Creamy Italian Dressing Recipe – our favorite salad!!! Romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, croutons, parmesan cheese, and homemade Creamy Italian dressing. The creamy dressing really puts this salad over the top!!! Mayonnaise, red wine vinegar, milk, sugar, Italian seasoning, garlic, salt, and pepper. I made this for a dinner party and everyone RAVED about it!! A million times better than Olive Garden’s salad!
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Pin This RecipeCreamy Italian Salad Dressing
We are obsessed with this yummy Creamy Italiano Salad. It is seriously delicious. The salad is good, but it is the homemade Italian dressing that really puts this salad over the top! I made this for a dinner party and everyone LOVED it! Every single person asked for the dressing recipe. I am not even kidding! The creamy dressing is seriously the best. It is a little tangy with tons of great flavor. I could drink it with a straw. It is hands down our favorite dressing recipe. One bite and you will know why!
How to Make Homemade Creamy Italian Dressing
The salad is super easy to make with only a few simple ingredients. Start with making the dressing. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, milk, red wine vinegar, sugar, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Next, in a large bowl, toss together the salad – romaine, tomatoes, thinly sliced seedless cucumbers, sliced banana peppers, shaved parmesan cheese, and croutons. Toss the salad with the dressing and serve. Store leftover salad dressing in mason jars in the refrigerator.
Helpful Tips & Frequently Asked Questions
- I know some people don’t like cucumbers, so they are optional.
- Variations/Additions:
- Can substitute grated parmesan for shaved parmesan.
- Don’t like mayo? You can substitute sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
- For extra garlic flavor, use fresh garlic cloves in place of garlic powder.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the dressing for a little kick.
- Can add bell peppers, red onion, or black olives to the salad mixture.
- Don’t have Italian seasoning? Use equal amounts of dried oregano and basil.
- Can substitute white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- For the croutons, I like to use the Olive Garden croutons that are in the grocery store.
- You can make the creamy Italian dressing ahead of time and store it in a mason jar in the fridge until you are ready to toss the salad.
- I usually make the dressing a day or two in advance of serving to give the flavors time to meld together.
- Give the dressing a good shake or stir before serving.
- You can assemble the salad mixture in advance and refrigerate it until ready to serve. Toss it with the dressing just before serving so the lettuce isn’t soggy.
- If you aren’t making this for a crowd, just make as much salad as you want and toss it with a little dressing. YUM!
- The dressing will keep for a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Better than Olive Garden Salad
This is our favorite homemade salad dressing. I always have the ingredients on hand to whip up a batch. This is the perfect addition to our traditional Christmas Eve lasagna dinner. This green salad, my homemade lasagna, and some garlic bread is my all-time favorite meal! This dressing is equally delicious as a dip with raw veggies. Give it a try the next time you have a salad. I promise it will be a hit!
Here are a few of our favorite recipes from the blog that go great with this salad:
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Creamy Italian Dressing & Salad
Ingredients:
Dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Salad
- 1 (9-oz) bag chopped romaine lettuce
- 1 cup sliced seedless cucumbers
- 1 cup purchased croutons
- ½ cup banana pepper rings
- ½ cup grape or cherry tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup shaved parmesan cheese
Instructions:
- Whisk together mayonnaise, milk, vinegar, sugar, Italian seasoning, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, combine romaine lettuce, cucumbers, croutons, banana peppers, tomatoes and parmesan.
- Add some dressing and toss. Continue to add dressing until the salad is dressed to your preference. You may have some leftover dressing.
Notes:
- I know some people don’t like cucumbers, so they are optional.
- Variations/Additions:
- Can substitute grated parmesan for shaved parmesan.
- Don’t like mayo? You can substitute sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.
- For extra garlic flavor, use fresh garlic cloves in place of garlic powder.
- Add a pinch of red pepper flakes to the dressing for a little kick.
- Can add bell peppers, red onion, or black olives to the salad mixture.
- Don’t have Italian seasoning? Use equal amounts of dried oregano and basil.
- Can substitute white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
- For the croutons, I like to use the Olive Garden croutons that are in the grocery store.
- You can make the creamy Italian dressing ahead of timeand store it in a mason jar in the fridge it until you are ready to toss the salad.
- I usually make the dressing a day or two in advance of serving to give the flavors time to meld together.
- Give the dressing a good shake or stir before serving.
- You can assemble the salad mixture in advance and refrigerate it until ready to serve. Toss it with the dressing just before serving so the lettuce isn’t soggy.
- If you aren’t making this for a crowd, just make as much salad as you want and toss it with a little dressing. YUM!
- The dressing will keep a week in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Steph
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We have seriously considered just drinking this salad dressing. It. Is. Divine. We are still trying it on all kinds of different salads. Thank you so much for posting it.
Would it be okay to leave the salad ‘undressed’ and let folks add the dressing to their individual servings?
Absolutely. That is how I usually serve it to a crowd.
This looks so good and so easy! I have recently discovered that dairy does not always agree with me, so cream soups to the rescue. They don’t seem to bother me nor does a little bit of dairy. This looks like it will be perfect. Thank you!
Is the Italian seasoning from a packet of italian dressing? The powdered kind?
No, it is a seasoning blend from the spice aisle at the grocery store.
This dressing is yummolicious! I make it with fresh grated garlic, absolutely love it!
Outstanding…..the dressing is to die for!
Delicious salad! And, of course, the dressing is outstanding. My husband thought of several things it would be good with—for example boiled or fried shrimp and fried oysters. So good! Will definitely make again and again.
I use this dressing for EVERYTHING! Salads, pizza dipping sauce, and even a base for chicken salad. Really good.
We are the same way! I could drink the dressing with a straw! LOL! SO glad you enjoy it too, Carrie
We made this salad for lunch, and it was so good. Great recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! We make this all the time. We LOVE the dressing!
Are these pickled banana peppers from a jar or fresh sliced?
from a jar