Question: Are there anchovies in Caesar dressing?
Answer: When it comes to salads, a Caesar is tough to beat in terms of taste. Many people love a Caesar for its lemony, salty, and sometimes garlicky flavors. What makes a Caesar salad great is largely due to its dressing. However, many people are not aware of the specific ingredients in Caesar dressing. Let’s find out what is in Caesar salad dressing and determine if it typically has anchovies.
Ingredients in Popular Caesar Dressings
Below we have compiled a list of Caesar dressing products with the ingredients for each dressing. You will find that all of the Caesar dressings below have anchovies. We also looked at a sampling of ten homemade Caesar dressing recipes via a Google search. All of these recipes included a form of anchovies as an ingredient. Clearly, it is safe to say that anchovies are a common ingredient in Caesar dressing.
Cardini’s Original Caesar Dressing: soybean oil, water, white wine vinegar, parmesan cheese (part-skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), egg yolk, distilled vinegar, salt, garlic*, spice, lemon juice concentrate, mustard seed, natural flavor, onion*, xanthan gum, corn syrup, potassium sorbate (added to maintain freshness), anchovies, calcium disodium edta added to protect flavor, celery seed, tamarind. *dehydrated contains: anchovies, egg, milk.
Ken’s Steak House Creamy Caesar: soybean oil, water, distilled vinegar, egg yolk, parmesan cheese (pasteurized part-skim milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), salt, contains less than 2% of olive oil, garlic, sugar, lemon juice concentrate, spice, natural flavor, egg, titanium dioxide (color), onion,* xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate (preservatives), propylene glycol alginate, molasses, lactic acid, corn syrup, caramel color, garlic,* calcium disodium edta (to protect flavor), tamarind, celery seed, anchovies, maltodextrin. *dried.
Newman’s Own Caesar: canola oil, water, distilled vinegar, romano cheese (pasteurized cow’s milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, sugar, anchovy paste (anchovies, salt, water), less than 2% of: sea salt, garlic, mustard flour, black pepper, oregano*, cayenne pepper sauce (distilled vinegar, red pepper, salt), xanthan gum (as a thickener), paprika and annatto extracts
Marzetti Simply Dressed Caesar Dressing: filtered water, canola oil, red wine vinegar, parmesan and romano cheese (part skim milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), extra virgin olive oil, egg yolk, cane sugar, salt, dried garlic, spice, mustard seed, xanthan gum, natural flavor, anchovies.
Marie’s Creamy Caesar: soybean oil, water, egg yolks, sour cream (cultured nonfat milk, cream), romano cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), distilled vinegar, contains less than 2% of sugar, salt, spices, cultured buttermilk, garlic juice, onion juice, natural flavor (includes milk), lemon juice concentrate, anchovy, xanthan gum, olive oil.
Panera Caesar Dressing: soybean oil, water, egg yolk, worcestershire sauce (distilled white vinegar, anchovies, garlic, molasses, onion, salt, sugar, water, chili pepper extract, cloves, natural flavorings, tamarind extract), red wine vinegar, garlic (garlic, water, citric acid), garlic juice (garlic, vinegar, salt), anchovy paste (anchovies, salt, water), contains less than 2% of onion juice, mustard (distilled vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice, garlic powder), lemon juice concentrate, sugar, xanthan gum, salt, rosemary extract, nisin, natamycin.
What are anchovies?
Anchovies are small fish that are typically found in marine waters. They have small bodies and are often found swimming in schools. They are commonly used as bait or consumed as food by humans. While Caesar dressing is the most recognized use of anchovies in the culinary world, they can be found in such dishes as pasta, pizza, sandwiches, and more.
Closing Thoughts
If you order a salad with Caesar dressing at a restaurant or purchase a Caesar dressing at the store, anchovies are a likely ingredient. However, there are Caesar dressing out there without anchovies. You just have to look a little bit to find them.
