Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

Hubby is addicted to T.G.I. Friday's Caesar Salad and we have searched far too long for a copycat recipe of its dressing in the internet but always fail. Ang sad noh?

But hold on, as we are told, when there's life, there is still hope. So I have attempted to make something out of the many Caesar salad dressings I have "reviewed", compared notes of each recipe and was finally able to come up with I guess, 99% close to what I wanted to achieve.

Special shout out to my friend Sheila for the info on Doña Elena canned anchovy fillets. I really do not have any idea where to get them, not knowing it was just right under my nose in the "sardines" section. NGEK!!!

Anyways, I just really wanted to share my happiness with you because of this homemade Caesar Salad Dressing, inspired by the best two recipes I have referred to (out of the.. uh.. lost count!)

Happy Tummy's Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing

1 cup Lady's Choice mayonnaise
1/4 cup egg whites (keep the yolk in the freezer for future use!)
1/4 cup KRAFT grated parmesan romano cheese
2 tbsps water
2 tbsps olive oil
Juice of half a lemon (you may opt not to squeeze and include all the juice)
2 anchovy fillets, chopped finely
about 2 tsps garlic, chopped finely (you may want to add some more, if you want a stronger garlic kick)
about 1 and a half tsp of white sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Just mix all ingredients in a bowl. Beat it for about 2 minutes and chill for at least 2 hours. You may want to add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of all purpose cream to add a creamier texture to the dressing and just add a little more salt, pepper and garlic if needed.

Store it in a clean container and label it with the date so you can remember when you made it and you will kind of get an estimate until when you can use it (about 2 weeks max). The above photo shows that I am a scrappy kind of person. Hubby calls me Mommy Scrappy Doo. I like to keep used containers from commercial products that I believe can be of great use in future kitchen 911s. Just make sure it's really clean and dry before you use it. Better yet, sterilized. So up there, as you can see, I poured my home made dressing into a clean bottle of a then commercial caesar salad dressing :P

I swear, it's really clean. I know, next time I will use a glass container when I get to grab one!

Better to place in the chiller than in the fridge. If you have made a lot of this, store some in the freezer for longer shelf life and just thaw it when it's time to use it.


On the photo, I tossed it with Romaine Lettuce, Croutons, Left-Over Chicken Pesto Fingers (from Magnolia Chicken) cut in cubes and Parmesan Romano Cheese:



Try it and you will say T.G.I. Finally made it! Enjoy!


A happy and well-deserved weekend to all! :-)