Green Goddess Dressing is easy to make and adds a bright and fresh taste to any salad. Use this salad dressing recipe as a dip for veggies for a healthy, light snack!
Homemade salad dressings are one of my favorite types of recipes to make for you. They are so easy to make at home, and often I have all the ingredients right in my pantry and refrigerator. When you make your own salad dressings, it is very easy to adjust the taste and seasonings – another big selling point for me.
All of this is true with this great Green Goddess Dressing recipe. This dressing has a creamy base and a wonderful tang brought from the lemon juice, sour cream, and fresh herbs. All of that is balanced by a dash of honey. It comes together in a blender or food processor, meaning there is very little prep time. Additionally, I’ve tried it a few different ways, so I have some great hints and tips for you.
This is so yummy! Perfect for dipping in veggies and on a green goddess salad. Thank you so much!
How to Make Green Goddess Dressing
This is just a brief overview of this easy recipe. For the full recipe with measurements, see the recipe card below or hit the blue “jump to the recipe” button above.
Combine the Greens in a Food Processor
There are a few different types of fresh herbs in this (please read more on that below). We are also going to toss in some dried tarragon and fresh garlic at this step.
Add Mayonnaise and Sour Cream
Right into the food processor, throw in some mayonnaise and sour cream (read more on these ingredients below). Follow those with some lemon juice, salt, pepper, and honey. All of these can be adjusted, so start with half the amount called for and add more to your taste.
What is Green Goddess Dressing
Green Goddess Dressing was created in San Francisco in the early 1920s and gets its name from its rich green color. It is typically made with a base of mayonnaise and sour cream and a combination of fresh herbs.
Tips and Tricks
- Don’t worry about stems. When you are measuring the herbs, don’t worry about the stems. Those can be thrown in with everything else.
- Use a food processor. A food processor helps this come together really quickly. I love my Ninja for this! A blender would work as well.
- Use honey. When I first made this recipe I did it without any honey. I found that adding just a touch of honey, between 1/2 and 1 teaspoon, really balances the other ingredients – especially the lemon juice and sour cream – very well.
Substitutions and Variations
As mentioned above, historically, the base of this dressing is sour cream and mayonnaise. That is what we are using here, but I have a few alternatives.
- Replace the mayonnaise with more sour cream. If you are opposed to mayonnaise, you can use more sour cream. It will still taste delicious, but without the flavor profile of mayonnaise. I love it this way as it reduces the calories, and light sour cream is just less fat, no weird ingredients to make it lighter.
- Use avocado instead of mayonnaise or sour cream. In the years since this was first made, avocado has often been added to this dressing. You can replace either the mayonnaise or the sour cream with half an avocado.
- Replace the sour cream with plain nonfat yogurt. If you only keep yogurt in your home, that will work well as a replacement for the sour cream.
- Switch up the greens. The total amount of herbs in this dressing is 2 cups. I love the combination here, but cilantro, mint, or basil will work great as well.
Storing Green Goddess Salad Dressing
This salad dressing recipe will last in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days because of the dairy and fresh herbs involved. It makes 1 1/2 cups, which is a great amount if you are having guests. If you aren’t, I suggest that you cut the recipe in half.
Please also note that this recipe is even better after it has been refrigerated for a day. I do not recommend freezing this recipe.
What to Put Green Goddess Dressing on
As mentioned above, this recipe is great as a dip for cut up vegetables. I love eating it with cut up cucumbers, carrots, and radishes. It is also perfect on some mixed greens as you see pictured here. Finally, it makes a really great sandwich spread.
If you make this Green Goddess Dressing recipe or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Green Goddess Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup parsley (70 grams) packed (see my note about stems)
- 1/2 cup baby spinach (20 grams) packed
- 3 tablespoons chives roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh dill
- 1 tablespoon green onions chopped two inches into the green (1 small green onion)
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/2 cup light sour cream (113.5 grams)
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise (113 grams) see my notes in the post about alternatives
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 – 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- dash freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- In a blender or food processor, blend the parsley, spinach, chives, dill, green onions, garlic, and dried tarragon.1 cup parsley, 1/2 cup baby spinach, 3 tablespoons chives, 3 tablespoons fresh dill, 1 tablespoon green onions, 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, 1 garlic clove
- Add the sour cream and mayonnaise to the food processor. Add in half the amount of lemon juice, honey, salt, and black pepper called for. Blend the salad dressing and then taste it. If it tastes too bitter, add more honey. If it doesn't taste bright enough, add more lemon juice. If it is too bland, add more salt and pepper. The amounts above reflect what I ended up using.1/2 cup light sour cream, 1/2 cup light mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon honey, 1/2 – 1 teaspoon kosher salt, dash freshly ground black pepper
Recipe Video
Emily Mowder says
This is so yummy! Perfect for dipping in veggies and on a green goddess salad. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you liked it, Emily!
Cupcake Mama Sia says
So easy to make and so tasty!
I’m so glad that you liked it!
suzy says
having a small dinner party tonight. This dressing was so quick and easy to make but it looks bright and beautiful and tastes SO delicious!
I hope you guests enjoyed it!
Melida says
We made this recipe and used Vegenaise instead of mayonnaise, dried dill and no taragon.
It was delicious. We stored in jar and sealed it with our Food Saver Jar sealer.
Looking forward to making more dressings.
I’m so glad you lied this!
Julie says
Made for Christmas lunch. Used full fat mayo and full fat sour cream. Also, 2 tbsp of lemon juice instead of 1. Outstanding!
I’m so glad that you liked it!