This Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing recipe is one for the books! It’s packed with delicious herbs and makes the perfect addition to any garden salad! And it’s SO easy to make!
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I love making homemade salad dressing. There’s really no comparison between dressings you can buy from the store and ones you make at home the old fashioned way – shaken in a mason jar or blended in the blender. This Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing is a recipe for the books! It’s got all the classic Italian dressing flavours and it goes perfectly with any garden salad. Add a sprinkling of fresh Parmesan and you’ll be in salad heaven!
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The only sugar in this recipe is 2 teaspoons of honey for flavour (and you can always leave that out if you wish), so you can rest assured it’s a healthier choice than most grocery store bottled salad dressings!!
Mason jars are a great kitchen tool to have on hand for recipes like this Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing. They’re airtight, so you don’t have to worry about spills, they’re dishwasher safe and easy to clean, and they’re great for more than just salad dressings – I use them for smoothies, homemade jams, soups, and other food storage. Get my favourite go-to Mason jars HERE (affiliate link). And if you’re looking for other delicious salad dressing recipes to make in your mason jars, check out this Greek Yogurt Caesar Salad Dressing or this Honey Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing!
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I hope you love this Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing Recipe as much as we do! Let me know in the comments below, what’s your favourite kind of salad? I’d love to know!
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Recipe Video
Watch the video below to see exactly how I make this easy vinaigrette. You can find more delicious recipe videos on my YouTube channel
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Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing
Recipe: Ingredients
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup good quality olive oil
- 1/2 cup natural, high-quality mayonnaise
- 2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- salt and pepper to taste
- a few tablespoons of water (ONLY IF NEEDED to thin the dressing out a little bit)
Recipe: Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a large mason jar and shake very well until combined. Store in the fridge for a few hours before serving, or serve immediately over your favourite garden salad.
- Shake well before serving.
- If the dressing is too thick, simply add water one teaspoon at a time to thin it out to the desired consistency.
Recipe: Notes
Recipe: Nutrition
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
This looks fantastic! Pinning it and trying it soon.
Thanks so much!!
I put this on cheese tortellini salad that had veggies, mushrooms, and leftover roasted chicken + tomatoes. It was the perfect compliment!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for the positive feedback!
Great Information Thanks a lot!
This Classic Creamy Italian Salad Dressing recipe is awesome.
Thanks for your feedback!
Love making homemade dressings and Italian is one of my favs.
Mine too!!
Healthy and yummy! Homemade salad dressings at it’s best, this is a keeper!
Thanks so much!
Homemade dressing is always hard to beat!
I totally agree!!
YUM, so creamy and delicious! PERFECT for all types of salads!
Thanks so much! I’m glad you like it!
My husbands favorite dressing!! Can’t wait to make it for him!
It’s my husband’s too!
My daughter isn’t a huge salad lover, but she does like creamy Italian on her greens. The problem is, bottled dressings can be so … meh. How much better to make your own at home! Thanks!
So glad! Thanks so much!
Yes, this dressing does look good and sounds good BUT when I made this to exact measurements, I let it sit in the fridge before tasting it and all I could taste was a strong vinegar taste. I had to make a quick change since I was taking this to a potluck. I took out half of the mix and replaced it with more mayonnaise and a little milk, then it tasted much better.
Glad you figured out a way to make it work for you. We like a sharp Italian dressing, and when it’s on a salad the vinegar taste isn’t so strong anymore. 🙂
I found the same thing I added mayo, sour cream, sugar and in the end I still had to add baking soda. I would redo this with half the white wine vinegar.
Not a fan of Italian Dressing, much less Creamy Italian. Never had it before. Don’t get the complaints about the vinegar, and not a big vinegar fan either. But this is DELICIOUS!
Recommend the vinegar nay-sayers try Rice Vinegar. Lighter and sweeter.
Thanks!! We agree 😉
This was the first time ever making a homemade salad dressing and I must say this one is delicious.
Thanks so much! We love it too! 🙂
Made this last night and it was delicious!
So glad you loved it!
Think this would be successful substituting yogurt the mayonnaise?
I have used Greek yogurt in place of half the mayonnaise, yes 🙂 Give it a try!
Yum, very good!
So glad you liked this recipe!
Such a great taste! If I want to thicken it up do I add more mayo or??? Thx!
Yes, absolutely 🙂
Can you use Champagne vinegar & if you leave mayonnaise out, do you still use olive oil & vegetable oil?
You can use champagne vinegar, yes. 🙂
Yuuuuum …. I love delicious Italian dressing recipe. But I add more Ricotta Cheeses, Asian oil (Wijen), Soy Souce & Mirin. Wouuuuw yummmmy. Thanks so much.
Glad you liked it! 🙂
this was delicious…no complaints about flavour however it was very runny. I followed the recipe exactly using measuring cups/spoons etc and didn’t change any ingredients or volumes. It was refrigerated for at least 2 hours before serving but was so thin and liquidy that I added more mayo and parm hoping to thicken it. Didn’t help that much but was still super tasty. I used Bertoli Olive oil and Helman’s full fat may btw. What did I do wrong?? I’d love to make this again as it tasted so great but it was way too thin.
It’s not a super thick dressing (it’s not American-style like ranch, etc.), so that’s probably why.
I use an immersian blender and it helps thicken it a bit more.
This looks fantastic! Pinning it and trying it soon.
Love this! We are big fans of making everything from scratch and this is soooo bursting with flavor with wonderful ingredients. Bet it would go wonderfully on baked potato or steamed veggies also, or chicken. Thank you so much.
Thank you Joan! We love this dressing too!!
Delicious
Thank you!!
Made this dressing for a green salad for girls night. Absolutely delicious and everyone wanted the recipe. Thanks!
Thanks so much Kathy! Glad everyone enjoyed it!🙂
love dressings with every spicy food. and your recipe took my heart. so easy to make and nice to eat. I blog frequently and I really appreciate your information. This article has truly peaked my interest. I will take a note of your blog and keep checking for new information about once a week.
Thank you Everly!! So glad to hear you like it so much!🙂
The best Italian dressing I’ve ever made! My hubby loved it.
Thank you for the recipe.
Glad to hear that!!🙂
This was super easy to make & absolutely delicious!
Thanks so much Jai!!
These look soooooooo good! I’m definitely pinning this so I can make them soon! My family loves all recipes, so this will be a hit. Thanks again!
You’re welcome!! Thanks for your review!!
Also try red wine garlic vinegar my fav!!!
Made this on a whim for my husband and I , so good….that is all i can say. So easy, all ingredients that i keep in our kitchen, and just YUM.
Thanks Starla!!🙂
This has just become my very favorite creamy Italian dressing. It is a rich, delicious dressing with fabulous flavors that blend well and make a salad come to life. Thanks so much for this great recipe.
You’re welcome George!! Glad you love it!
Made this Italian dressing tonight to go with our salad — it’s quick and easy with a wonderful taste. Love how the honey balances the tartness of the dressing. Definitely a go-to recipe from now on.
Thanks so much Nancy!! Glad you like it!
This has become my go to recipe! I haven’t bought bottled dressing since shelter in place started in March! So much better to make at home. I mostly stick to the measurements, but vary it depending on mood (sometimes less parmesan, sometimes more vinegar instead of lemon…when I don’t feel like squeezing). It’s sooo easy! Thank you!
Happy to hear you like the recipe so much!
That’s look wonderful. Going to make it tomorrow. Going to bookmark your website right now.
Let us know how it turns out!🙂
Instead of parmesan cheese can I use mozzarella cheese and vegetable oil instead of olive oilq
I wouldn’t recommend either one of those substitutions as they would seriously change the flavour profile of the dressing. The parm is a hard, matured cheese with a strong, distinct flavour while mozzarella is a soft cheese that is very mild in flavour(it’s great for melting though). Also, olive oil is a flavourful oil while vegetable oil is a neutral one. For a salad dressing that doesn’t call for parm or olive oil check out my Creamy Vinaigrette. Enjoy! https://thebusybaker.ca/spinach-salad-with-creamy-vinaigrette/
these looking so nice, I want to try it now. At the early days I will do it to cook it in my own smoker.
Thanks James!
Thanks for sharing. Going to try it right now.
Thanks John! Let us know how it goes!!
So good! Missed soup plantation’s creamy Italian dressing and found this…not disappointed at all. Everyone at the dinner table enjoyed, will definitely be making this again…so easy and yummy.
Thank you for your feedback!!🙂
Hi! I very rarely comment on a recipe. But his recipe deserves 10 stars! You see, even when I follow a recipe to the letter I have never been able to get the results I hoped for. And although I can cook I have yet to master salad dressings! So I was elated when after following the recipe, the salad dressing turned out perfect! And sooooo delicious! I’m still in shock that it actually turned out soo great! Thank you for sharing! This recipe I’ll definitely make again!
I’m so glad you liked it!! 🙂
thanks for this recipe I use this after playing sports
You’re welcome Elliot!!🙂
Great recipe! I just finished it last night and the result was unexpected, my wife and daughter both liked it, which made me happy. Thanks for your guide.
So glad you liked it!
Yum. This was recommended by Nancy and I’m so glad that I tried this. It was super simple and delish on my salad. Thanks for sharing.
I’m so glad you love it!
the great recipe thanks for sharing this delicious recipe. I gonna try this soon.
Hope you enjoy it!
Delicious!
I made this dressing based on Nancy’s recommendation. Wow! So good! I love the tanginess from the lemon. Made it today and can’t wait to try it again tomorrow once the flavors have melded a bit more. Thanks for posting this little gem!
Thank you for your feedback! Enjoy!☺️
This is even better on the second day!!!
Yummy dressing! I loved the Italian dressing flavor, which was very pronounced, and the creamy texture combination. It was easy to make and made for a nice go-to dressing for the week. Thank you!
I’m happy you enjoyed it! Happy cooking ☺️
So delicious!!! My daughter and I added this to our quinoa and spinach salad and it became an instant favourite!!
I’m so glad you liked it! Happy cooking!
This dressing is amazing, I’ll never go back to store bought dressings.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Excellent. Needed a little red pepper.
Great idea! Glad you enjoyed it!
So yummy and tasty. I really like it. And i will try this at home. Plz keep sharing such type of posts. Thank you!
You’re welcome!!
That looks very delicious and tasty I will surely try this. thanks
You’re welcome Gary!!
I’ve been using this recipe for my pasta salads for a few years now and it’s ALWAYS a hit! I even have had requests. It is absolutely delicious and so flavorful!
Thanks for your review Shannon!!
We LOVED the flavor of this dressing but are used to the thicker consistency of a ranch dressing, for example. What would you suggest to thicken it a bit without altering that heavenly flavor?
I’d recommend adding a bit more mayo if you want to thicken it up, although this will dilute the flavours a bit.
Thanks for sharing wonderful recipe.
You’re welcome!!
This dressing is very delicious. It’s easy to make and will be my go to dressing from now on. Perfect!!!!
Thanks Marilyn!!
Thank you for this useful share. It’s amazing!