We Tried 10 Bottles of Caesar Dressing — And No One Could See the $5 Winner Coming

A Caesar salad stands as one of the all-time greats in the world of greens. Its combination of salty, savory, and peppery flavors makes even the simplest lettuce a culinary feat. Of course, a Caesar salad is only as good as its dressing — and while you can make a totally delicious dressing at home, grocery shelves are bursting with bottled options that promise convenience and flavor (although, as our research found, commonly without anchovies). 

To find the creamiest, tastiest Caesar dressings, we wrangled a few friends of The Kitchn and spent an afternoon tasting a whopping 10 different Caesar dressings (with lettuce, of course).

We focused on the most popular brands, including a variety of name- and store-brand Caesar dressing based on availability and price. We also requested input from our editorial team to round out the list of 10 competitors. The brands ranged in price from $3 all the way up to $10, although most were around $4 at the time of this tasting.

After we spent hours crunching on dressing-dipped leafy greens, a clear winner emerged. Its distinctly rich, savory flavor and velvety texture coats lettuce like a dream.

There’s a wealth of Caesar salad dressing preparations out there. When going into this taste test, we knew that they’d all offer something different — extra cheesy, creamy, tangy. The one that stole the show (and made our lettuce taste absolutely delicious) was Brianna’s Asiago Caesar Dressing. It’s “garlicky good,” writes Ali, our associate groceries editor; it reminded her of “a tableside Caesar dressing you’d get at an upscale restaurant.”

The rest of the group agreed. One taster even said they’d probably “stop making homemade Caesar dressing” because this one is just “so rich and delicious.”

What’s So Great

• Garlicky
• Tastes like it’s from a fancy restaurant

Good to Know

• Contains Asiago cheese

Although Caesar dressing — in most forms — has a creamy taste and texture, it doesn’t always contain cream (especially traditional and homemade versions!). That being said, we found that the majority of store-bought Caesar dressings are advertised as “creamy” and actually contain cream. Of those varieties, the Marzetti Creamy Caesar Dressing was hands-down the best creamy Caesar dressing. When all the tallies were in, we weren’t completely surprised to see Marzetti near the top because it did win our ranch taste test last year. 

One tester said it’s so good that they’d “drink the bottle” (only if the rest of the group wouldn’t judge them — we would never). Other testers described it as “ultra-rich” and “decadent,” sealing its spot as our runner-up.

What’s So Great

• “Ultra-rich”
• Decadent

Good to Know

• Made with cream

One tester described the California Olive Ranch Caesar Dressing in two words: “umami-packed.” What a refined palate! It contains actual organic Parmesan cheese, which gives it its savory punch. Not that the others didn’t contain Parm, or some kind of other cheese — but other testers found this one to have the “cleanest” and “purest” flavor that one tester noted “rivals homemade dressing.” 

The only thing that kept this dressing — by one of our favorite olive oil brands — from landing a higher spot? A few testers found it a little too salty. That being said, it’s still a fantastic (splurge-worthy) option — especially if you like salads with an extra sprinkle of salt.

What’s So Great

• “Umami-packed”
• Tastes homemade 

Good to Know

• More $$$ than others
• Olive oil-based

If you like your dressing to double as a dip, then you need a bottle of Ken’s Creamy Caesar Dressing in your fridge. One of our testers, who described their ideal dressing as “creamy and thick,” absolutely loved this tangy-salty bottle. But that same texture is what made some of our other testers hesitate.

It is “very thick,” noted Ali. “It doesn’t coat the lettuce as well as some of the other options.” It still racked up high-enough marks in our test to earn this very honorable mention. (Plus, it’s both the cheapest and largest bottle!)

What’s So Great

• Tangy and salty
• Oh-so creamy

Good to Know

• Very thick
• Budget buy 

Newman’s Own Creamy Caesar surprised our group of testers. When the results were revealed, we learned that it was one of the only dressings that contained actual anchovies, which is what must’ve given it its “delicious, savory flavor,” according to one tester. The balance between savory and tang was spot-on, too. Ultimately, it was on the saltier end of the contenders, and had our group taking extra sips of our water.  

What’s So Great

• Contains anchovies
• Savory

Good to Know

• Artificial flavor- and preservative-free
• For some, a little too salty

We recruited five Caesar dressing lovers to randomly taste 10 different store-bought Caesar dressing brands sold at grocery retailers today. Each brand was served in small cups, alongside a jug of water (for palate cleansing!) and lettuce. Ali randomly assigned them a letter — from A through L — to conceal the brands’ identities.  

Tasters were encouraged to sample the Caesar dressing brands in random order (to avoid giving any particular brand an advantage). They were also handed a notepad and encouraged to sample each brand in random order before marking down their notes, ratings (on a scale of 1 to 5), and rankings. It was only at the end of the test, when all the scores were tallied, that the winners were revealed. 

Did your favorite Caesar dressing brand make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.