Homemade Caesar Dressing

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.

Caesar dressing

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 salad dressing recipe ingredients

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.

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Homemade Caesar Dressing

rate this recipe:
4.75 from 20 votes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
This homemade Caesar dressing is creamy, delicious, and so easy to make! Serve it on a classic Caesar salad, or drizzle it over any simple green salad.

Ingredients

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.

 

31 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Randy
    01.15.2024

    Could you share how many calories, fat and carbs in a serving? Thank you.

  2. Cori
    03.08.2023

    5 stars
    I’ve made it my mission to find a new go-to Caesar dressing recipe. In the past 7 days I’ve tried 7 different recipes, all being a fail.. until this one on day 8!
    I made it exactly as the recipe reads and it was fabulous. This will now be my new go to dressing! I predict a lot of Caesar salads in my meal planning 🙂
    Thank you!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      03.10.2023

      Hi Cori, I’m so glad you loved this one!

  3. Jo Paley
    02.20.2023

    5 stars
    I have been looking for a homemade Caesar dressing recipe and was happy to find this one. I made it using the whole sheep’s milk yogurt and capers I had on hand, and it was delicious. Still, I always have anchovies and Worcestershire sauce on hand, too, and I wonder in what amounts you would add those in lieu of the capers. Thanks for your great recipes and advice!

    • Phoebe Moore (L&L Recipe Developer)
      02.23.2023

      Hi Jo, I’m so glad you loved the dressing! We haven’t tried making it with anchovies and/or Worcestershire sauce, so I don’t have a specific recommendation about how much to use.

  4. Wondo
    11.22.2022

    Might try this as a stepping off point using almond or cashew cream instead of yoghurt. Like another reader, the idea of raw egg and anchovies also makes me squirm, there’s something about the thought of combining more than a dollop of yoghurt with greens that makes my stomach roll over. Thanks for the idea.
    Wondo

  5. Brooke
    10.12.2022

    5 stars
    This is the best Cesar dressing recipe!
    I don’t care for Mayo, and was happy to substitute it with Greek yogurt. Also, I was pleasantly surprised with the capers, and thought they tasted better than adding traditional anchovy paste.
    Thank you! It’s become my go to salad dressing!

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      10.21.2022

      Hi Brooke, I’m so glad you loved it! One of my favorites 🙂

  6. Nicole
    10.10.2022

    1 star
    this was nasty and didn’t taste anything like ceasar dressing😭 I swear i followed it perfectly

  7. Nadia
    09.12.2022

    5 stars
    That was a delicious dressing for my salad. My only advice is to squeeze out all the vinegar from the capers first because mine ended up too vinegary and I had to start again. Second time, I squeezed out all the vinegar in a garlic press then once the juice was out, I squeezed the capers into the bowl. Thanks for sharing. Definitely my go to for future Caesar salads.

  8. Esme
    09.23.2021

    4 stars
    Just made the honey mustard dressing! My family loved it.

  9. Stefanie
    05.08.2021

    Love it! I put in a bit of honey and parmesan, of course not vegan, but maybe an idea for vegetarian 🙂

  10. Madeleine
    02.22.2021

    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?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      02.22.2021

      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!

  11. Suzanne Williams
    09.13.2020

    Hi. Can I use sour cream instead of yogurt? I accidentally bought vanilla yogurt.

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      09.13.2020

      Hi Suzanne, I haven’t tried but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work.

  12. Alaina
    07.07.2020

    5 stars
    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!)

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      07.08.2020

      I’m so glad you both loved it!

  13. Antoinette Johnston
    06.18.2020

    Are these recipes free?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      06.18.2020

      yep, all the recipes on the blog are free.

  14. Justine
    01.02.2020

    Great recipe! Can you share where the cute dressing pitcher is from? Many thanks

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      01.03.2020

      Hi Justine, I think it’s from Crate & Barrel!

  15. Julia
    12.17.2019

    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

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.17.2019

      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.

  16. Erin
    12.17.2019

    Can 0% milkfat Greek Yogurt be substituted for the whole milk yogurt for the dressing?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.17.2019

      Hi Erin, you can if you’d like, although I prefer it with full fat yogurt for richness.

  17. Elianne
    12.17.2019

    How long will it keep in an air-tight container in the fridge?

    • Jeanine Donofrio
      12.17.2019

      Hi Elianne, about 3 to 4 days in the fridge.

      • Mary
        01.13.2020

        5 stars
        Taste wonderful. What would you recommend to thin it a bit?
        Thanks!

        • Jeanine Donofrio
          01.13.2020

          Hi Mary, you can stir in a little olive oil or water until it’s a drizzle-able consistency.

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.