Restaurant Quality Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe

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Caesar salad is usually my choice of salad when we go out to eat. At home, I’ve tried to buy Caesar dressing in a jar but it never seems to taste quite right. This Caesar salad dressing recipe is the way to go for a tasty salad.

What is Caesar Salad?

Caesar salad dressing comes from Caesar’s restaurant in Tijuana Mexico. The original recipe is attributed to Caesar Cardini, the restauranteur in the 1920’s. The recipe was developed supposedly because the restaurant was so busy on July 4th that they were running out of food. Cardini had to use what was available and he came up with this dressing for Romaine lettuce.

Today, most restaurants serve some type of Caesar salad as an option other than a garden salad. I always think of a Caesar salad with pizza or Italian pasta.

Ingredients For The Dressing

The traditional Caesar salad dressing recipe has been altered over the years. Today a Caesar salad is Romaine lettuce, croutons, olive oil, eggs, anchovies, parmesan cheese, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and lemon juice. My recipe adds a little red wine vinegar and uses ground mustard seed.

If you are leery of using anchovies in your dressing I say…“Have you ever had Caesar salad in a restaurant?” If you have…you’ve eaten anchovies. There is really nothing “fishy” about this Caesar salad dressing recipe.

Also, instead of using store-bought croutons, making your own is pretty simple. I used a French bread baguette, about one-third of it, cut 3/4 inch slices then removed the crust and cut it into one half to three quarter inch squares. Put the bread cubes into a gallon-sized plastic bag and add some salt, garlic powder, and a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss the bread to coat all the surfaces. Place the cubes on a baking sheet and bake at 400° for 5 minutes, toss the bread, then bake for another 3 to 5 minutes until golden. If you use sourdough bread, it will take a few more minutes to brown.

Raw Egg Conundrum

There’s an egg in this recipe and salmonella can occur in uncooked eggs but that likelihood is very minimal, like less than 0.02 percent. The government gives this general warning. “Although anyone can get Salmonella food poisoning, older adults, infants, and people with weakened immune systems are at increased risk for serious illness. A person infected with Salmonella usually has a fever, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea beginning 12 to 72 hours after consuming contaminated food or beverage.” Here are several ways to minimize the salmonella bacteria.

Coddle the Eggs

I coddled the egg that I used to make the Caesar dressing. Take the egg out of the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature. Bring 2 inches of water in a medium-sized saucepan up to 165° to 180° F. Lower the egg into the water with a small kitchen spider or slotted spoon. Keep the egg in the hot water for one minute, then remove and place in an ice bath to stop the cooking, (about 2 minutes). This will heat up the yolk and reduce the risk of bacteria.

Use pasteurized eggs

If you’d rather not be bothered doing the coddling, you can buy pasteurized eggs. I’ve also heard of people smashing up hard-boiled yolks and mixing them in the dressing. That method is untested by me.

Heat the Dressing

One other method I have read about but have not tried is to place the finished dressing into a small saucepan and gently bring the temperature up to 160°, checking the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. I’m not sure what this would do to the texture of the dressing but it would probably be fine to do.

Here’s a link to The Incredible Egg.org which has tons of information about eggs if you are concerned about their safety.

Simple Steps to Making Caesar Salad Dressing

Making the dressing is really easy. Coddle your egg. Grate the parmesan. Peel and coarse chop the garlic. Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until the anchovies are totally chopped, (dissolved). The blender will throw the contents onto the side of the jar and you can tell when there are no more pieces of anchovy. This will take about a minute at medium-high speed. A small food processor could also be used.

People Ask…

How long can I keep the dressing refrigerated?

You should use the dressing within 3 days.

Can I make the dressing without a raw egg?

A good brand of mayonnaise can be substituted for the egg and olive oil, since mayonnaise is pretty much eggs and oil. Use 3/4 to 1 cup of mayonnaise and omit the egg and oil.

What can be used as a substitute for anchovies?

Anchovies are what make the dressing briny flavored and full of umami. If you don’t want to use anchovies, another teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce will add more umami. Asian fish sauce can be used or Better than Bouillon fish base. Also, for the salty flavor, capers could be added.

This Restaurant Style Caesar salad dressing recipe is just like you’d get at a good restaurant. It’s tangy, lemony, and a bit salty from the Parmesan cheese and really good.

Here are some more salad ideas you may like:

Overhead view of 2 caesar salads with chicken.

Restaurant Style Caesar Salad Dressing Recipe

Delicious restaurant style Caesar salad dressing, This is the best Caesar dressing I've ever tasted.

5 from 7 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Salad dressing, Side Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Caesar dressing recipe, Caesar salad, Caesar salad dressing

Prep Time: 20

Total Time: 20

Servings: servings

Calories: 159kcal

Author: Joe Boyle

Ingredients

1 2 oz. can Anchovy filets, like King Oscar
2 garlic cloves coarse chopped
1 coddled egg (or pasteurized egg)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon)
1/4 tsp ground mustard seed
3 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for garnish
1/4 tsp black pepper
romaine lettace, coarse ribs removed then chopped
croutons
kosher salt as needed

Instructions

Put anchovies and their oil, garlic, egg, lemon juice, ground mustard, grated parmesan, and pepper into a blender. Start the blender on medium speed and then add the olive oil through the fill cap.
Blend until fully emulsified which will take 30 to 60 seconds. All the anchovies should be dissolved into the oil.
Remove the blender lid and taste. You may want to add a bit of salt, more Worcestershire or lemon juice to taste. Pour the finished dressing into an appropriate sized lidded jar.
In a large bowl, place lettuce, and croutons. Toss with 3 or 4 tablespoons of caesar dressing, adding more if desired. Serve and garnish with additional parmesan cheese.
Store leftover dressing in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or it can be frozen..

Notes

Nutrition information is for the dressing only. Add 50 calories for lettuce and 1/4 cup of croutons. And, 210 calories for 6 ounces of chicken.
Yes, this recipe uses the whole can of anchovies and the oil.

Nutrition