Post updated March 15, 2022
This is my take on Newman’s Own Southwest Dressing Recipe. Just like McDonald’s southwest salad dressing you can make at home. It’s a tangy blend of spices combined to make a great salad.
On our way back to Minnesota from Florida, MaryJo and I make some quick stops for lunch. My favorite quick stop is McDonald’s to get a Southwest salad with grilled chicken.
McDonald’s is at every other interchange and you know what you are getting when you buy there.
I don’t know if you are familiar with this, but it is a big salad with greens, cilantro, corn, black beans, grated cheddar cheese, topped with spicy tortilla chips with a packet of Newman’s Own Southwest Restaurant Dressing.
It is a really delicious, low-calorie lunch which really hits the spot.
Thing is, Newman’s Own Southwest Dressing is not sold in stores. Bummer! The Southwest Dressing Recipe is a total secret and you can’t buy it.
Developing the Southwest Salad Dressing Recipe
While we were at one of the McDonald’s stops I told MaryJo that I should try to duplicate the recipe for the Southwest Dressing, so I took a picture of the ingredient label. Logical first step.
There were things like corn syrup solids, corn vinegar, cornstarch, whey, and sour cream powder. Curious ingredients. I’m sure that if you are Paul Newman you could call up friends and have this stuff delivered to your front step! No problem.
Well, I am Joe and not Paul and have no idea what this stuff is. So I experiment.
One of the ingredients is egg yolks mixed with soybean oil and cider vinegar. The egg yolks make the oil and vinegar mix together to make an emulsion that will not separate, (the old oil and water thing).
Well, I throw this together and added the spices I thought were in the dressing and made a pretty good likeness to the original, (not really). Then I make another blend. Not quite right.
By then I’m thinking that if I come up with a copycat recipe, it would contain uncooked eggs. That could mean…Salmonella city!
I went back to the store and bought pasteurized eggs. Turns out they are hard to separate, yolks and whites, but I got the job done. I then tried another spice blend and I was not close again.
The Solution…Use Mayonnaise!
MaryJo sensed my frustration and suggested that I use already processed oil, water, and eggs which makes…Mayonnaise. I thought. okay, I give up. Bring on the Hellman’s.
So, with a new sense of purpose and determination, I tried at least 5 more spice blends which required MaryJo to go to the store once and for me to go to the store once more, for spices that we would try and to get more sour cream since I used all that we had.
Finally, I found a blend of spices that worked and my Southwestern Dressing Recipe is pretty close to Paul’s. He must have spent a lot of time perfecting these recipes! His is exceptional but mine is dang good.
You can’t buy his dressing except at McDonald’s, or you can make your own which is nearly as good.
My recipe makes enough for two salads, but if you enjoy this southwest dressing recipe, feel free to double or triple the ingredients. It should store in the refrigerator for two or three weeks.
This recipe post was updated on December 9, 2021, and McDonald’s has discontinued making the Southwest salad. They also stopped selling salads in 2020 presumably because they were not that popular.
According to McDonald’s.com, they have Chicken Caesar Salad, Garden Salad, and Garden Salad with Crispy Chicken. According to my local restaurant, they don’t offer salads anymore.
I thought that it might be Covid that made them stop selling salads. This article from “Eat This, Not That” gives another explanation, which for a fast-food restaurant, makes sense.
They had to buy 2 different kinds of lettuce…one for sandwiches and one for salads.
So give my Southwest Dressing Recipe a try. You won’t be disappointed.
Hey. Did you make this recipe? Let me know how you liked it in the comments below. Take a photo of your creation and post it on your Instagram…tag @joeshealthymeals so I can take a look.
And here are a few more tasty recipes to try:
- Tex-Mex Chopped Chicken Salad
- Caramelized Onion Crostini with Mushrooms
- Jalapeno Potatoes au Gratin
- Make-ahead Mashed Potatoes
- Smoked Salmon Appetizer with Arugula
- Pimento Cheese Deviled Eggs
Southwest Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sour cream
- 2 tsp light Karo syrup (agave or honey as substitutes)
- 1 tsp water (or more to thin)
- 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp lime juice
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried cilantro
- 1 tsp McCormick hot mexican style chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tsp cumin
Salad
- Romaine lettuce
- cilantro
- red onion
- corn
- black beans
- grape tomatoes
- thin sliced carrot
- grated cheddar cheese
- Mrs. Cubbison's southwest flavor tortilla strips ,
Instructions
Dressing
- Whisk ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.
- Place into an air-tight container and refrigerate to store.
Salad
- Assemble the salad to your liking and top with the dressing.
Notes
- The salad ingredient proportions are up to you. Corn and beans are a must. I added red onion because I like it. If you can't find the tortilla strips, (near salad croutons in the store), you could substitute spicy Dorito chips.
- This recipe makes 4 1/2 tbsp or approximately 2, 1 1/4 fl. oz. servings.
- To adjust the recipe to make a larger batch, click on the "2" in the servings in the header above and use the slider to increase the serving size.
- Nutrition information is for 1 serving of the salad dressing. Not the salad ingredients.
Nutrition
If you liked the Southwest dressing recipe, maybe you would like my Strawberry Salad with Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing
Rhoda
This was exactly what I was looking for! Even though I had to tweak a little to make it vegan (darn allergies!), the flavors were still spot on. Thank you for a keeper Joe!
Joe
Hi Rhonda,
Thank you for the nice comment. I’m glad that you were able to make the recipe work for you,
Joe
Gail
Absolutely delicious. Fabulous flavor.
Joe
Hi Gail,
Thank you for the nice comment.
Joe
Amanda R.
Made it a couple times now, definitely a keeper. I make a salad with a hearty leaf like Romaine, black beans, roasted corn, shredded Parm, and whatever else sounds good. Sooo tasty. Bet this would punch up a sandwich, too, maybe leave out the thinning water. Imma try that next time.
Joe
Hi Amanda. Thanks for your comment and glad that you found my recipe.
Joe
John
Just made a batch to the southwest salads for lunches this week. I used semi dried cilantro and honey because that’s what I had on hand. Finished mixing it up, tasted it, and decided to make a double batch on the spot. Thanks for the recipe.
Joe
Hi John,
Happy that you found my website.
Glad that you like the southwest dressing recipe.
Thanks for the comment.
Joe
Brianne
I really wanted a southwest salad with our taco night but didn’t have any of our usual dressing left. This was so easy (had everything in the cupboard already) and delicious! We used light mayo and sour cream, and added corn, green onions, cilantro, and tex mex cheese to ours! Definitely keeping the dressing recipe on hand.
Joe
Hi Brianne,
I’m so glad that you found my website and recipe.
Thanks for the nice comment and glad you liked the recipe.
Joe
Ash
Hi! I’m very excited to try this out! Do you use fresh squeezed lime juice or bottled?
Joe
Hi Ash,
Thanks for asking. You can use either fresh or bottled and I really don’t think the flavor boost from fresh would be that noticeable. It would probably be just a bit brighter tasting though with fresh.
Joe
Dawn
I made this last night and it was absolutely delicious! I added a little extra karo, lime, acv and cumin (I like a lot of flavor). I’m making it again for lunch today!
Joe
Glad you like it Dawn.
Maya
Thank you for all your research. I made the dressing to go along with a homemade sw salad and they loved it. It was a win for dinner. Thank you
Joe
Thanks Maya.
Simone Grey
I’ve never tried the Southwest dressing but I didn’t have one from Panera that I enjoyed. Didn’t have the taco seasoning so I just used the basics, used some smoked paprika, minced garlic and whatever else I had on hand that I thought would work. The final result was good but I wanted it to have some heat so I added a couple splashes of habanero hot sauce, and it was amazing!