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This Green Goddess dressing takes 5 minutes to make and is great on salads or as a vegetable dip. Perfect for weeknight meals!
Here’s a homemade salad dressing that will amaze you with its fresh, zingy flavor: Green Goddess dressing! Sure, you can buy it at the store. But nothing beats the flavor of this creamy green drizzle made at home with fresh herbs and ingredients. Making your own salad dressing is easy, you know exactly what it’s made of, and it tastes incredible! So hold onto your hats, because this homemade Green Goddess dressing is drop dead delicious.
What is Green Goddess dressing?
What’s the dressing behind this intriguing name? All the rage in the 1970’s and 80’s, Green Goddess actually stems back to San Francisco in the 1920’s. There’s some contention around the exact origin. But the most popular theory is that the chef of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco created a dish to page homage to a famous actor in a play called The Green Goddess.
The Green goddess dressing the chef created in the 20’s had anchovies, scallions, mayonnaise, and herbs (parsley, tarragon, and chives). There have been various renditions ever since, using different herbs and flavorings. After all with a name like Green Goddess, who wouldn’t want to try a rendition?
Ingredients in this Green Goddess dressing
For this Green Goddess dressing recipe, we’ve developed a spin that’s close to the classic flavor profile. We’ve also got a zesty cilantro lime variation that’s just as tasty (scroll down). But for the classic, we wanted to stay true to the classic flavors with a few slight innovations. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Greek yogurt: Classic Green Goddess is made with sour cream, but Greek yogurt is a great stand in: it has less calories and brings a tangy flair
- Mayonnaise: Using a bit of mayonnaise along with the yogurt helps the dressing to adhere to salads perfectly (substitute olive oil if you like)
- Green onions: It’s easier to find green onions than chives, and they add a similar flavor
- Garlic
- Parsley
- Tarragon or basil: Use basil if it’s hard to locate tarragon at your local grocery
- Lemon juice
- Anchovy paste: It’s optional, but it adds a massive pop of umami and salty flavor. Omit it for vegetarian and add more salt: or you can try using the same amount of drained capers.
- Salt and pepper
Or, try the zesty cilantro lime variation!
Here’s a great spin on the classic: this zesty, cilantro lime Green Goddess dressing. It’s loosely adapted from a Mexican Green Goddess dressing in Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, It’s All Good. Head to the recipe below and see the Notes section for this variation. Here’s the basic premise:
- Cilantro, lime and jalapeño add a zesty flair. Cilantro replaces parsley and lime replaces lemon. Jalapeno adds a hint of heat, without being too spicy.
- Maple syrup or honey balance the dressing. The sugar rounds out the flavor so it doesn’t taste overly tart.
10 best ways to serve Green Goddess dressing
This Green Goddess dressing is incredibly versatile and makes a pile of raw vegetables taste like heaven! Here are the best ways we’ve found to use it:
- Veggie dip: Dip in carrot sticks and prepare to fall in love.
- Wedge salad: Add a spin to a classic wedge salad or Green Goddess salad.
- Tortilla bowl salad: These tortilla bowl salads are simple to whip up.
- Grain bowl: Cook up a pot of whole grains like rice or quinoa, then top with veggies and dressing. Or try Green Goddess salad bowls.
- Baked potato or sweet potato: Try on a baked sweet potato or baked potato.
- Dip for fries: Add to crispy baked fries or baked sweet potato fries.
- Salmon sauce: Drizzle onto baked salmon or pan seared salmon.
- Roasted carrots: Roasted carrots would look lovely with a pastel green drizzle.
- Roasted broccoli: How perfect would it be dolloped onto roasted broccoli?
- Taco sauce: Makes any taco tastier! Try it on shrimp tacos.
More homemade salad dressing recipes
Making homemade salad dressing is cheaper and healthier than store-bought dressing! Aside from this Green Goddess dressing, here salad dressing recipes you should try:
- Try the best easy Balsamic Vinaigrette
- Go for creamy Caesar Dressing (or Vegan Caesar)
- Try our favorite Healthy Ranch Dressing
- Go for zingy Italian Salad Dressing
This Green Goddess dressing recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Green Goddess Dressing
This Green Goddess dressing takes 5 minutes to make and is great on salads or as a vegetable dip. Perfect for weeknight meals!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup 1x
- Category: Dressing
- Method: Raw
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 very small garlic clove, minced*
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise (or substitute olive oil)
- ¾ cup fresh parsley leaves and tender stems, loosely packed
- ¼ cup basil leaves or tarragon leaves and tender stems, loosely packed
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ tablespoon anchovy paste (or omit and use another ¼ teaspoon kosher salt)
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Mince the garlic. Thinly slice the green onions.
- Place all ingredients in a food processor, smaller blender or the cup of an immersion blender (also works in a standard blender). Blend to combine. Taste and add another pinch of salt if necessary. Transfer to an airtight container; the dressing stores in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Notes
*Cilantro Lime Green Goddess Dressing variation: Blend the following using the same instructions: 2 green onions (thinly sliced) ½ green jalapeño pepper (minced), ⅔ cup Greek yogurt, ½ cup loosely packed cilantro leaves and tender stems, 2 tablespoons lime juice, ⅓ cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey, and ½ teaspoon kosher salt.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 TBSP
For those of us who are working on keeping our sodium low, please list sodium content in your nutrition list.
Thanks
We know many people watch their sodium intake closely, so to be extra careful, we don’t include sodium in our recipe information. This is because ingredients like canned tomatoes and soy sauce can vary in their sodium content, and we wouldn’t want to give you inaccurate info!
If you want, you can still get an estimated sodium breakdown! Just pop the recipe into this handy website: https://whisk.com/recipe-nutrition-calculator/
This way you can check with your own ingredients. Thank you for reading!
The Cilantro Lime Green Goddess dressing is truly delicious! Thank you for inspiring a wonderful summertime salad with grilled steelhead. I typed in yummy salad dressings when I had a mental block about what to cook on a beautiful but hot summer day. You are lifesavers!
Can Green Goddess dressing be frozen?
It doesn’t freeze well, sorry!
This is so good!! I just made it. I used pickled jalapeno instead of fresh and I used Bulgarian yogurt instead of Greek. If I had Greek yogurt in the house, I would have used it. So, it came out runny, but it’s still sooooo yummy. Thank you!