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Olive Garden Salad Dressing – Copycat

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Olive Garden is known for its salads. The salad and the Olive Garden salad dressing are served with every meal. Their cold, crisp salad is hard to beat, and you can make this recipe anytime when you have the copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing whenever you want.

Homemade Italian salad dressing on a salad next to a basket with rolls..


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What makes the Olive Garden Salad dressing so good? 

I don’t know about you, but I love the Olive Garden Soup and salad combination. The hard part is deciding between the Zuppa Toscana and the Pasta e Fagioli, but you know what isn’t hard? Digging into their crispy salad. It has the perfect balance of flavors. Their take on Italian dressing has the perfect combination of herbs, tartness, and sweetness.

Ingredients you will need to make the homemade Olive Garden Salad dressing

First, gather all the ingredients. Here’s what you need:

  • Mayonnaise – I prefer Hellman’s or Duke’s
  • White vinegar
  • Vegetable oil – you could use extra virgin olive oil, they do not use olive oil
  • Light corn syrup – this gives the salad dressing the right texture 
  • Grated Parmesan cheese
  • Grated Romano cheese
  • Garlic powder or 1 garlic clove
  • Dried Italian seasoning
  • Dried parsley flakes
  • Lemon juice
ingredients to make homemade copycat olive garden dressing

How to Make Olive Garden Salad Dressing at Home

It doesn’t get much easier than this to make this salad. If you do not have a blender, grab a bowl and a whisk. Or you could put all of the ingredients and place them in a jar, fasten a lid, and shake vigorously. 

  • Place all ingredients in a blender until well mixed. If this is a little too tart for your personal taste, add a little extra sugar.

How long does homemade Olive Garden dressing last?

You can enjoy your Olive Garden salad dressing for about ten days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Other uses for Italian salad dressing

Another great use for the Olive Garden salad dressing is as a marinade for vegetables or even meats that you might like to grill. So you can see the Olive Garden salad dressing can be used in more than one way. This salad dressing also makes a great dressing for your favorite pasta salad. 

What do you need to make an Olive Garden Salad? 

Now you have your dressing, but what else do you need to make it complete. I love making a salad at home, this way I get to add all of the tomatoes and croutons I want. Here is what you will need. 

  • Iceberg lettuce
  • Romane lettuce
  • Red onion
  • Pepperoncinis 
  • Black olives 
  • Roma tomatoes 

You can get the exact portions right there Olive Garden Salad.

Making Olive Garden Salad Dressing at home is easy to do. You can make other recipes that taste just like they do in a restaurant.

How about Applebee’s Dressing for Oriental Chicken Salad? This is a terrific way to bring the taste of a restaurant home with this recipe.

Update

Yes, this dressing can be purchased at many stores such as Wal-Mart, Sam’s, and other grocery stores. Why would you want to make this from scratch? This recipe still has fewer preservatives, and you can always tweak a recipe when you make it from scratch.

So you can add a little more sugar, or maybe you want to add a few more spices. I know their bottle does not say it has mayonnaise on it. It does say oil and eggs, and when you beat those two together you get an emulsion that looks a lot like mayonnaise.

Looking for more Olive Garden copycat recipes? Check these out

Be sure to take a look at more of the best Olive Garden copycat recipes and easy salad dressing recipes.

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Homemade copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing and a salad.

Olive Garden Salad Dressing Copycat

Recreate the Olive Garden Salad dressing at home.   
4.37 from 22 votes
Print Pin Rate Add to Collection
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Homemade salad dressing, Olive Garden Salad Dressing Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 102kcal
Author: Stephanie Manley

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup white vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt, or 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a blender until well mixed.
  • If this is a little too tart for your own personal taste, add a little extra sugar.
  • Store dressing in an airtight container.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 102kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 0g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 101mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 15IU | Vitamin C: 0.6mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 0.1mg

About Stephanie Manley

I recreate your favorite restaurant recipes, so you can prepare these dishes at home. I help you cook dinner, and serve up dishes you know your family will love. You can find most of the ingredients for all of the recipes in your local grocery store.

Stephanie is the author of CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home, and CopyKat.com's Dining Out in the Home 2.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jill

    Despite all the critical comments about how this dressing is compared to the real Olive Garden dressing I LOVE this dressing. I make it all time and use it for a marinade as well. I widh folks would just be grateful for the fact that you took your time to make our lives a bit more simpler and more flavorful.

    Reply

      • Deb L

        Tried last night and love it. We won’t eat anything but homemade salad dressings and this is the best Italian I’ve ever made!

      • Ann

        Eggs are one of three basic ingredients in mayonnaise (oil, eggs, and vinegar/lemon). If you compare the ingredients in a jar of typical storebought mayo with those of Olive Garden’s bottled dressing, OG’s dressing has all mayo’s ingredients, plus some others. So while it doesn’t list “mayo” as an ingredient (FDA laws require more detailed breakdown), essentially it does have mayo, which contains eggs.

  3. Debbie Luck

    the way the olive garden makes there dressing is like this–this is why after you open it –it has to be refrigerated –the base is wishbone dressing with parm chesse and romano cheese–and eggs you will whip the dressing til smooth–this is why the dressing is so smooth and don’t seperate because of the eggs

    Reply

    • Robert

      if you don’t want to use eggs in your recipe use a little mustard. either egg yolk or mustard can be used to keep oil and vinegar from separating too quickly. use the mustard of your choice, though I would not recommend using spicy brown mustard in this salad dressing.

      Reply

  4. Jean Cary

    As far as the Mayo, I have compared several recipes on line and I think the quantity may be wrong. All the others do call for mayo but just a Tbsp or so not 1/2 a cup.

    Reply

  5. Debbie Luck

    you might want the updated version of the recipe–i was a manager for them they never put mayo in the dressing i know the recipe i worked for them from 1986 when they were owned by general mills til 2005.

    Note by Stephanie: I do not believe that Debbie has shared this recipe. I will no longer allow posts with email address requests to go up. It puts a risk to you for having your email address farmed from the website.

    Reply

    • serrah

      Hi Debbie,

      Would you be kind enough to email me the salad dressing recipe please? I live in Australia now and am craving it sooooo much! Thank you heaps!

      Serrah

      serrah74@gmail.com

      Reply

    • Debbie Machin

      Hi Debbie Luck. Could you please please email the recipe for Olive Garden salad dressing. Im having guests next week for Italian night ad would love this salad as my appetizer. Thanks so much!

      Reply

    • Candi

      Would you please entail me the recipe ? I know this is an old post about Olive Garden dressing but would appreciate it very much thank you !

      Reply

    • Lisa

      Please, please email me this recipe. My spouse got very very sick, it was odd, but he could eat this salad. If I could make it at home it would be a huge money saver!! Thank you!!!

      Reply

    • Ashley

      Hi Debbie,

      Whenever you have some free time could you please e-mail me the recipe as well? Thank you! ashleydeldebbio@gmail.com

      Reply

    • Chad

      Hi Debbie, I looove Olive Garden’s dressing, if you still know the recipe, would you please e-mail it to me when you have the time? Thanks so much in advance!

      Reply

    • Sharon

      I too worked at an Olive Garden restaurant. The salad dressing is not made in the restaurants it’s shipped in all ready made. So unless someone has worked at the manufacturing site where it’s made, it’s just a good guess and a good palate that can come close to the real thing.
      You did a great job Stephanie, thanks!

      Reply

      • Valerie

        She was talking about years ago, Sharon. Years ago, they DID make the dressing in he restaurant. I worked there from 1990 to 1994. They also had a pasta machine where they also USED TO make their own fresh pasta. That was out in the open for all the guests to view.

    • michelle

      why would u make a comment and ignore all the people who want the recipe, that is just plain rude not to write back…..

      Reply

      • Robert

        if they learn to copy and paste off a weh page then they don’t have to be lazy and ask somebody else to do what they can do for themselves. It is simple to do and only takes a minute to do. scroll to the recipe, move the mouse cursor over the top of the recipe and hold down the left mouse key and pull the mouse down the page to the bottom of the recipe. everything should highlight, then hold down the control key and kit the C key or click on the right mouse key and hit copy. Open a text or word document , set the mouse cursor at the top left part of the page then hold down the control key again and hit the V key or with the mouse cursor blinking on the text page kit the right mouse key and select paste. Control + z= undo , control + x = cut, control + c= copy, control +v = paste. now go practice getting that recipe.

    • Trudy

      For every one who is saying that OG never put mayonnaise in their salad dressing…..have you ever looked at the ingredients in mayonnaise? Julia Child used to have a cooking show and I learned to make mayonnaise from her…the basic ingredients, not including any spices……oil and eggs with a little lemon juice or vinegar….the same ingredients in a lot of store bought or restaurant salad dressings….so before you criticize her ingredients for this copy cat recipe, look up how to make mayonnaise and you’ll see she’s right on the mark.

      Reply

    • Mandee

      May I please request a copy of the recipe also please? I thank you in advance. This is one of the only salad dressings I like and I don’t want to eat the bottled, terrible ingredients anymore. <3

      Reply

  6. Ron

    Just because Olive Garden has oil, vinegar, and eggs in their dressing does not mean that mayo would be a substitute for that. There is definitely NO mayo in the OG recipe.

    Reply

    • stephaniemanley

      I appreciate that. I know we both will agree that the dressing is creamy. I used the mayonnaise to ensure the emulsification. I appreciate your comment, and you dropping by.

      Reply

      • pam

        Thank you Stephanie!

        I am planning on using your Learn to Cook series with my 12 and 1/2 year old.

        What fun it would be to eat at your house!

        We loved the Olive Garden salad dressing! It was just like eating at the restaurant at home!

        Thank you for sharing!

        You are a great cook!

      • stephaniemanley

        Thanks Pam. I hope you enjoy the Learn to Cook series, it is a lot of fun working my way though the book.

      • pam

        Thank you Stephanie.
        We are making your Olive Garden salad dressing almost every night now, and everyone is eating salad now and loving it!

        Thank you for sharing your receipies!

  11. obevie

    This is not a negative comment. I have made this recipe a couple of times, thought it might be cheaper than buying the bottles at the restaurant but it’s not really and since I have an Olive Garden just one mile from home its easier than getting all the ingredients and making it so now I just buy a bottle occasionally at the restaurant (just go in and they have a counter where you can buy it). Then all I have to get at the store are the salad ingredients. Easy peasey!!! If you love cooking and spending time in the kitchen and usually keep these ingredients on hand then it is fully as good as if not exactly the same as Olive Garden’s.

    Reply

    • stephaniemanley

      Thank you very much. I am glad you find the salad dressing a good substitute for the real deal. I also know some places other than the Olive Garden now sells the salad dressing, I believe Sam Club, and perhaps even Wal Mart sells it by the bottle.

      Reply

  12. Terry Tang

    Olive Garden does NOT put mayonnaise in their salad dressing, and no halfway decent restaurant would cook with it.

    Reply

    • La Vonne

      Do you people understand that eggs and oil make mayonnaise so instead of putting raw eggs and more oil in she just put the mayo in. The reason I am making it and adding raw can sugar instead of corn syrup is corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup are the reason this country’s weight and diabetes cases have increased so dramatically. Those two items are killing Americans and the food industry doesn’t care.

      So that is why I am taking this recipe and removing the corn syrup and putting the raw cane sugar and removing the oil and using olive oil. Corn by products (I.e corn syrup, corn oi,l etc) our bodies don’t use or break down that is why when you eat corn it comes out the same way it goes in but with the by products it passes through your kidneys and pancreas and destroys by tricking them into dumping sugars into our system thereby raising our sugar levels and killing our bodies. So with that in mind the only thing I would ask copy cat to do is figure out the raw cane sugar substitute for any and all corn by products and figure out a great substitute for all soybean by products because the genetic modifications of the soy beans are also killing us and the FDA is ok with that because they are in bed with the pharmaceutical companies that produce the high cost medications to treat the cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes these cheap alternatives cause the American public.

      Reply

  13. Mike

    This recipe is delicious! Don’t be fooled by the mayonnaise and the color. Cut back on the vinegar slightly. I added a table spoon of sugar and 2 tsp of veg oil because I started with too much vinegar. Start with 1/4 cup and add more to taste. Also add a couple of tsp of salt and boom! To die for….

    Reply

  14. Spy_Katcher

    I have tried so many recipes including this one and none are closer that my own copykat.

    Ingredients:

    3/8 cup of lemon juice
    1/4 c white vinegar
    2 splenda packets
    1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
    1 tsp salt
    1/2 tsp garlic powder
    2 tbs romano cheese
    1 package Good Seasons Italian dressing mix
    1/4 cup 2% milk
    3/4 cup canola oil

    Mix all of the ingredients well except the oil then whisk in the oil or, put all the ingredients except the oil in a Good Seasons container, shake well, add the oil and shake again. Let it set in the fridge at least a day to allow the cheese and other ingredients to merge.

    This recipe is close but there still is a distinctive flavor missing. I hope to figure it out some day…..

    Reply

  16. disqus_g6ZPIzlr0W

    I just tried this because I’ve been madly craving an Olive Garden salad. Followed the recipe exactly and it came out way too tart/sour, unfortunately. It ends up with a very watery consistency and what I felt was an overly strong vinegar bite and the color comes out like a milky white color. I ended up putting in probably a tablespoon of sugar to cut the intense vinegar bite…it was better then. Honestly haven’t been to OG in a while but this didn’t have the lightly oily consistency I remember…this version seems much more liquidy so I would suggest maybe a little less vinegar and maybe a tad more oil? Overall, it’s not awful and the aftertaste really is pretty close….I used the proper salad ingredients, so it tasted close enough to make me happy and satisfy my craving. Thank you!

    Reply

  17. Lea Brown

    I’m not bashing this recipe, but doesn’t adding mayo make it creamy? I didn’t think OG had a creamy look to it. Maybe its me, bc I hate creamy dressings and hate mayo on sandwiches… But I always thought of OGs being light and more vinegarette like?

    Reply

  18. Miguel

    I could eat this salad every day of the rest of my life, but I don’t think we can ever recreate the dressing.
    Not even employees, coz some mixes and other ingredients come from Italy.
    Unless you have access to the chef’s archives and know what to do.

    Reply

  20. Steve

    I tried this recipe, followed it to a T, and it came out of the blender like water, too much vinegar, it tastes nothing like Olive Garden’s dressing. Why didn’t you use a blender in the video as it is noted in the recipe?

    Reply

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