Jini’s Thick ‘n Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing

Whenever I serve this healthy Caesar salad dressing, I ALWAYS have people asking me for the recipe. And it’s so simple! I have yet to meet any child who doesn’t care for it (as long as they don’t know there are anchovies in it!). The anchovies are optional, however, so you can choose to leave them out if you’d like – and either way it is delicious! Same goes for the Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) cheese – if you’re intolerant, you can also leave it out and the dressing still tastes good. You may also have noticed that organic garlic tastes much “hotter” than conventional garlic – if you are sensitive to this, I would recommend either roasting the garlic, or using less.

Here is my recipe for a super delicious creamy Caesar salad dressing:

Jini’s Thick ‘n Creamy Healthy Caesar Salad Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 egg yolks
• 5 cloves garlic – peeled
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 1 tin of anchovies (50 grams/2 ounces), drained of oil (Millionaires brand is best I’ve found)
• 1 cup very finely grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) cheese from Italy
• 1.5 cups Italian extra virgin organic olive oil (preferably from Italy), at room temperature*

*If you can’t find an awesome tasting olive oil from Italy, or if you prefer, then you can use this oil blend instead:

• 2/3 cup cold-pressed organic safflower oil
• 1/3 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup cold-pressed organic sesame oil

Directions:

1. Put egg yolks, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and anchovies in the blender jar. Run hot water around the outside of the blender jar until ingredients are warmed to room temperature, and then puree on low speed until liquid.

2. Keep blender running on low speed puree setting and add the room-temperature oil in a VERY thin stream, until all the oil is gone and the dressing is now very thick.

3. Stir in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) cheese.

4. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge. I find this dressing is fine if kept in the fridge for up to 2 months (perhaps the vinegar and garlic preserves it) – but technically (food-safe guidelines) you shouldn’t keep it more than 2 weeks.

*Note: You must use Italian olive oil and very good quality anchovies for this dressing to taste right. If your ingredients are cool, then the dressing will not thicken and will be runny, so make sure oil is at room temperature and follow warming instructions in Step 1.

If using a hand-held blender:

Follow step 1 as directed. Then immerse the blender stick in the mixture, slowly pour the oil in, and whip on LOW, holding the blender at the bottom of the blending jar until all the oil is poured in, then you can move the blender wand up and down until dressing thickens. Carry on with steps 3 and 4.

To serve: Tear up organic romaine lettuce, add desired amount of dressing and mix well. Sprinkle extra Parmigiano-Reggiano (parmesan) on top. You can also add bacon bits or croutons if you wish.

DOWNLOAD the easy-print version of this recipe. And let me know what you think!

TIP: Here’s the super easy way to peel a head of garlic in 10 seconds!

Original post September 2013. Most recently updated December 2019.

JINI

Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert on natural healing for digestive diseases. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s Disease and has remained drug and surgery-free for over 25 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcast, TV, and radio shows throughout the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, giving people hope and vision for how they can heal their Colitis, Crohn’s, Diverticulitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), using entirely natural methods. Her books on natural healing for digestive diseases have sold worldwide in over 80 countries.