Here is a thing I firmly believe: once you make your caesar dressing, you’ll never go back to the bottle. There really just is no comparison between the stuff from the store and making your own. Now, real caesar dressing usually calls for emulsifying a raw egg and dealing with some anchovies, but not this one. This is my simplified version that only requires about 2 minutes of your time, a few ingredients you probably already have on hand, and gives you a rich, creamy, garlicky dressing that is leaps and bounds above anything you can buy in a bottle.

What Ingredients Do You Need for Homemade Caesar Dressing?

• Mayonnaise.
• Dijon mustard, for a little tang and depth.
• Extra virgin olive oil, to thin it out to your liking.
• Fresh lemon juice.
• Garlic.
• Worcestershire sauce.
• Parmesan cheese.
• Some salt and plenty of black pepper.

See, for traditional caesar dressing, you’re basically making your own mayonnaise base, so this version just cancels out that step by using already-made mayo and doctoring it up. That means that all you really need to do to get delicious dressing is whisk some things together.

Where are the anchovies?

A great question! On an average Tuesday, I don’t really feel like dealing with chopping up or blending tiny fish, so I tend to opt for a splash of Worcestershire sauce in its place. It gives you the salty umami that anchovies do, but in a much easier (and less fishy) fashion.

If you’re missing that hint of fishiness, a great swap is to use anchovy paste! It comes in a little squeeze tube that you store in your fridge and keeps for ages. And, it’s just as easy as the Worcestershire sub.

How Do You Make Homemade Caesar Dressing?

If you can stir a few things together, you can make this. Homemade dressing doesn’t need to seem scary or complicated. Here’s all you do:

I like to do this directly in a mason jar so I can just pop it in the fridge to pour on later, but you can absolutely use a bowl. Add the mayo, Dijon, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and parmesan. And then whisk. That is it.

One key thing: grate your garlic. It helps mute the sharpness of it and really blend in with the dressing. It makes a big difference!

But here’s the most important thing with homemade dressing: taste it and adjust as you go. Add a little more oil if it’s too thick, a little more Worcestershire if it needs a richer punch, some more lemon juice if it needs some brightness. And definitely don’t be shy with that black pepper.

What Kind of Parmesan Do I Use?

Grating your own aged parm will of course level up your flavor, but I will say — I’ve used the pre-grated kind that comes in a shaker jar many-a-time for this and it is still delicious. So you can use that Kraft parm if you need or want to and still get delicious results; I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.

Fun fact: Did you know caesar dressing was invented in Mexico and not Rome? It’s true!