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This Creamy Caesar dressing recipe is the perfect option for those looking to make restaurant-style healthy caesar dressing at home. It uses real food ingredients and is perfect for keto. Enjoy this as part of my chicken Caesar salad. Plus, it’s ready in minutes using a food processor or blender.
Why Make Caesar Dressing
Here are a few reasons why this is the best Caesar dressing and why you should make this recipe:
- Restaurant-style and creamy: Traditional Caesar dressing is either creamy and full of great flavors like parmesan cheese or more like a vinaigrette. Make this recipe if you’re looking for a copycat creamy version.
- Ready in minutes by adding all of the ingredients to a blender
- Perfect for keto: This keto Caesar Dressing recipe is creamy, filled with parmesan, and tangy. This perfectly homemade dressing won’t leave you missing the bottled dressings. That said, add this homemade creamy Caesar dressing to your lists of both homemade salad dressings and Caesar dressing recipes.
Ingredients Needed
Unlike many bottled Caesar salad dressings, this creamy Caesar salad dressing only has seven easy ingredients.
You probably have most of them in your pantry already! To make my homemade Caesar salad dressing, you need:
- Pre-grated parmesan cheese: I get mine from the refrigerated section of the market. This recipe was not tested with the shelf-stable version (which is saltier).
- Dijon mustard
- Lemon juice: fresh lemon juice or bottled
- Anchovy Filets: These are typically in the tuna fish aisle and packed in olive oil, giving you that delicious anchovy flavor that a classic Caesar dressing is known for.
- Garlic Cloves I add these to my blender whole
- Black pepper
- Sea Salt: This is optional and you can add it at the end if you’d like a saltier taste
- Mayonnaise: Mayonnaise is required for this creamy recipe. You can use any brand that you prefer. Though mayo is not an ingredient in an authentic Caesar dressing recipe, it serves as an easy replacement for things like raw eggs and raw egg yolks, vegetable oil, extra virgin olive oil, and soybean oil.
How to Make Creamy Caesar Dressing
- Add the ingredients to the blender (or food processor) in the order listed in the recipe card
- For best results, blend until creamy and smooth using either the salad dressing or regular high-speed settings on your high-speed blender.
Top Cooking Tips & FAQs
- Parmesan Cheese first: I like to put the parmesan cheese in first because it prevents the mayonnaise from getting stuck at the bottom of the blender cup. Plus, the layer of parmesan cheese also serves as a guide for how well things are blended. Once the parmesan layer is gone, I know the rest of the dressing is well incorporated, resulting in a lovely creamy texture.
- Serve immediately or store it in the refrigerator: Caesar salad dressing has dairy so you will need to store it in the refrigerator if you don’t plan on using it immediately
- Use preferred milk to thin out thick Caesar dressing: if your dressing is too thick or becomes thick during storage, I’ve had success with adding one to two tablespoons of unflavored and unsweetened milk to make the consistency thinner. I personally prefer regular or non-dairy buttermilk.
Storage & Leftover Tips
- The easy creamy Caesar dressing recipe makes a little more than a cup of Caesar dressing, which is enough for 4 entree-sized salads. If storing it, make sure you store the leftover creamy dressing in the fridge in an airtight container.
- If this dressing gets thick during storage, just add a squeeze of fresh lemon (or 1/2 tsp of lemon juice) to the dressing to thin it out. You can also add your preferred unflavored milk to thin it out.
What to Serve this Keto Caesar Dressing With:
Use this Creamy Keto Caesar Dressing to make a quick meal by adding it to a bed of crisp romaine lettuce along with a range of proteins. Some of my favorites are:
- Chicken Caesar Salad: It includes my seared chicken breasts
- Seared Shrimp
- Easy Grilled Chicken Kabobs
- Air Fryer Salmon
- Salmon Bites
- Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
This Caesar dressing is very keto-friendly, and that’s why it’s a game changer! It keeps carbs to a minimum with each serving containing around 2 grams of total net carbs. That’s it! Be wary of store-bought or restaurant Caesar dressings. Many of them will contain more carbs because of the added sugars that they have and not be keto-approved.
Yes. This recipe has 2g net carbs per serving.
Mayonnaise is simply a fat so many people enjoy it on keto. You can choose mayonnaise with cleaner ingredients if you choose. For example, some opt for mayo that uses avocado oil.
Romaine lettuce is typically used for a classic Caesar salad because it’s strong and sturdy, giving you the best Caesar salad. But, you don’t have to be limited to that. If you prefer, you can use kale for a delicious kale Caesar salad.
If you try this recipe, please stop back and leave it a star rating and/or a review in the comments. Stay connected & share photos of your creations with me & others on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest!
Creamy Caesar Dressing Recipe
Use DRDAVINAHS at checkout to save on some equipment & ingredients!
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese, I get mine from the refrigerated section of the market
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 5 anchovy filets, I get mine whole from the aisle that has tuna
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1/8 tsp Natural Ancient Sea Salt
- 3/4 cup Mayonnaise, or your preferred brand
Instructions
- Add the ingredients in the order that they listed to a high-speed blender. I use the Nutri Ninja cup that’s part of this Ninja Professional Refurbished set that I purchased
- Blend using the puree or medium setting until it’s mixed (~6 presses on the Single-Serve button). I keep this in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe Notes
- Parmesan Cheese first: I like to put the parmesan cheese in first because it prevents the mayonnaise from getting stuck at the bottom of the blender cup. Plus, the layer of parmesan cheese also serves as a guide for how well things are blended. Once the parmesan layer is gone, I know the rest of the dressing is well incorporated.
- Serve immediately or store it in the refrigerator: Caesar salad dressing has dairy so you will need to store it in the refrigerator if you don’t plan on using it immediately
- Use preferred milk to thin out thick Caesar dressing: if your dressing is too thick or becomes thick during storage, I’ve had success with adding one to two tablespoons of unflavored and unsweetened milk to make the consistency thinner. I personally prefer regular or non-dairy buttermilk.
Nutrition Details
The nutrition facts come from entering the recipe ingredients into Spoonacular API, a database of food ingredients. They may vary for any recipe based on the exact product used. The keto sweeteners I use have 0g net carbs & are not included because sugar alcohols do not impact most people. This is provided as a courtesy, but you can do your own calculations if you wish!
