Poppy Seed Dressing (Creamy and Healthy!) | with video
Creamy poppy seed dressing made with yogurt instead of mayonnaise — you’ll love the flavor of this light and easy to make dressing!
My mom made a salad over the holidays with a poppy seed dressing that I just loved. The salad had lettuce, kale, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t remember. All I can remember was that it was good and it had poppy seed dressing. Oh! And the most delicious little candied sunflower seeds. So good. This poppyseed dressing would be fantastic for spinach salad as well.
Poppy seed dressing has always been one of my favorites so of course I asked her for her poppy seed dressing recipe and then I completely changed it because for some reason I can’t help myself!
I kept her original version on file and might just have to share that one in the future too, but I wanted to share this creamy version, a thicker, richer feeling dressing.
How to Make this Poppy Seed Dressing
The base of the dressing is Greek yogurt, one of my favorite ingredients. I love that you can eat it as is or make fun snacks or even use it as a marinade. I use it in countless recipes (proof: check out my Greek yogurt archives) and it always has a spot in my fridge.
For this dressing, it stands in for heavier ingredients such as mayonnaise or sour cream (although don’t get me wrong, those both have a place in my heart too!). The dressing is a nice blend of tangy and sweet — my mom’s recipe called for granulated sugar but I went with honey for a smooth and flavorful way to sweeten this dressing.
It’s a simple and straightforward dressing that goes great on salads with fruit toppings but could easily stand its own on a salad topped with vegetables too. (Psst: Come back Monday for a salad recipe that this creamy poppy seed dressing is perfect on!).
As a bonus, it’s likely you already have all the ingredients you need in your pantry and fridge.
Try this dressing on:
- Sweet Kale Salad – like the kind you can buy at Costco!
- Kale Quinoa Salad – with Walnuts and Cranberries
PS: Like my mom, I store my poppy seeds in the fridge so they don’t go rancid.
PPS: Per my calculations (see disclosures, folks!), you can eat two tablespoons of this creamy poppyseed dressing and only add 33 calories to your beautiful salad!
Love making homemade dressings? Try:
Poppy Seed Dressing (Healthy!)
Creamy poppy seed dressing made with yogurt instead of mayonnaise — you’ll love the flavor of this light and easy to make dressing!
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a jar, cover and shake well to combine. Use immediately or store covered in fridge.
Notes
Note: Shelf life in fridge will vary depending on the date on your Greek yogurt container.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 2 tablespoonsAmount Per Serving: Calories: 59Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 270mgCarbohydrates: 5gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 2g
RachelCooks.com sometimes provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as they are not calculated by a registered dietitian. Please consult a medical professional for any specific nutrition, diet, or allergy advice.
Husband’s take: No complaints from the peanut gallery.
Changes I would make: None are necessary.
Difficulty: So easy!
46 Comments on “Poppy Seed Dressing (Creamy and Healthy!) | with video”
This was really delicious but it made me fart nonstop! My wife says she won’t make it again, thanks to me.
Oh boy! That’s not ideal. Are you lactose intolerant?
I’m glad to find your recipe because this is exactly what I was looking for! But I don’t know why it came out very runny…? I doubled checked the amount of each ingredients and shook forever to mix them together. I ended up adding double the amount of Greek yogurt at the end. Did anyone else have the same problem?
It’s a thinner dressing, which I like because it coats everything well. What kind of greek yogurt did you use? Fat free is a little more watery.
Ok that might explain why it was very runny. I used 0% fat Greek yogurt. I could try using a different kind next time I sure loved the taste! Thank you!
You’re welcome! Glad you liked the taste!
I was looking for a sweet sauce for a sandwich and made this with apple cider vinegar instead of white, and had it on my chicken/bacon/lettuce/cheese sandwich–AMAZING!!! So, so good with the sweetness of the honey, and I love that it doesn’t have vegetable or soybean oil and corn syrup like so many store bought dressings do. Thank you!!!!
So glad you liked it! That sandwich sounds like a winner! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Hello. This recipe says it make 1/2 cup for 12 servings of 2 TBSP each serving. This would
Probably make 4 servings of 2 TBSP each. Would you please verify.
Thank you ,
Jan
You’re right, thanks for catching that, Janice! What I think happened was when we converted this recipe to our updated format, 1/2 cup turned into a 12. :) Thanks again for letting us know!
If you are looking for a good poppy seed dressing, keep looking, it isn’t here. Very disappointed.
Hmm….what didn’t you like about it?
Can you taste and smell the yoghurt in this recipe? My husband absolutely hates yoghurt and will not eat anything that smells or tastes like it!
Yes, I think you probably can, especially if you are looking for it. Maybe try sour cream instead?
Absolutely fantastic!!!, I made this last night as I was out of dressing. Absolutely the best I’ve ever had! Blew my socks off!!. You’re absolutely right no adjustments are needed. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! I’m so glad you liked it! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
AMAZING!! Seriously so good! I cannot have mayo due to a stomach disorder, and this is just what I needed. Thank you!
Awesome! I’m so glad you liked the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
I added orange zest and a little juice to spruce it up and holy moly it was delicious. Thanks for your recipes.
Oooh, delicious additions! Thanks for sharing and for taking the time to leave a comment!
I only have vanilla greek yogurt on hand. Do you think it would work?
That would drastically change the flavor of this dressing and make it overly sweet…vanilla yogurt won’t work for a salad dressing, sorry!
Was disappoint in the store bought brands so decided to make this one. L love it the only thing missing was the sodium in the nutritional value and for those on the DASH diet it is crucial information.
Hi Cathy! So glad you liked this recipe! We’re slooooowly making our way through all 1,000+ of our recipes and updating them with full nutritional info. Moving this one to the top of the list. Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
My friend mentioned how she loves poppyseed dressing and cucumbers as a snack and I wanted to try it. I googled the recipe and chose this one to try! I am hooked, this dressing is hands down the best. It’s super simple to make and it’s absolutely delicious. I highly recommend this recipe.
I’m so glad to hear you like this dressing, Mindy! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a comment and rating – means a lot to me!
This was delicious and I’m glad to have a creamy healthy delicious dressing. My 6 year old loves it too!
was the only difference between yours anand your mom’s recipe: Greek yogurt for mayo, and honey for white sugar? I’m curious to try both ways yo compare! thanks!
I wrote “I kept it on file” but your guess is as good as mine as to where that actually is! i do remember though that her recipe isn’t creamy. I think she uses vegetable oil instead of yogurt. :) And then sugar like you mentioned.
I am a ground pepper freak and added it. My wife loves your way and I like a little pepper. We’re all good.
Perfect, sounds like a win-win! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment!
I love the dressiing
please can you tell me how much water
I have to add???
This recipe doesn’t call for any water. Glad you like it!
your video shows water
Ha, it sure does! That must have slipped by me when I was reviewing it after my videographer sent it over. That should be the vinegar, not the water. Thanks for pointing that out!
Hi, thanks again for alerting me of this! I uploaded a corrected video. Sorry for the confusion!
Too salty for me!
Feel free to decrease the salt to make it right for you!
Really nice dressing! I used it in place of the processed dressing that came in a kale salad bag. Will definitely make this again and might try adding a little lemon juice next time.
Great idea! I get that salad all the time but have never thought to make this dressing to go with it ;) Genius!
I love poppy seed dressing, can’t wait to try this!
I love this idea! I bet it would work well with a dairy-free yogurt too!
I always love dressing that uses Greek yogurt in place of mayo. Yours is next on my list to try!
Me too! It’s such an easy swap! I hope you love this!
I bet it would taste good with cider vinegar, too
It definitely would!