How To Make Classic Green Goddess Dressing (2024)

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updated Aug 15, 2022

This herby creamy green goddess dressing can be used to dress lettuce or as a dip for veggie. We go classic, including anchovies and Greek yogurt.

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Green goddess dressing is a garlic and herb, mayo-based dip that was once the empress of cool, creamy dressings. Describe green goddess dressing in the same breath as ranch dressing and you won’t be wrong. Both use mayo as a base and are flavored with herbs and garlic.

Green goddess dressing is just much stronger — and prettier — thanks to a number of fresh herbs with a savory undertone similar to Caesar dressing due to anchovy paste. Tempered with a squeeze of lemon juice and cool, creamy yogurt, green goddess dressing is the grown-up dip and dressing you can serve with fresh vegetables, on salads, or in your very own goddess bowl.

Add Yogurt To Green Goddess Dressing

Green goddess dressing was conceived in San Francisco at the historic Palace Hotel in the 1920s. It was supposedly created to honor George Arliss after the opening of the hit play “The Green Goddess.” It was revived in the ’70s and ’80s when green goddess dressing was cast as a healthy option and became beloved amongst the health food circle before it was mainstream.

Many recipes for green goddess dressing abound now, but my favorite version happens to come from a chain restaurant (Panera Bread, if you must know) so this recipe closely resembles the dressing from their Green Goddess Cobb Salad, with the significant upgrade of creamy yogurt.

Everything You Need to Know About Making Green Goddess Dressing

Make a blender mayo: Okay, I realize that you can go to the grocery store and buy any number of different mayonnaises, but you’re going to dirty the blender for this recipe anyway, so why not have complete control over what goes into yours? Start with an egg yolk and a little dollop of mustard and stream in your favorite oil. You’ll add the fresh herbs right to this without having to empty the blender.

Feeling weird about the egg? Feel free to use pasteurized eggs for the yolk rather than the raw egg. Or you can skip the egg all together and use store-bought mayonnaise. You’ll need about 1 cup.

Add the herbs: Supposedly the original recipe for green goddess dressing included green onions and/or watercress in the green mix. This recipe uses the more mellow flavor of chives, partnered with parsley and tarragon. If your herb garden runneth over in the spring and summer, feel free to experiment with the herbs here.

Season with garlic and anchovy paste: Chopped garlic cloves and anchovy paste also go into the blender with the herbs. Chop the garlic first so it gets more finely chopped in the blender. If you want to skip the anchovy paste, you can substitute a teaspoon of white miso. It won’t have the same super umami hit that comes from the anchovies, but it will still be delicious.

Whisk with yogurt or sour cream: Don’t risk breaking your green goddess sauce by adding the yogurt straight to the blender; instead mix the green goddess base into the yogurt in a small mixing or serving bowl. The yogurt tames the garlic’s sharp bite and makes the dressing base much thicker. If you keep sour cream on hand instead of Greek yogurt, feel free to use that instead.

How to Use Greek Goddess Dressing

Green goddess dressing does double duty as both a dip and a green salad dressing, but it has a bunch of other uses, too. You can marinate chicken or shrimp in green goddess dressing or use it to dress pasta or potato salad. Fair warning, though: The finished dressing is quite thick, so be sure to toss your greens in the dressing rather than pour the dressing on top of your greens!

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