2-Minute Caesar Salad Dressing
The easiest, homemade 2-minute Caesar salad dressing that you can make at any time. Caesar salad dressing is made using mostly pantry ingredients and tastes so much better than store-bought dressing!
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 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.
Ingredients for 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/buy anchovy paste. Is there something else I can use instead?
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’m making this recipe?
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 can I use instead?
If raw eggs give you the heebie-jeebies, swap the two egg yolks for three tablespoons of sour cream/mayonnaise. Make sure to use 6 tablespoons if you use mayonnaise!
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 in 2-minutes:
- Place everything into a wide mouth jar (where you can insert an immersion stick blender) or place everything into a regular blender/food processor
- Blend. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
- Serve.
How much dressing does this recipe 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!
2-Minute Caesar Salad Dressing
This is the easiest, homemade 2-minute Caesar salad dressing that you can make at any time. Caesar salad dressing is made using mostly pantry ingredients and tastes so much better than store-bought dressing!

Ingredients
- 1-2 cloves garlic (I use and suggest 2)
- 1 ½ teaspoon anchovy paste (or Asian fish sauce)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 3-4 tablespoons lemon juice (start with 3)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ cup oil (such as canola, vegetable, avocado, or olive oil)
- 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon salt + ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a mason jar and using an immersion stick blender, just blend the ingredients together until the dressing emulsifies. Alternately, you can add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Taste, and adjust with additional lemon juice, salt, or pepper. If the dressing is too thick, add a tablespoon of water at a time until it reaches desired consistency.
Notes
- leftover dressing can be stored in the refrigerator covered for 2-3 days.
- 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! Egg yolks can be substituted for an additional 2-3 tablespoons of mayo or sour cream.
Make this often…. LOVE IT!
Our favorite dressing but can the canola oil be swapped out for olive oil?
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Would it be feasible to swap Greek yogurt for the mayo to make it a little healthier?
Yes! I meant to add that as a note! Greek yogurt would work instead of mayo!
So easy and much better than anything you can buy! I used extra mayo & sour cream instead of egg yolks and fish sauce since I did not have anchovy paste. Delicious!
So glad to hear you gave it a try, Ruth!
Hi Marzia
This recipe looks great and I’ll be making it soon. I read you didn’t use the remainder of your Anchovy Paste….buy this regularly in New Zealand, and it gets used in almost everything made [Italian/Mexican plus stews etc] to give the most amazing “umami” – a permanent friend in my ‘fridge. Also use fish sauce for the same purpose in Asian dishes, but do give the Anchovy paste a go…sure you’ll love it.
How many fresh anchovies can I use instead of paste?