I found a few winners, but also a few that should be left on the shelf.
The Best Caesar Salad Dressing
Ive consumed my fair share ofCaesar salads.
Theyre bright and acidic with big garlic flavor.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Sarah Crowder / Retailers below
Theyre seasoned well but not overly salted, letting the flavors of it shine.
To narrow the playing field for this taste test, I selected only nationally-available brands.
I tasted all of the dressings plain and then again after being tossed with romaine lettuce.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Sarah Crowder / Retailers below
Here are the nine brands of Caesar salad dressings I tasted and compared to find my favorite.
Mostly that youll be on the receiving end of some pretty big flavor.
If that expectation isnt met, then it might as well just be ranch dressing.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Sarah Crowder / Retailers below
Unfortunately, Maries made me question if Id even bought the right dressing.
This one tasted weirdly sweet, and more like ranch dressing than Caesar dressing.
I missed the garlic, Parmesan, and other flavors of traditional Caesar dressings.
Simply Recipes / Photo Illustration by Sarah Crowder / Retailers below
It might even be this.
I would place this brand’s dressing in the pleasant category.
The saltiness overpowered the Parmesan cheese and garlic flavors but felt tolerable when tossed with lettuce.
This dressing delivered on all judging criteria.
It was thick, but not heavy and was perfectly creamy without tasting overly rich.
This was one of the few dressings where I could discern actual Parmesan cheese in both texture and flavor.
It had a noticeable garlic flavor and good heat from black pepper.
It was tangy and well-rounded and definitely the best of the bunch.
