Olive Garden Salad Dressing
This homemade copycat Olive Garden Salad Dressing tastes even better than the original and the bottled stuff! It works great in pasta salads and as a marinade too!
A CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING RECIPE
I think one of my favorite things to do is to recreate my favorite restaurant meals at home, like with this Olive Garden Salad Dressing. I always say that even though recipes can sometimes come close to those restaurant favorites, I will never say it tastes exactly like what you get in the restaurant but we can get the taste pretty darn close. Also, I know you can totally buy this stuff in the grocery store now but I promise you that this version will taste WAY better.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes. First you are going to prepare the packet of Good Seasons Italian Dressing just like it tells you to do on the back of the packet. Then you will take that prepared dressing and add the other ingredients listed below to turn this into Olive Garden Salad Dressing.
If you want the full Olive Garden experience then serve this with my Olive Garden Breadsticks and Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli or Zuppa Toscana!
This dressing is delicious in pasta salads and as a chicken marinade!
Store unused dressing in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to give the bottle a good shake before using.
If you’ve never seen Good Seasons Italian Dressing before, you can usually find it down the aisle in your grocery store where all the other salad dressings are. The packets are usually near where they keep the packets of ranch dressing. Most stores carry the boxed sets that also come with the salad dressing cruet. See my ingredient image below for reference.
You will need:
– 1 bag of iceberg lettuce mix
– 6-8 pepperoncini peppers
– 6 ounces of whole black olives
– ½ red onion, sliced into rings
– 1 Roma tomato, sliced
– 1 cup of croutons
– ½-1 cup of parmesan cheese, freshly grated
Add the lettuce to a large salad bowl then add the peppers, olives, onion slices, tomatoes, croutons and parmesan to the salad. Drizzle the salad dressing over top and toss to combine, then serve.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (SEE RECIPE CARD BELOW FOR THE FULL RECIPE)
HOW TO MAKE OLIVE GARDEN SALAD DRESSING
Prepare Good Seasonings Italian Seasonings Dressing as it states on back of packet.
The packet makes just a small bit of dressing. Once prepared, pour dressing in a medium bowl. Then whisk in additional ingredients listed above (starting with the dried Italian Seasoning.)
Using a whisk, mix all ingredients until mixed thoroughly combined.
At this point you pour it into a container with a lid. Mason jars also work well for this or pour it over your salad and enjoy!
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo
- Olive Garden Chicken Gnocchi Soup
- Olive Garden Zuppa Toscana
- Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli
- Instant Pot Olive Garden Chicken Scampi
- Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing
- Thousand Island Dressing
Originally published: January 2012
Updated photos & republished: June 2019
Olive Garden Salad Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 packet Good Seasonings Italian Dressing
- Ingredients needed to make dressing; oil, water & vinegar
- ½ teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon mayonnaise
- ¼ cup light extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons white vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons water
Instructions
- In a bowl, prepare Good Seasonings Italian Seasonings Dressing as it states on back of package (mixing with oil, water & vinegar in the measurements given on packet)
- Once prepared, add the rest of the ingredients listed to the bowl
- Using a whisk, mix all ingredients until mixed thoroughly combined.
- Serve with your favorite salad fixings.
Video
Notes
- Store unused dressing in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Be sure to give the bottle a good shake before using.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Recipe Credit: Barenaked Chef
This may be a stupid question but what is the nutritional value on this like calories serving size etc..?
Hi Lesa, So glad you are enjoying all the recipes you've tried so far! Normally I love to use fresh garlic where I can. It's inexpensive and it adds a ton of flavor! But in this recipe, the garlic powder really is best since the garlic flavor is not a big star in the show here like in the ranch dressing. It's just a subtle background flavor and if you use fresh garlic, it really won't give you that "copycat" olive garden flavor. Hope that helps.
Also, to answer Snowmanlover's question, this dressing keeps in the fridge for 2-3 weeks. 🙂
I have made the ranch dressing recipe using fresh, pressed (minced) garlic. How much fresh garlic would you substitute for the garlic powder in this OG recipe? Also, thank you so much for all your great recipes. I just discovered this site a few weeks ago & love it. Lesa
That was about good enough to drink!! 🙂 Thank you!
This was very good. How long does it last please? Thanks!
Wow! Love both of these at Olive Garden. Have tried recreating the dressing at home, but am always just a little off….but now I've got a "keeper". Of course, if these taste like the restaraunt, I'll never get my husband out for dinner anymore! Thanks for sharing.
I made this tonight it was awesome! So close to olive gardens too! Thank you!!
Made this and it was deeeelicious! Thanks so much for sharing!
You list olive oil, white vinegar and water in recipe but then it calls for those to make the good seasonings dressing…so do you add more later or where those amount listed for what you need for the Good seasonings dressing? Just want to make sure I'm using them twice?
Kristi, yes, you make the packet of good seasonings italian dressing first. Then you add in all the other ingredients I have listed. 🙂
Amber, I use white vinegar when making the Good Seasons dressing as well. Hope that helps! 🙂
When making the good seasons dressing, BEFORE adding the other ingredients, I assume you use olive oil, but what kind of vinegar do you use? White wine, red wine, regular white,…? Thanks!
I've made this and it is really good. Tastes like the real thing. PS one packet of real mayo from any of the fast food places is the exact amount for the recipe.
Anonymous, yes it is. 🙂
So my question is the oil, vinegar & water that you add at the bottom in the recipe in addition to the oil, vinegar & water you use to make the Italian dressing? Thanks
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back & let me know how this recipe turned out for ya!! I'm thrilled to hear you liked it! Yay!
Found the brand at the store. Its so much better the day after its mixed. Its pretty stinkin close to Olive Garden. Im sad that I ran out of salad fixins! Very good and totally takes care of that craving I get for thier salad. Thank you!!
Great recipe and so easy to make! I read a previous post we can buy the dressing at Olive Garden, but it is probably very expensive. I will have to check next time I get to an Olive Garden.
I work at olive garden and i love it!!! I have been there for three years. The dressing is 6 dollors at bottle. It comes in a glass bottle. I have two old bottles that i have used up so i put my homemade og (olive garden) dressing in those after i make it. You might want to buy a bottle just to save it and put your homemade into later.
Hi Linda!! Thank you so much for taking the time to let me know! I really appreciate it!! So happy this turned out good for ya!
This is my new favorite dressing! I have made it twice already in just three days!
My husband will only eat salad and dressing from olive garden! i cant wait for him to try this! <3 thanks for sharing!
I just made this with a brand new Good Seasons cruet, followed the directions exactly and my cruet is nearly full – looks just like the picture.
And even better – tastes sooooo good!! I am serving it at a party tomorrow and I anticipate lots of compliments on this!
Thank you!!
No thank you for taking the time to figure out my new favorite dressing to make. I just blogged about it and gave a big thank you to you. check it out when you have time. http://www.questfordelish.blogspot.com
Hi Andrea!! Woo hoo!! So happy to hear you loved this one! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how it turned out for you!!
I made this dressing tonight and I LOVED it. thanks for sharing.