Last Updated on May 23, 2023 by Deliciously Organic
Caesar salad dressing is a classic recipe, is super easy to make and tastes much better than anything you can buy at the store.
This is my Mom’s recipe that I’ve been making since I was a kid. It was actually my job to make salads, and I’ve made it so many times, I have it memorized!
The dressing is a combination of garlic, lemon, Worcestershire, vinegar, Dijon, anchovy fillets, egg yolk and olive oil. Don’t get turned off by the anchovy or egg yolk. The fillets give Caesar that classic “caesar” flavor, and the egg yolk makes the dressing extra creamy.
When using raw egg yolks, make sure to purchase organic and if possible, also pastured. I often buy Vital Farms organic eggs or eggs from a local farm.
Caesar dressing can be made ahead of time, stored in a mason jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. I like to serve it over romaine lettuce and add some parm at the end. Add grilled chicken, beef, or shrimp for added protein.
Here are some more salad recipes you might enjoy:
Honey Mustard Chicken Salad with Avocado and Tomatoes
Chicken Parmesan Salad
Copycat Olive Garden Salad
Chicken Taco Salad
Greek Salad with Beef Kabobs
Caesar Salad Dressing
Traditional Caesar salad dressing is made with raw eggs. When using raw egg yolks, I buy organic, pastured eggs and wash the egg shell water before cracking (salmonella comes from sick chickens so make sure and use good quality eggs). If you’re not comfortable with raw yolks, you can purchase pasteurized eggs at the grocery store.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Side Dish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 3 anchovy fillets (don’t worry, the dressing won’t taste fishy)
- 1 raw organic, pastured egg yolk
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Instructions
- Place garlic and lemon juice in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes (this will help take the “bite” away from the garlic). Pour garlic mixture into a blender. Add remaining ingredients to blender and blend until smooth. Adjust salt to taste. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Makes 1 cup
Love this classic!! Great recipe!
thank you for this post… i’m so incredibly disappointed in the selection at the post commissary where i live. they are currently expanding the building, so one can only hope they’ll be filling the new, additional aisles with organic, whole foods… but i won’t hold my breath. i filled out the survey. maybe just maybe they’ll catch up with some of the major grocery store chains and the options they even carry these days!
I’m so happy to see all your dressing recipe posts. So many think it’s easier to grab a bottle off the grocery store shelf, but what goes in them is appalling to me! Fresh is best! Your ranch recipe is one of our favorites. I will definitely be trying this recipe. I have an old classic from one of the very first cookbooks Nordstrom sold, it’s yummy too and so easy!
Karen, I used to work at Nordy’s Cafe and have missed their Caesar Dressing ever since they closed down here! Would you by chance be able to send me their recipe??
Carrie, this dressing recipe looks yummy! I made your Green Goddess dressing yesterday and am excited to serve it with tonight’s dinner. A couple of comments: The Green Goddess dressing recipe makes a LOT for one week. I’d recommend halving unless you’re feeding quite a crew. And, are you sure about washing the eggs for the Caesar recipe in soap and water? I recently started raising backyard chickens, and from what I’ve read, you don’t want to wash eggs because they’re porous and the bacteria will be driven inside the egg by the water. Any thoughts? Thanks for your ideas! I have your cookbook and refer to it and your website frequently.
I am military and I completely agree!! Once they built a Whole Foods in my town (8 months ago?), I haven’t looked back. I actually stopped in the commissary about a week ago for convenience’s sake, and realized I shouldn’t have bothered – the organic produce section is miniscule, and other organic/healthy options just aren’t there. I will continue driving to the other side of town for my groceries!! And don’t even get me started about what we pay the military to serve us on deployment…
I’m addicted to kale caesar salads right now, would love to try this dressing!!
Wow! Thank you for doing this Carrie. We live next to a small commissary and sadly we rarely shop there. And when we do it mostly for non food times. There is a very small section labeled natural food, they sell Lara bars and some Bobs Red Mill products, a few gluten free items and that’s about it. There is a large selection of meat sold very cheap but we choose not to purchase any of it, as its all conventional. Also the produce section isn’t that great, there is one small section of organics but its usually only tomatoes and bagged lettuce, the conventional produce that is offered doesn’t always look that fresh. We also have visited a larger Comissary (further from where we live ) and had the same experience as you, there really isn’t much more of a selection offered just a lot more of the same items on the shelf. Luckily we live in an area where we are not reliant to a commissary, we have Whole Foods, Trafer Joes, several other grocery stores and local farmers markets. But like you said for others the comissary may be there only (or closest) choice. I have also seen the food that is served on bases and on boats.
I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the new look! So natural and organic, I honestly can’t remember what the old one looked like, ha! Well done!
Thanks, Karen! I’m excited!!
Just wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVE your new design! So clean and inviting! Congrats!! And I also love how much you care about getting real food out to more and more of our military families! You are such a blessing!! Lots of blessings to you, sweet friend! 🙂 Kelly
Thanks, Kelly! I’m really excited about the new design. I also hope we can begin to provide our military with better food options. 🙂
I don’t even bother going to the commissary. Even the organics that they do have, including Bob’s Red Mill are priced the same, or HIGHER, than where I normally shop. They do not carry local produce even though Ohio has outstanding CSA’s and local farms and dairies, and eggs. I cannot believe how terrible this commissary is even though they just remodeled and expanded. When I did ask for some of the organic products that I normally buy, I was told that they “were not on the list and could not be ordered.” I don’t know how they come up with their numbers but the 30% savings is certainly not on real food.
Carrie – I shop at that same commissary…..plus about a half a dozen other places just to find everything we need:) It seems as if they keep carrying less and less. Every time we travel for whatever reason and then come back there is another item that has been dropped……so frustrating. If it wasn’t for offthevine, publix, winn dixie(one particular one) ,the fresh market, staff of life, the golden almond, online ordering, etc we would be totally lost. I will try to find the time for the survey very soon. Thanks for going through the trouble to get the ball rolling so to speak. I have often thought of complaining, contacting someone, etc but honestly sort of felt it was hopeless since whenever I have requested something it may appear for a short period of time and then it goes away again – I can’t keep up – haha. Take care – don’t you miss Whole Foods?
Hi Carrie,
I am military and find myself at the commissary less and less. When we lived in the Virginia Beach area there were three huge commissaries to shop at and one of them had a decent selection of organic and unprocessed foods. Now we’re at a tiny one and there is very little that I buy there. I just feel sad very time I walk through there. The products I do get are cheaper so that’s why I go there but there is no selection!
Thanks for this post!
I’m so glad I stumble upon your blog and this post! We are a military family, currently overseas in Japan. The organic selection is slim and extremely overpriced! $20 for 7-8 chicken breasts! I shop exclusively off base for my produce but it’s difficult for other items because I cannot read the labels, it is super frustrating! I will most certainly be following along for more recipes =)
Ha, I live overseas and I avoid the commissary like the plague. Too much junk food. I don’t even know many military families who are willingly go for the junk; however, the few organic options are always sold out. People know to stock up when they get a new shipping in. I mostly rely on German stores, they usually have a great selection of organic foods. Thankfully I live in an area with lots of little organic farms. Raw milk? No problem.
Worcestershire Sauce in the salad dressing? The commercial one with high fructose corn syrup? Or do you offer a recipe for homemade?
I found a good sounding recipe so I can make my own! http://www.marthastewart.com/258132/homemade-vegan-worcestershire-sauce
Here’s another good recipe (I use olive oil instead of the vegetable oil called for in the recipe): http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/recipes/homemade-worcestershire-sauce/
Thanks for this link: I like the addition of the fish sauce and anchovies in this one! (May leave out the cloves though.)
Hello. I am so glad I purchased your cookbook. I made this dressing this evening. How long do you think it would keep in the refrigerator if I made a bit too much ? Thank you.
It will keep for about 4 days in the fridge.
This is my go-to recipe, I usually use sardines because I have those on hand- turns out great!