Our easy Keto Caesar dressing recipe is rich and creamy, with the savory flavors of Parmesan, dijon, and Worcestershire sauce. We add anchovy paste for a traditional flavor, but we’ve included an option for skipping it.
Nothing beats a salad, but sometimes they do get a bit boring.
The easiest way to make a salad exciting is to add a homemade salad dressing and our keto Caesar dressing is a current favorite around here!
Rich, creamy, and bursting with umami flavors – this salad dressing can really bring a salad to life.
We have a whole collection of salad dressing recipes that my family loves. You’ll want to check out our keto ranch dressing, keto thousand island dressing, and our creamy avocado salad dressing.
The dressing really does make a salad, and while a bottle of dressing from the store is easiest, homemade is definitely tastiest!
Ingredient Notes:
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Mayonnaise – This homemade Caesar dressing uses plenty of creamy mayonnaise as the base. Use your favorite brand of mayo for this! We like Kraft.
Lemon Juice – The lemon juice is an important ingredient so I’d recommend using freshly squeezed. It’ll help to enhance the flavor and brighten the colors of this keto Caesar dressing.
Olive Oil – More flavor and it helps emulsify the other dressing ingredients!
Dijon Mustard – The strong tangy flavor of Dijon mustard will help to balance out the intense savory flavor of the anchovy paste and other ingredients. Plus, it adds flavor!
Worcestershire Sauce – It adds all kinds of good savory flavor to pretty much anything! Some brands have added sugar so choose accordingly.
Anchovy Paste – Took me awhile to except that Caesar dressing really does need anchovy paste, but it does add loads of savory flavor. If you’re squeamish, skip this and use extra Worcestershire sauce. Find tubes of anchovy paste near the canned tuna at the store.
Parmesan – For this recipe I’d urge you to freshly grate your own Parmesan, or get it from the cheese counter at a grocery store. The green canned kind of crumbly Parmesan just isn’t good enough for this homemade dressing!
Garlic – I’m using two cloves of garlic in this dressing because I really like the flavor of garlic! You can use even more, or less, to suit your taste!
We use Thrive Market for a lot of our specialty ingredients and keto snacks or products. Their prices tend to be cheaper than the local stores and I love that you can so easily sort products by diet.
Like Costco, this is a membership site, but we find that it’s more than worth it based on the amount we save over the regular grocery store.
They have monthly or yearly plans. Check it out here.
- This homemade salad dressing is just loaded with savory flavor, thanks to the worcestershire sauce, anchovy paste, and fresh garlic.
- Making dressing from scratch means you can adapt it to suit your tastes – grate in extra cheese, add extra oil to thin it out, use just as much salt as you like.
- Salad can get boring, but making a nice homemade dressing is an easy way to get my family interested in eating more greens.
How To Make Caesar Salad Dressing:
- Combine – To begin you’ll need a small bowl. Add the mayonnaise, freshly grated Parmesan, fresh lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, anchovy paste, and Worcestershire sauce to the small bowl.
- Garlic – Next up you can mince the cloves of garlic and then sprinkle a bit of salt over them. Use the back of your knife to press the garlic into a paste! This is the best way to release all the oil and flavor in the garlic cloves.
- Whisk – Add minced garlic to the other dressing ingredients along with the rest of the salt and some pepper. Whisk all that together until the mixture is well combined. Add a bit of water to thin the dressing, if needed. Taste and adjust with more salt/pepper if necessary.
- Finish – When you’ve finished preparing the keto Caesar dressing you can either serve it immediately with a salad or store it in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days!
Pasting the garlic helps it melt into the dressing – no chunks of garlic anywhere! If you’d prefer, you can also grate the garlic using a microplane zester.
FAQ’s:
Most Caesar dressing recipes are keto friendly, including this one. Worcestershire sauce usually has added sugar so feel free to swap that out if you want but it’s so little that we use worcestershire sauce regularly on a keto diet.
No, you do not! You could use more of the Worcestershire sauce + extra salt instead to add that salty, savory kick of flavor.
You can keep this dressing stored in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Keto Caesar Salad:
Want to make a classic Caesar salad but without the carbs?
We use keto bread from the grocery store to make croutons! Chop the bread into bite-sized pieces and toss with melted butter and seasonings (we do garlic salt and onion powder to keep it simple). Toast in a hot pan over medium heat until as crunchy as you’d like.
Chop your romaine, sprinkle on plenty of Parmesan cheese and croutons, and toss well with our keto Caesar dressing.
MORE HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING RECIPES!
Keto Caesar Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup grated Parmesan see notes
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste see notes
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Add the mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, dijon, anchovy paste, and Worcestershire sauce to a small bowl.
- Mince the garlic and then sprinkle with a bit of the salt. Use the back of your knife to press the garlic into a paste.
- Add the garlic to the mayonnaise mixture along with the rest of the salt and the pepper.
- Whisk the dressing together to combine. Add a bit of water to thin the dressing, if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning to suit your preferences.
- Serve immediately or store in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Tiffany says
This recipe is perfect! I’ve made 2 batches so far & love it. Thank you
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you like it! Thanks, Tiffany!
Susan J says
I’ve been making homemade blue cheese dressing for years but this was my first time trying homemade Caesar dressing. This is delicious! I substituted pecorino Romano for the Parmesan (personal preference). Yum!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks, Susan!
Teri Sharpe says
This dressing is SO good! I just made it and I would rate it as restaurant quality – like, NICE restaurant. Also, unless you’re allergic to anchovies, please be adventurous and include the anchovy paste. It’s not fishy, it’s more like umami and really makes a difference. So happy I found this recipe – thank you!
Karly Campbell says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks, Teri!
Joanne Karabetsos says
I just made this delicious keto ceaser dressing and no lie it’s the best ceaser dressing I’ve ever had! I made a grass fed filet mignon let it cool chopped it up and put that on top of organic romaine. This will definitely be a weekly dinner. To the weirdo who left a bad review just because of what kind of mayo to use get a life and take down your BS review
Karly Campbell says
Thanks so much, Joanne! I’m so glad you enjoyed the dressing! 🙂
Emma says
Tried this yesterday when you sent the email and it was perfect with our dinner. Loved the croutons too.
J. Neal says
I’m surprised that you are not warning readers against most commercial mayonnaise. Most use oils that are sourced from GMO crops that are grown on depleted soil, exposed to persistent pesticides such as Round-Up, and their oils harshly processed and extracted using heat and/or dangerous solvents, hexane, etc. You do no favors to your readers recommending any commercial mayos that contain soy, canola, unspecified “vegetable” oils, and/or blends of same, even if token amounts of olive oil or avocado oil may be included. You chose your other salad dressing ingredients carefully, so perhaps reconsider the mayo as well. Products that use the cheap soy, canola, “vegetable,” corn, palm, and seed oils, or their blends are not healthy to consume. There ARE alternative mayos available that use exclusively non-GMO and often organic oils that are cold-pressed, expeller-pressed, or not extracted otherwise with things like hexane. While admittedly more expensive, they are much safer and more nutritious. One can easily make their own mayo, as well, using safer oils such as non-GMO and safely extracted olive or avocado oil. Look up a recipe that advises using healthy oil and the correct treatment for the safe use of the eggs (or egg substitute) in the ingredients to make homemade mayonnaise.
Karly Campbell says
I’m personally comfortable using most commercial mayos and did recommend the brand I use – Kraft. I’m sure it doesn’t pass your test and that’s fine – you’re more than welcome to use any type of mayo you like, whether homemade or a non-GMO organic mayonnaise. I still eat Kraft singles in moderation too. I can’t live an all or nothing life and don’t expect anyone else to either. We’re all making the best choices for ourselves. 🙂
Mrs Bee says
Two stars because the recipe is a recipe, not a manifesto against poorly-made processed food? Come on, man. The rating system is for the food, not the degree to which the author’s opinions align with your own. Get your own blog and you can bloviate about whatever you want.
Five stars because I just made a recipe very similar to this one with all the same ingredients, EXCEPT I didn’t realize I had no anchovy paste, so I used fish sauce instead. It worked great! This method is how I’ll make Caesar dressing from now on, with either anchovy paste or fish sauce.
Karly Campbell says
Thanks, Mrs. Bee! Appreciate it! 🙂