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Unlock the secret to Olive Garden’s famous salad dressing with our copycat recipe! Say goodbye to store-bought dressings and hello to a taste of Olive Garden in your own kitchen!
Featured with this recipe
A dressing that is delicious not only on your Olive Garden salad, but in so many other things– this dressing is versatile! Use it in pasta salad, for chicken bakes, as a marinade. You’ll never run out of opportunities for this dressing, and you’ll be glad you made it! It’s pure alchemy how a few ingredients will come together in a bowl and create endless dishes and flavors. But for starters, put in on a salad, it tastes just like the restaurant.
Ingredients in Olive Garden Salad Dressing
- High Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
- White Wine Vinegar
- Water
- Light Corn Syrup
- Mayonnaise
- Dijon Mustard
- Garlic Powder
- Parmesan Cheese
Making the Classic Olive Garden Salad
Combine fresh romaine lettuce, sliced red onion, tomatoes, medium black olives, pepperoncini peppers, parmesan cheese, and croutons in a large bowl. Toss your ingredients. This will create your salad. Add your dressing and you are ready to enjoy.
Picking a High Quality Olive Oil
- Higher quality olive oil tastes better. It tastes like fruit and herbs, from the fresh and perfectly ripe olives it was pressed from. Lower quality oil just tastes like oil, sometimes worse, because it could be rancid or the olives were no longer good when pressed.
- Look for olive oils in dark glass bottles. This protects the oil from deteriorating in the light, as well as from absorbing the PVC’s from the plastic.
- Look for extra virgin olive oil when you are shopping. This is a great choice! Also, cold-pressed is a great thing to see when looking for olive oil. This means that the olive oil was made without use of heat or chemicals.
- Whole Foods has some great options for olive oils. But, you can find a decent olive oil almost anywhere, you just have to look!
Recipe Tip
Make sure to refrigerate the dressing for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Frequently Asked Questions about Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Sure! Because it isn’t a dressing with a creamy texture, like ranch, it’s a bit healthier. Enjoy it with a salad mix, or veggies like carrots.
This Olive Garden dressing is a great option, it isn’t creamy or thick, it’s thinner and a little sweet with some Italian seasonings. Another option- a balsamic vinaigrette, similarly lightly sweet and a bit tart!
Vary your textures, put things in there that you actually like, get a balance of sweet and a little sour, use fresh and crunchy lettuce, don’t use too much dressing! Too much dressing is the downfall of any good salad. It drowns the lettuce and it just turns gross.
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More Salad Dressing Recipes
How to Make Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Olive Garden Salad Dressing
Video
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup olive oil try to use a high quality olive oil for the best taste
- 7 ounces Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a blender and mix until well combined.
- Pour into jar, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Notes
- Serve over romaine, tomatoes, red onions, black olives, croutons, and parmesan cheese for the classic Olive Garden Salad!
- Make the dressing up to a few days ahead for a quicker lunch.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge.
I’m so excited to make this olive garden copycat at home! Thanks for the recipe — their salads are legit cravable and it’s all thanks to this delish dressing!
This was just like the one in the restaurant. We really enjoyed it! Thanks!
How long will left over Olive Garden dressing stay good in the fridge.?
About a week!