Does Caesar Dressing Have Dairy? Dairy-Free Recipe

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Last Updated on October 20, 2024

If you wonder does your favorite Caesar dressing has dairy, you surely want to keep reading to learn more. And if you just heard about the Caesar dressing for the first time, well, you too will find value in the section below. So without wasting time, let’s get right into the gist.

What Is Caesar Dressing?

Like any other salad, the Caesar dressing is a salad mix of greens and other ingredients whipped into a side dish. There are many ways to enjoy it with your meals or alone, but first, you want to get the preparation right. And while the majority of homemade preparations include milk, to improve the richness of the salad, it is possible to find those with milk alternatives. 

The particular style of salad is native to Mexico, and it is almost impossible to find a household that doesn’t have a special recipe. The first person to craft this meal was an Italian chef Caesar Cardini who owned eateries in Mexico and the United States. The reason behind the birth of the now popular salad was as a result of depleting ingredients. A fourth of July evening had seen Cardini exhaust all he had to offer visitors and had to make something up. And that was how the Caesar salad dressing was born.

What is Caesar Dressing

Does Caesar Dressing Have Dairy?

The common ingredients used for making the Caesar salad dressing include dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, olive oil, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, black pepper, and eggs. You can also find those with tuna, chicken, and other meat-type depending on the available ingredients. There are many different recipes available, and while the majority have similar ingredients, you can find slight changes in most of them. 

With the addition of cheese, your Caesar dressing will contain dairy, and you can make it safe for people who are lactose intolerant by making use of Parmesan cheese. It has the lowest lactose levels compared to the others and rich in vitamins and minerals that add extra nutrition to your salad. It is equally low in fat, making it excellent for those looking for low-calorie options to use in their side dish. 

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How To Enjoy ACaesar Dressing?

Wondering the best ways to use a Caesar dressing aside from a salad dish, you likely will find numerous other ways to do so. Some of them include

  • Serves as a dressing for potato salad or pasta 
  • Works as a rich coleslaw to eat alone or as part of a vegan meal.
  • It goes well as a coating for chicken wings and thighs.
  • Can work as a marinade for meat where you soak the dressing in the meat and add in some sauce to get the best result. 
  • Add in a vegetable roast. 
  • Can be used as a sandwich for bread. 
  • It goes well as a spread for baking fish.

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How To Make Dairy-Free Caesar Dressing?

So you want to enjoy your dish without any dairy addition in the mix? Even though it could add more flavor and texture to the dish. There is nothing wrong with that, and you would have to find an alternative for cheese and other dairy products that are common with Caesar dressing. A good one is nutritional yeast as it provides similar consistency and feels like cheese. You can also try sweet potato sauce.

To get started, you will have to make the requirements available, and for a dairy-free alternative for salads and side dishes, you will need. 

Requirements 

  • 5 anchovies fillet 
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 2 small garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard
  • Half cup of olive oil 
  • A quarter teaspoon of salt 
  • A quarter teaspoon of black pepper
  • 2 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
  • A three-quarter cup of nutritional yeast (alternative to Parmesan cheese)

Preparation

  • Toss in all the ingredients in a blender aside from the olive oils. Turn on the blender and grind everything to a smooth paste. 
  • Gradually add in the olive oil while the blender is oil to ensure smoothness. 
  • You can add in more salt and pepper to spice it to your taste. 
  • Serve the dish immediately or refrigerate and consume the same day. 

Final Note

Getting the preparation right is the only way to enjoy the meal. For starters, choose organic ingredients and ensure that they are sourced fresh. You can make do with nutritional yeast instead of the Parmesan cheese if you want a non-dairy preparation. But the use of Parmesan can also work if you want a low-fat option but don’t want to remove the cheese effect.

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