I still remember my first visit to Olive Garden. I was in college, perpetually hungry, and the unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks deal was miraculous for my student budget. While the warm breadsticks were undoubtedly a highlight, the salad truly won me over. That perfect blend of crisp lettuce, zesty dressing, and those little pepperoncini peppers created a combination I couldn’t stop thinking about.
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After countless visits (and countless dollars spent), I became determined to recreate that iconic dressing at home. After much experimentation and fine-tuning, I’m thrilled to share this copycat recipe that captures the magic of Olive Garden’s famous dressing – with the added benefit of being customizable to your preferences.
Why This Homemade Version Outshines the Store-Bought Option
Yes, you can find bottles of Olive Garden dressing in many grocery stores. But here’s why making it yourself is so much better:
- Fresher flavor – No preservatives mean a brighter, more vibrant taste
- Customizable – Adjust the sweetness, tanginess, or herb levels to your preference
- Cost-effective – Pennies per serving compared to buying the bottled version
- Fewer additives – Control precisely what goes into your dressing
- Always available – Never run out as long as you have basic pantry ingredients
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise – Creates a creamy base and helps emulsify the dressing; Hellman’s or Duke’s brands are recommended for best flavor
- White vinegar – Provides the signature tangy flavor and helps preserve the dressing
- Vegetable oil – Creates the proper consistency and mouthfeel; contrary to what you might expect, Olive Garden doesn’t use olive oil in their dressing
- Light corn syrup – Adds the perfect amount of sweetness and creates the signature texture
- Grated Parmesan cheese – Contributes savory depth and authentic Italian flavor
- Grated Romano cheese – Adds a sharper, more complex cheese flavor that balances the dressing
- Garlic powder (or fresh garlic clove) – Provides essential aromatic flavor that makes the dressing distinctively Italian
- Dried Italian seasoning – Contains the perfect blend of herbs to create that signature Olive Garden taste
- Dried parsley flakes – Add color and a fresh herbal note
- Lemon juice – Brightens all the flavors and adds a subtle citrus note
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Combine all ingredients: Blend or process the mayonnaise, white vinegar, vegetable oil, corn syrup, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, parsley flakes, and lemon juice in a food processor.
- Blend thoroughly: Process until all ingredients are completely combined and the dressing is smooth, about 30-60 seconds.
- Taste and adjust: Sample your dressing and adjust to your preference. Add a little more corn syrup or sugar if it’s too tart. If it needs more zip, add more vinegar or lemon juice.
- Transfer to container: Pour the finished dressing into an airtight container or glass bottle.
- Refrigerate: For best flavor, refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
Copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing
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
Notes
No Blender? No Problem!
If you don’t have a blender, you have two easy alternatives:- Whisk method: Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk vigorously until completely combined and smooth.
- Shake method: Put all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously until well mixed. This method works great and makes for easy storage afterward!
Nutrition
How long does homemade Olive Garden dressing last?
If stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, Olive Garden salad dressing can be enjoyed for about ten days.
What do you need to make an Olive Garden Salad?
To create an authentic Olive Garden salad experience at home, gather these ingredients:
- Iceberg lettuce – Provides the signature crunch
- Romaine lettuce – Adds nutrition and a different texture
- Thinly sliced red onion – Offers a sharp flavor contrast
- Pepperoncini peppers – Gives that distinctive tangy heat
- Black olives – Adds briny, savory notes
- Roma tomatoes – Provides fresh sweetness and color
- Croutons – Delivers the essential crunch
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese – For sprinkling on top
Toss all ingredients except the Parmesan in a large bowl, add your homemade dressing, and gently mix. Sprinkle with Parmesan just before serving.
Pro tip: If the dressing separates during storage, shake or whisk it before using.
Beyond Salad: Creative Uses for This Dressing
This versatile dressing has many uses beyond your salad bowl:
- Drizzle for roasted vegetables – Add just before serving for a flavor boost
- Marinade for chicken or fish – The acidity tenderizes protein beautifully
- Pasta salad dressing – This creates a fantastic cold pasta dish
- Sandwich spread – Use instead of plain mayonnaise for extra flavor
- Dip for vegetables – Makes raw veggies irresistible
Looking for more Olive Garden copycat recipes? Check these out
- Olive Garden Lasagna Mia
- Olive Garden Creamy Chicken Pasta
- Pasta Rustica
- Olive Garden Breadsticks Copycat Recipe
Popular Homemade Salad Dressings
- KFC Coleslaw Dressing
- Santa Fe Salad Cheesecake Factory
- Blue Cheese Salad Dressing Recipe
- Bacon Salad Dressing
- Ginger Salad Dressing
- Buttermilk Salad Dressing
- Green Jacket Dressing
Be sure to check out more of the best Olive Garden copycat recipes and easy salad dressing recipes.
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I just made this recipe and it is really good. A little tart for my liking (which I can adjust) and exactly tart enough for my husband’s liking. We can’t wait to have it on our chef’s salad tonight. Thanks!
Oh awesome 😉 So glad to hear that!
I love eating at Olive Garden, so thanks for the recipes.
I’ve tried this recipe from here before and it’s always been a hit. I’ve reduced the vinegar some and love the corn syrup as it makes it a bit more hardy tasting imo. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
After reading all the comments I wonder if the problem might possibly be the white vinegar. White vinegar is a lot stronger taste than other vinegars. After reading many articles about it, I use it only for cleaning purposes!! Lee Trochlil
Hey Stephanie- what can I substitute the corn syrup? Regular sugar, perhaps? My grandson is allergic to corn syrup. His heart races and turns him into a one boy destructive machine if he eats/drinks it. ????
Never mind,I should have read comments first. Thanks! I can’t wait it to try the recipe as I often buy store bought but prefer homemade.
Gosh she didnt say it was the Olive Garden dressing, its a copycat. If you dont like it try your own thing. As far as me Im going to try it just the way she did it. Why so many neg. Coments!!! I dont understand people doing that, just try it your way. Thank you for all your copycats I love them!!!! I’ll be looking for your next new one!!
I AM LOOKING FOR A RECEIPT FOR OLIVE GARDEN
IT IS AN ORDERVE
IT LOOKS LIKE A HUSHPUPPY BUT IT IS FRIED WITH A VEGATABLE IN IR I THINK IT HAS SOUR CREAM INSIDE ALSO
CAN YOU HELP?
Jane, I haven’t ever had that served that my local Olive Garden, is this still on the menu?
You’re probably thinking of their amazing artichoke heart deep fry. They don’t offer it anymore.
My step son works at Olive Garden and specifically told me that neither of the dressing they sell in the restaurant know where the ones in the stores are the recipe in it to use daily. The daily recipe has raw eggs in it and spoils quickly.
Thank you for putting this out there but are you sure that there is not an error with the vinegar?
For me there was WAY too much. A tablespoon would have been plenty instead of 1/3 cup. I had to add a cup of oil in addition to re-adding the other ingredients in order to even it out.
I too think that using a natural sugar or anything other than corn syrup has to be better healthwise.
Thank you for your comments. Let me address the sugar/corn syrup issue first. I agree sugar is healthier than corn syrup. My objective is to recreate the recipe as originated by the restaurant. Therefore I used corn syrup. You are always free to modify recipes as you bet see fit. You may want to consider a product called golden syrup, it is like corn syrup but made with sugar.
I am sorry you thought the vinegar was too much.
I appreciate you taking the time to make the recipe.
Sugar and corn syrup are the same thing. Their both just a combination of fructose and glucose either crystallized(table sugar) or dissolved in a liquid(syrups).
Honey is also just mostly fructose and some glucose.
Calorie for calorie, no sugar or syrup is healthier than another.
I would use maple syrup. The thing with table sugar and corn syrup is that they are more processed and chemicals are used during the processing. There is a difference between simple corn syrup (Kero) and High Fructose Corn Syrup. Some studies suggest that an excess of fructose can be toxic for the human body but regular corn syrup is still not as bad as artificial sweeteners.
Corn syrup is produced with genetically modified corn, so there is a HUGE difference in the sugars you use and which ones are healthier.
Not true. Sugar is simply sucrose. Not the same as corn syrup, which contains fructose. And they are metabolized differently, and taste different. This is emphasized in the medical weight loss program I work with.
Good try but you are way off on the real Olive Garden recipe. I worked at the original Olive Garden on International Drive in Fl. I’ll give you a hint though. Start with Wishbone Italian and add ingredients. In a way it’s irritating how people act like they know something and have no idea.
Rude
After making this as written I have to agree about the vinegar. I made it again with 2T and it was a lot better. Thanks for the suggestion Lucky G!
First thank you for your copycat recipes!! We live far away from restaurants and when it is families birthdays they will ask for certain items for their birthday such as olive garden salad and dressing. As far as people wanting to substitute for items such as mayonnaise, I usually just substitute natural ingredients such as all natural organic mayonnaise and olive oil. Again thank you from a grateful viewer and keep up the wonderful work!!
Vehemently recipe has wy tp much vinegar An 1/8 of a cup would be plenty. I agree with the other comment. Start with wishbone or Paul Neumann Italian and add ingredients
maybe leave out the vinegar totally, and increase the lemon juice.
I too found the Kopy Kat recipe wasn’t even close – too vinegary and runny. 🙁
OG salad is the only salad i eat with out meat So I made this tonight for me and my husband. I didn’t tell him what I was going to do. Man it was great. He loved it as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you
Great alternative if you don’t genetically manufactured organisms (GMO’s)
I noticed it on the bottle so disappointing because we really like OG.
Thank you
Love this salad
Ingredients: Water, Soybean Oil, Distilled Vinegar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Egg, Romano Cheese (Milk, Salt, Cultures, Enzymes), Dehydrated Garlic, Sugar, Spices, Xanthan Gum, Dextrose, Calcium Disodium Edta Added to Protect Flavor, Annatto Color, Natural Flavors. Contains: Egg, Milk.
These are the ingredients list from the real olive garden dressing. Just thought it might help
Thank you.
Love the recipes here, and have such fun recreating restaurant favs! I find everyone has different pallete, remembering it so distinctly sweet or tart, or salty, etc… keep up the good work, and please email me the OG dressing recipe! This forum is appreciated by so many!!
Thanks Stephanie for the great copycat recipe. I stupidly purchased a bottle of the OG Signature Salad Dressing at Costco last weekend without looking at the ingredient list. Ingredients included HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and soybean oil. I removed soybean oil from our diet several years ago so the bottle went into the trash. Most of the copycat recipes I found use a packet of Good Seasons salad dressing mix and I want to make it totally from scratch. Thanks for your great recipe.
I am glad you liked the recipe. I also like to cut out chemicals and preservatives when I can. I love using ingredients I can pronounce and that occur naturally in nature.
I was excited for this at 1st till I read the ingredients. That’s not healthy at all 🙁 If that is how they make it I think Im done eating there. Mayo?? Vegetable oil…one of the worst to ever consume. Bummer
Why don’t you substitute with an oil that you would like better. I think an olive oil would work well. I write recipes to duplicate what it is in the restaurant, it isn’t my goal to change the recipe.
Maybe as I finish culinary school I would be more equipped to give better solutions and healthier alternatives.
Go eat a carrot
Vegetable oil is cheap, many companies use it in dressings to keep costs down. Even the dressings that advertise they’re made with olive oil are cut with vegetable oil or soybean oil, which is not much better. Avocado oil and olive oil both work well for homemade dressings. Try a light or extra light olive oil (I use Bertolli) if you don’t want a heavy taste.
For those of you scoffing at the use of mayo, the base of homemade mayo is olive oil and egg (the other 3 ingredients are for flavor and preserving). Here is the recipe: http://whole30.com/2014/05/mayo/. Yes it’s really that simple.
Hey Stephanie. Thanks for all the recipes. All those negative comments really irk me. After all, it is COPYCAT!
Not sure I ever tasted eggs in the Olive Garden dressing and hopefully they were not raw eggs! Yikes.
Anyway, keep those recipes coming Stephanie, and than you.
Pasteurized raw eggs are safe to eat. Many salad dressings used to be made with raw eggs.
The vinegar would kill any bacteria in the egg anyway…. I too try to avoid soybean oil which is in most conventional mayo. I’m going to try your recipe with sour cream substituted for the mayo.
I agree. If you can’t say something nice, then don’t say it.
i had to sub a few ingredients, and I really hate doing that and then review the recipe. I used 4 tbls. of parm, sugar for corn syrup, and garlic powder for garlic salt. Not too bad on subs..[ it’s better than someone’s review that I read who subbed dry cod for turkey and lettuce for spinach in a soup recipe! Seriously!! And she didn’t like it.] I don’t keep garlic salt in my pantry because it has too much sodium in relationship to the garlic powder, and I would have no use for corn syrup other than this recipe. Delicious!! And I thank you for sharing and your time to do so.
I literally did exactly as you had for the exact reasons and had the same results. Was really good.
i want to thank u cant wait to try s is my most fav dressing in world