Our Creamy Italian Dressing is a light and delicious, homemade salad dressing that is perfect for a traditional house salad or side salad! Made with real, simple ingredients in a matter of minutes. You will never buy a store-bought versions again!
The Best Creamy Italian Dressing
This easy creamy dressing is perfect addition to all your salad recipes! We are always surprised when looking at the ingredient list for store-bought salad dressings – we can’t even pronounce half of those ingredients! So, we started mixing up our own salad dressing at home. And we were so surprised that we already had most ingredients on hand and it’s so quick and easy to mix them together. Just store in the fridge for using on your favorite green salad all week long!
And if you are looking for another quick & easy salad dressing, you have to try our Green Goddess Dressing!
What You Will Need
- olive oil – we highly recommend using a good quality olive oil. It is a classic base ingredient for any homemade dressing.
- white wine vinegar – this mild vinegar brings the slightest tangy flavor.
- kosher salt – a simple seasoning that is always a must!
- lemon juice & lemon zest – little bit of acidity to amplify all the great flavor.
- fresh clove – everything is better with a little garlic in the mix.
- dried basil, dried thyme, dried oregano leaves, & dried parsley – a variety of dried herbs to make an Italian seasoning with the best flavor!
- parmesan cheese – love this slightly salty cheese in this creamy Italian salad dressing recipe.
- mayonnaise – perfect for adding some creamy texture to this great recipe. Option to sub with plain Greek yogurt.
How To Make A Homemade Creamy Italian Dressing
The first steps to making this easy salad dressing recipe are to place all of the ingredients (except parmesan cheese & mayo) in a small food processor. Blend on high until fully mixed. Option to use a high-powered blender, if you want.
Now add the parmesan cheese and mayo to the dressing mix.
Then blend again for about 1 minute or until it is nice and creamy. Make sure you pause to scrap down the sides during the blending process.
Serve immediately on your favorite salad recipe or store in the fridge to use later.
Best Ways To Serve Creamy Italian Dressing
This simple salad dressing is so versatile! It is great on a House Salad, garden salad, or any other salad recipe. Whether you are making summer salads, holiday salads, or just a quick weeknight dinner. This flavorful dressing will liven up any salad! You could also toss your favorite pasta salad with this dressing too or use as a dip for raw veggies.
Recipe FAQ
It is so easy and can typically be made in less than 10 minutes! Just place all the salad dressing ingredients in a food processor, small bowl, or mason jars. Blend, whisk, or shake to fully incorporate and use any way you want!
Absolutely! That’s one of the best parts of making your own dressing. Adjust any of the flavors to meet your personal preferences. You can even add some red pepper flakes, if you like to spice it up!
We love to store homemade salad dressings in a mason jar in the fridge. Any airtight container will work and you can keep them for about 1 week. A great option to meal prep at the beginning of the week.
Made this delicious recipe and loved it?! We would love it if you would take a minute and leave a star rating and review – it is also helpful if you made any substitutions or changes to the recipe to share that as well. THANK YOU!
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Other Salad Dressing Recipes You Might Like
Creamy Italian Dressing
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: Approx. 1 cup
- Category: Salad Dressing
- Method: Mixing Bowl
- Cuisine: American
Description
A light and delicious, homemade Italian dressing recipe that is a great addition to any salad recipe!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (sub avocado oil)
- 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest, more to taste
- 1 small garlic clove
- 1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons high quality mayo, more as needed
Instructions
- Place all ingredients, except the parmesan cheese and mayo, in a small food processor or blender. Blend on high for 1-2 minutes or until fully combined.
- Add parmesan and mayo; blend again for 1 minute.
- Taste and add additional salt, vinegar or herbs, as desired.
- Serve immediately – we love it on a classic House Salad!
- Or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator to use later. Dressing will separate naturally, simply re-whisk prior to use.
Notes
- Storage: keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
- Dairy-Free: to make this creamy salad dressing dairy-free, use a dairy-free parmesan cheese and mayo or use a plain dairy-free yogurt.
- Love Italian Dressing: try our Hearty Italian Dressing for more of a vinaigrette (not creamy) option!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 104
- Sugar: 0.1 g
- Sodium: 184.3 mg
- Fat: 11.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 0.9 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 4.3 mg
Originally published June 11, 2019 – recipe and photos have been updated.
Bridget says
Love homemade dressings and the flavor of this one is so good!
Debbie says
Tatse great! Next time I’ll cut down on the kosher salt because it’s a bit too salty for me.
Erin says
So glad you hear that, Debbie! And, yes, definitely adjust salt per your preferences 🙂