Green Goddess Dressing

Salad dressings run the gamut from light vinaigrettes to thick concoctions that can be considered dips—and which are often used that way. Green goddess dressing lands in the dippable category, mainly because it’s made with mayonnaise and sour cream instead of oil. Though it’s thick enough to use as a dip for crudités, it’s still lighter than the blue cheese dressing you’d serve alongside hot wings. A little lemon juice, a pile of herbs and green onion tops make this green goddess salad dressing recipe taste as fresh as the lettuce leaves you drizzle it on.

What is green goddess dressing?

The recipe is thought to have been created in the 1920s at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel to honor a guest who was starring in a play called The Green Goddess. Most green goddess salad dressings feature the ingredients found in the original recipe: mayonnaise, vinegar, anchovies, parsley and green onion.

Modern versions, including ours, lighten and brighten the dressing by replacing some of the mayo with sour cream and substituting lemon juice for vinegar. The Palace Hotel chef rubbed garlic inside the wooden serving bowl, whereas we blend garlic into the dressing. Our recipe cuts back on the anchovies but adds a little Worcestershire sauce (a fermented, anchovy-based condiment) and mixes in green pepper for sweetness and color.

Ingredients for Green Goddess Dressing

• Mayonnaise and sour cream: Blend mayonnaise with sour cream to keep the creamy texture of the dressing while reducing its richness.
• Green pepper: Chop the green pepper well before adding it to the blender so that it breaks down completely when whizzed with the other ingredients.
• Parsley: This herb adds flavor and color to homemade salad dressings and sauces. You can often find some in pesto recipes, like this nut-free pesto, where it helps the puree stay bright green.
• Worcestershire sauce and anchovies: Tiny anchovy fillets, usually salt-cured and stored in oil, are also the standard base for fermented Worcestershire sauce. Using both gives this dressing a savory, salty flavor that doesn’t obviously come from fish. Once hooked on this secret ingredient, you’ll likely be eager to explore other ways to use anchovies.
• Lemon juice: You can always thin a dressing with water, but lemon’s bright citrus flavor elevates the dressing rather than diluting it. Bottled lemon juice and freshly squeezed lemon juice both work equally well in homemade green goddess dressing.
• Garlic and green onion: Small alliums pack big flavor, especially when used raw in a dressing. Green onion tops have more color and a more subtle flavor than the bottom white parts. If you find the taste of garlic overpowering, soak it in the lemon juice for a few minutes to temper the harshness of the raw cloves.
• Pepper: It’s one of the essential spices that every kitchen needs. Once peppercorns are ground, their complex flavor begins to dissipate. So skip the preground pepper and grind your own with a pepper grinder. To measure, crease a small piece of parchment, grind the pepper onto it and then use the paper to funnel the pepper into your measuring spoon.

Directions

Step 1: Blend the dressing

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Place the mayonnaise, sour cream, green pepper, parsley, anchovies, lemon juice, green onion tops, garlic, pepper and Worcestershire sauce in a blender. Cover and process the ingredients until the dressing is smooth and creamy.

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Transfer the dressing to a bowl or jar. Use the dressing immediately or cover and store it in the refrigerator.

Editor’s Tip: If you don’t have a high-powered blender, a food processor may chop dense ingredients, like the green pepper and whole garlic clove, more cleanly. We generally prefer using a blender over a food processor when emulsifying salad dressings, so you could instead mince the chunky ingredients by hand before blending them with the other ingredients.

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Recipe Variations

• Switch to Greek yogurt: For an even lighter dressing, replace the mayonnaise, sour cream or both with Greek yogurt. It’s thick enough to make the dressing creamy, but more acidic than mayonnaise—so add the lemon juice to taste.
• Skip the green pepper: The original green goddess lacked green pepper in both the dressing and the salad. Instead it was tossed with just greens, like a Caesar dressing.
• Add other herbs: Go with tradition by adding 1 tablespoon of fresh tarragon leaves to the dressing and returning to tarragon vinegar instead of lemon juice. Other herbs you can use include chives, chervil, basil, fennel fronds, dill, cilantro, mint or an herb blend.
• Make it vegan: The original green goddess dressing had a dairy base, but some modern recipes replace the mayonnaise and any other dairy with avocado. If you drop the anchovies and Worcestershire sauce, or use a vegan variation of the condiment, you’ll have a dairy-free, vegan-friendly dressing.

How to Store Green Goddess Dressing

Homemade salad dressing recipes like this one keep for about a week in an airtight bowl or jar in the refrigerator. Freezing dulls the color and causes the ingredients to separate, so it’s best to make homemade green goddess dressing fresh in small batches. Since there’s no oil in this dressing, it won’t solidify in the fridge like vinaigrettes can. With mayonnaise and sour cream as the base, it shouldn’t be left at room temperature for more than two hours.

Green Goddess Dressing Tips

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What ingredients should you put in a green goddess salad?

The original green goddess dressing was simply served with romaine, escarole and chicory. Chicken, crab or shrimp were considered optional garnishes. But you can make a green goddess salad with your choice of toppings. Start with a base of leafy greens, and then toss in thinly sliced fresh vegetables like bell pepper, carrot, cucumber, red onion and radish. Add whole snap peas in their pods and whole or halved cherry tomatoes. Fold in cooked lentils or chickpeas, and crumble in feta, goat cheese or blue cheese. Toast sliced almonds or pumpkin seeds for a crunchy garnish.

How do you use green goddess dressing?

Drizzling green goddess dressing over salad greens is just the beginning of the ways you can use it. Try it on a Buddha bowl or over roasted veggies. Use it as a raw vegetable dip or to dress a coleslaw or potato salad. Spread it on a sandwich or in a wrap. Add it to a baked potato bar as an alternative to sour cream. For a burrito bar, mix in avocado and set it out instead of guacamole.