Healthy Homemade Caesar Dressing

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We've put a healthy spin on this creamy homemade Caesar dressing by using Greek yogurt! Just a handful of real ingredients will get you that classic creamy Caesar flavor for salad, wraps, or pasta salad.

Homemade Caesar dressing in a small jar with freshly cracked pepper on top, on light gray surface, with slice of sourdough and lemons on side

A good Caesar salad always hits the spot, especially with its classic creamy dressing that really hits the salt tooth spot. And did you know that Caesar dressing is SO easy to make at home?! It tastes fresh as can be, with whole, simple ingredients. And yes, it does have anchovies, but if you haven't bought anchovies before, TRUST. They really bring that umami flavor.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions & Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
FAQ
More Homemade Salad Dressings
Healthy Homemade Caesar Dressing

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients you'll need to make a creamy homemade Caesar dressing. This recipe makes a smaller batch, so you can keep it in your fridge and reasonably use it up within a week.

Whole milk Greek yogurt - The full fat taste of whole milk Greek yogurt is a great replacement for egg yolk or mayo base of a traditional Caesar. I love the taste of of Fage and Siggi's plain whole milk yogurts.
Extra virgin olive oil - A standard dressing base that adds flavor and richness, plus helps you absorb the nutrients in your food.
Lemon juice - From fresh lemons.
Parmesan - A Caesar dressing classic.
Anchovy - We'll blend up an anchovy into this Caesar dressing to achieve its classic salty, umami taste. (Don't worry, nothing fishy about these flavors!)
Garlic - A usual suspect in salad dressings.
Mustard - Just a tiny plop of Dijon for some additional savory flavor.
Salt - There are many salty components to Caesar, but we'll still use a little to enhance flavors.
Pepper - A little pepperiness complements Caesar salad flavors beautifully.

Instructions

Once you have all your dressing ingredients prepped and ready, you'll be done in just a couple steps!

Homemade Caesar dressing ingredients in a small blender before being blended

Combine all ingredients into a high-speed blender or food processor.

Homemade Caesar dressing ingredients fully blended in a small blender

Blend for about one minute, until smooth and creamy. Taste and add salt if necessary.

Caesar dressing in small glass jar being lightly stirred by a spoon, on light gray surface

Yup. That's seriously all it takes to make a homemade, creamy Caesar salad dressing at home.

Substitutions & Variations

The below adjustments will also work in this recipe, so feel free to make this work for you.

Anchovy paste - Instead of using a whole anchovy, you can use 1 teaspoon anchovy paste.
Cheese - Pecorino or asiago are great substitutions for parmesan in homemade Caesar dressing.
Worcestershire - Add a half tablespoon of Worcestershire (or a smaller/larger amount, to taste) for additional savory flavor.
Mayo - Traditional Caesar dressing is made with egg yolk, which ultimately gets emulsified into a mayo-like base. Adding a tablespoon of mayo adds an aspect of that flavor back in, and it's delicious!
Spicy - Add in a pinch of cayenne, red pepper flakes, or hot pepper paste to spice this Caesar dressing up.

Equipment

To make this dressing, you'll need a blender or food processor to get the smoothest, fully emulsified results. It doesn't necessarily have to be high-speed or fancy -- just a blender that works and can chop up that purée the heck out of that anchovy. That, plus some measuring spoons and cups.

Caesar dressing in small glass jar with freshly cracked pepper on top, being lightly stirred by a spoon, on light gray surface with lemons on side

Storage

Store this Caesar dressing in an airtight container (such as a glass jar) for up to a week in the fridge. I love using my Weck tulip jars for storing dressings!

Top tip

It's easy to over-salt Caesar dressing because it already has so many salty ingredients at play (parmesan, anchovies). To get the flavor just right, start with small amount of salt (¼ teaspoon suggested), blend the dressing, taste, and add more until it makes you say, "YUM."

FAQ

Is classic Caesar salad dressing Ranch?

While both of these classic dressings are creamy and white, their tastes and ingredients are very distinct from one another. Caesar dressing is zesty and very salty from anchovies and parmesan, while Ranch has a lighter, more cooling flavor from herbs like parsley and dill.

What is traditional Caesar dressing made of?

Traditionally, Caesar dressing typically includes oil, egg yolks, garlic, anchovies, parmesan, lemon, and Dijon. While also delicious, we love the Greek yogurt version because it's simple, tangy, and lighter!

More Homemade Salad Dressings

It's no secret that we love making salad dressing at home because it tastes so ridiculously fresh, and below are some of our other faves.

Homemade basil vinaigrette (small batch, tastes like pesto)
Very cherry vinaigrette (fruity and delicious)
The basil lime vinaigrette in this roasted beet and avocado salad (life-changing)

Oh, and you know you're going to need some homemade croutons for this!