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Meaty with a dash of veggies

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Sauces & Condiments

Caesar salad dressing

Published: 03.22.2022 » Last updated: 03.22.2022

You don’t need any fancy kitchen equipment to make Caesar salad dressing. Just a wire whisk, a sturdy bowl and plenty of arm power. You’re going to make an emulsion — like mayonnaise — with egg yolks and oil. So, you will have to whisk fast for about five minutes to achieve the correct consistency.

Homemade Caesar salad dressing

Caesar salad and the dressing that goes with it has an interesting story. Just to be clear, Julius Caesar does not figure in its history and invention at all. But that’s just an aside. There are more important things to remember about this delicious dressing.

1. Caesar salad dressing contains raw egg yolks. You’ve been warned.

2. Extra virgin olive oil and palm oil are used in this recipe to make the dressing. Why use two kinds of oil? Extra virgin olive oil is bitter. If you use that exclusively, your salad dressing will taste terrible. Combining it with palm oil (you may substitute some other neutral tasting oil) fixes the problem.

3. Because there are raw egg yolk in the dressing, it is advisable to make just enough for one meal.

Whisking egg yolks, anchovies, garlic and mustard to make Caesar salad dressing

Since this is made by hand, twist a kitchen towel into a coil and place your mixing bowl right in the center. The towel will prevent the bowl from sliding and tilting when you vigorously mix the ingredients.

You start with the flavor base. Anchovies, Dijon mustard, garlic, salt and pepper are whisked with egg yolks to form a paste.

Pouring oil into egg-yolk anchovies mixture to make Caesar salad dressing

Then, you add oil very, very slowly. I always begin with the extra virgin olive oil. I drizzle it in, drop by drop at first, while whisking. Because it’s just two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, you’ll have your emulsion in no time. And that makes it easier to add the palm oil. You can pour it in a thin stream (without taking a break from the whisking) with no danger that it won’t get incorporated into the mixture.

Adding lemon juice to Caesar salad dressing

Once the emulsion is done, all you need to do is whisk in the lemon juice. Just to be on the safe side, it’s a good idea to taste the dressing and adjust the seasonings before using it on your salad.

Caesar Salad Dressing

Connie Veneracion
Made with anchovies, garlic, egg yolks, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil, palm oil and lemon juice, homemade Caesar salad dressing is rich in flavors! Tastier than any of the bottled stuff you get from the grocery.
Homemade Caesar salad dressing
Print Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 0 mins
Total Time 10 mins
Course Salad
Cuisine American
Servings 1 cup

Ingredients
  

  • 2 to 3 anchovies
  • 2 cloves garlic - peeled and finely grated
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ cup palm oil
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions
 

  • Place the anchovies, garlic and salt in a mixing bowl and mash with a fork to make a paste.
  • Place the anchovies, garlic, salt, pepper, egg yolks and Dijon mustard.
  • Using a wire whisk, mix everything together until creamy in texture, and the anchovies are broken into mere specks.
  • With one hand, drizzle in the olive oil, drop by drop at first, while whisking with the other hand to form an emulsion.
  • Once your mixture is thick, pour the palm oil in a slow thin stream while continuing to whisk.
  • Add the lemon juice and stir until well blended.
  • Taste the dressing. Add more salt, pepper or lemon juice, as needed. You don’t want it to be too tangy. You’re aiming for creamy and a bit salty with a subtle but unmistakable tang.
Print Pin Recipe
Keyword Salad Dressing

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Newsletter department

  • #18 Cooking for Lent
    03.23.2023
    A few readers have emailed asking me to post recipes for Lent, and I tell them there is NO need for NEW recipes. Instead, they should try digging into the seafood, mushrooms and tofu recipe archives.

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Connie Veneracion, Chiang Mai, 2020

Hi, I’m Connie!

Welcome to Umami Days, a blog that advocates innovative home cooking for pleasurable everyday dining. No trendy diets, no food fads and definitely no ludicrous recipe names like crustless quiche, noodleless pho or chocolate lasagna.

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