caesar salad dressing is that it takes two minutes to make. Toss everything into a mason jar, one with a wide mouth so that you can use an immersion hand blender (affiliate link) or a regular blender!

Confession: I sort of hate buying store-bought salad dressing. Unless I’m buying it to taste test so I can replicate a homemade version for the blog. With the amount of recipe testing I do for the blog, it’s rare that I ever need to have store-bought salad dressing in the refrigerator. There’s almost always a sauce or vinaigrette that needs to be used up before it goes bad.

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE HOMEMADE CAESAR SALAD DRESSING:

• garlic 
• anchovy paste
• Worcestershire sauce
• parmesan cheese
• lemon juice
• egg yolks (more on this in a second)
• Dijon mustard
• oil
• mayonnaise
• salt and pepper

WHAT IF I DON’T LIKE/NEVER BUY ANCHOVY PASTE, IS THERE SOMETHING ELSE I CAN USE TO MAKE CAESAR SALAD DRESSING?

I’ll be honest; I think I bought anchovy paste, like, once. And even then I used just a couple teaspoons (to make this dressing, of course) and the rest went bad. But since then, I’ve tested this recipe (and retested it) using Asian fish sauce in its place, and I’ll tell you what. Unless you LOVE anchovies, you really won’t be able to tell the difference. 

Asian fish sauce is something I almost always have at home (because I make garlic noodles like all the time) and so it’s an excellent substitute for this dressing recipe.

WHAT KIND OF OIL DO I USE WHEN I MAKE CAESAR SALAD DRESSING AT HOME?

Previously I recommended using canola or vegetable oil. But after making this recipe almost a dozen more times since then, I say you can use extra virgin olive oil, sunflower oil, or even avocado oil. Any flavorless oil should do the trick!

USING RAW EGG YOLKS FREAKS ME OUT, WHAT DO I USE INSTEAD IN THIS CAESAR SALAD DRESSING RECIPE?

If raw eggs give you the heebie-jeebies, swap the two egg yolks for three tablespoons of sour cream/mayonnaise (6 total if you’re using mayo)

Please keep in mind that if you’re nursing, pregnant, or feeding this to small children, I suggest substituting the raw egg yolks for sour cream or mayo!

HOW TO MAKE CAESAR SALAD DRESSING:

1. Place everything into a wide mouth jar (where you can insert an immersion stick blender) or place everything into a regular blender/food processor
2. Blend. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
3. Serve.

HOW MUCH CAESAR SALAD DRESSING DOES THIS MAKE?

My recipe makes roughly ~ 1 ¼ cups of homemade Caesar salad dressing.

Leftover Caesar salad dressing can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days.

And just like that, you have yourself homemade caesar salad dressing that doesn’t contain any additives. It’s fresh and doable in under two minutes, so no need to buy store-bought dressing ever again!

Original recipe shared June 2015, updated June 2019 with minor recipe adjustments and new pictures.