The BEST Homemade Italian Dressing - Easy and Delicious! (2024)

This Homemade Italian Dressing is one of our family’s all time favorite recipes. It is jam packed with flavor, perfectly creamy, and addictingly delicious! The dressing goes wonderfully on a salad to make it one that isn’t easily forgotten, but also is also great for dipping veggies like carrots, celery, broccoli or whatever you pack the veggie tray with. This dressing is not only crazy delicious, but also gluten free, dairy free and low carb, so it is great for anyone with special dietary needs or serving a crowd or potluck. Just be warned when people start to try this Homemade Italian dressing, they are going to be asking for recipe so keep it handy!

Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe

I have been making my own homemade salad dressings for most of my life. If you have never made them from scratch there are two things you should know:

1. Making your own salad dressing is insanely easy. You can make up a batch in minutes and keep it on hand just like you would the bottled stuff.
2. Once you start having homemade, you may be forever spoiled. The bottled stuff my not cut it anymore once you taste just how good dressing made from scratch are! Be warned!

This homemade Ranch dressing has been a staple in our fridge for many years, I have a go to Balsamic Dressing recipe and a a few others, but Italian dressing is one that I always try something new. I had been experimenting for what seems years, when a tweak here and a little something there finally landed me with THIS Homemade Creamy Italian salad dressing.

Once I tasted this one, I knew there would be not more experimenting because this is the salad dressing jackpot. (Is that even a thing? I don’t think so!)

All that to say, if you are looking for the absolute best, flavor packed, insanely delicious Italian Dressing recipe, then you found it!

How to Serve Homemade Italian Dressing

Besides the obvious, there are some really awesome (and totally mouth-watering) ways to use this creamy Italian dressing. Here are some of my favorites:

• Salad- The most obvious way to use this salad dressing is on a salad of course. Make a simple side salad, or make a loaded entree salad with grilled chicken or steak, your favorite veggies, cheese, and some pita chips for crunch.
• Pasta Salad-Try making your favorite pasta salad with this Italian dressing! It has so much flavor and creamy goodness that it will punch it straight up to the next level of delicious!
• Garlic Cheese Bread-Grab a loaf of french bread and cut it in half. Spread each half with a thin layer of the creamy Italian dressing, then cover with mozzarella, or Italian blend cheese. Bake at 425 until it is heated through and the cheese is bubbly. Slice and serve warm.
• Sandwiches-Pretty much any sandwich will be even better with a spread of this Homemade Italian dressing on the bread. Whether it is a basic turkey or an Italian grinder, this is promised to take it up a notch.
• Dip-If you need a little something healthy for a shower, barbecue or picnic, then this Italian dressing is perfect! Load up a tray with veggies and stick a bowl of Italian dressing in the middle and it is the perfect balance of wholesome, beautiful, and delicious.
• Quinoa-Whip up a batch of quinoa as directed on the package. Once it is done, add your favorite chopped veggies, chopped chicken, turkey, pepperoni, or salami, and some feta cheese. Put in a few generous spoonfuls of this dressing and stir to coat. This is one of my all time favorite lunches and perfect for meal prep (or just cleaning out the veggie drawer in the fridge!)
• Antipasto-Get all of your Italian favorites together into a unique and super tasty salad when combined with the Creamy Italian Dressing. Try adding pepperoni, salami, pepperoncini peppers, olives, provolone and mozzarella cheese, and any other favorites you have into a bowl. Chop them into bite sized pieces, and drizzle generously with Italian dressing. Toss everything to coat and enjoy!

As you can see, I use this dressing often and there are so many delicious ways that it can be used. If you have a favorite recipe using Italian dressing that I missed, I would love to hear it! Leave me a comment and let me know so I can give it a try too!

How to Make Homemade Italian Dressing

This creamy Italian Dressing is super easy to make. I am going to walk through a few tips with you here, but you can find the full printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Skip to Recipe

Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe – Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise-Using real mayonnaise is important here. If you use Miracle Whip it will really change the taste of the dressing.
• 2 tbsp Italian Dressing Mix- You can find the recipe for the homemade Italian Dressing Mix here. If you are in a pinch you could use a Good Seasons Italian Dressing packet. Make sure the dressing mix is well mixed before you scoop it out so that you get both the more fine herbs and seasonings as well as the flakier ones.
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar-White wine vinegar gives it part of the tangy flavor this dressing is known for.
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese-Make sure it is very finely grated so it can kind of dissolve right into the dressing. Otherwise you will have floating chunks or shreds of cheese in the dressing. If you use store bought pre-shredded parmesan, you might want to use a knife and chop it so that it is more fine.
• 2 tbsp lemon juice-This gives it a freshness and tang. You can add more or less to taste.

Homemade Italian Dressing Recipe Tips

Here are a few tips to help you get the very BEST Italian dressing you have ever tasted!

• Mix the seasonings with the mayo first so that it is easy to get them evenly distributed in the dressing.
• When you add the liquids to the dressing, use a whisk so that you can get everything to combine perfectly without any lumps.
• Make sure that the parmesan is really finely grated so that it can just disappear into the dressing to flavor it.
• If the dressing is too thick, you can add more lemon juice to thin it. If the dressing is too thin, you can add more mayonnaise to thicken it.
• If the dressing has too much tang to it, you can stir in extra sugar, 1/4 tsp at a time until it cuts the acidity to your taste preference.
• You can serve the Italian dressing right away, but the flavors of the dressing will continue to meld as it sits in the refrigerator.

I really hope that you love this dressing as much as we do! It is a staple in our fridge and used almost daily for meals and snacks.

If you do get a chance to try it, I would love it if you let me know! You can leave me a comment below, or if you post a picture on Instagram, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see what you are cooking up! It makes my day to see others enjoying the recipes that I share!

Oh and before you go!… If you need a regular rotation of recipe inspiration like me, make sure to sign up to get our emails! I send out my new favorites, the recipes my family has been devouring, and some of the best tried and true recipes. It is easy and free of course! You canclick here to sign up.