Poppy Seed Dressing (Creamy and Healthy!)
Posted: 01/13/2017
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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!
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 Greek yogurt 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, yogurt 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 like 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. This poppyseed dressing would be fantastic for spinach salad as well. 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. If you are looking for more ways to use poppy seeds, try orange poppy seed cookies, lemon poppyseed pancakes, or lemon poppy seed bread.
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:
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
servings
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 distilled 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
- Makes 1/2 cup.
- Shelf life in fridge will vary depending on the date on your Greek yogurt container.
Nutrition Information
Serving: 2tablespoons, Calories: 59kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 4g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 1mg, Sodium: 270mg, Sugar: 5g
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Sara says
This is my go to recipe! Love it and SO much healthier without sacrificing taste.
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you like it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, it means a lot to me!
Chelsea says
Could I use avocado oil instead of olive? Or would the flavor be off? Thanks!
Rachel Gurk says
That will definitely work!
Lacey says
Terrific recipe! I added fresh squeezed lemon to make it a lemon poppyseed dressing. Better than the store bought! So good!
Rachel Gurk says
Love that twist! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Meg Domz says
Great dressing! Used it on a strawberry spinach salad for a party and it was a big hit. Many compliments
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Jaime Cadegan says
Can you revise for dairy sensitive people? I can’t eat yogurt except the one made with cashews. Thanks.
Rachel Gurk says
I would probably just use your favorite non-dairy yogurt, as long as it’s plain (not flavored).
courtney says
Is this White distilled vinegar used? Or white whine vinegar? Does it matter?
Rachel Gurk says
I use distilled vinegar, but either would work for this recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
I clarified it in the recipe, thanks for mentioning it.
Racha says
I used rice vinegar and it turned out amazing! A keeper. Thanks for the recipe
Rachel Gurk says
Glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Rachel says
I googled to try to find clean, sweet poppyseed dressing recipes and yours came up. :) I do have a question–could I use balsamic vinegar as that’s what I have on hand–instead of the white vinegar??
Rachel Gurk says
It will change the flavor quite a bit. I’d opt for apple cider vinegar or white wine instead, if you have one of those?
Cassandra says
The first time I made per recipe. And it was delicious! I got a little cocky and thought I could reduce calories with stevia. It was a mistake! The fake-sweetness of stevia was obvious. I think because it’s such a simple recipe with good ingredients it couldn’t be disguised. On my 3rd attempt I reduced honey slightly and added fresh puréed raspberries. It turned out to be pretty and tasty! Thank you for the recipe!
Rachel Gurk says
Oh I bet it was delicious with raspberries! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!
Wendi says
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! I like how I can make it less sweet than the dressing that comes with the Sweet Kale salad kit – thank you!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad you liked it, Wendi! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Lou Cohen says
This was really delicious but it made me fart nonstop! My wife says she won’t make it again, thanks to me.
Rachel Gurk says
Oh boy! That’s not ideal. Are you lactose intolerant?
Chie says
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?
Rachel Gurk says
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.
Chie says
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!
Rachel Gurk says
You’re welcome! Glad you liked the taste!
Annie says
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!!!!
Rachel Gurk says
So glad you liked it! That sandwich sounds like a winner! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Janice Marela says
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
Rachel Gurk says
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!
Darrell says
If you are looking for a good poppy seed dressing, keep looking, it isn’t here.
Very disappointed.
Rachel Gurk says
Hmm….what didn’t you like about it?
Andrea says
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!
Rachel Gurk says
Yes, I think you probably can, especially if you are looking for it. Maybe try sour cream instead?