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30 30 Minutes or Less 5I 5 ingredients or less

Poppy Seed Dressing (Creamy and Healthy!)

4.33
/5
5 mins
75 Comments
Jump to Recipe Video
By: Rachel GurkPosted: 01/13/2017Updated: 06/14/2021

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Creamy poppy seed dressing made with yogurt instead of mayonnaise -- you'll love the flavor of this light and easy to make dressing! Get the dressing recipe on RachelCooks.com!

Creamy poppy seed dressing made with yogurt instead of mayonnaise — you’ll love the flavor of this light and easy to make dressing! 

Front view of small glass jar with dressing, yellow spoon inserted, on decorative wooden board, with white bowl of arugula in. background.

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.

Front view of small glass jar with dressing and yellow spoon, with bowl of greens in background.

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.

Front close up of small glass jar containing dressing and yellow spoon.

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

Small glass jar with dressing, spoonful along side with dressing running onto wooden cutting board.

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:

 

  • Creamy Avocado Lime Dressing with Cumin
  • Sweet and Tangy Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
  • Fresh Raspberry Vinaigrette
  • Reduced Fat Ranch Dressing Recipe
  • Cilantro Lime Dressing
  • Honey Clementine Dressing
  • Maple Hot Bacon Dressing from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
  • Blue Cheese Dressing from A Family Feast
 

Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Front view of small glass jar containing poppy seed dressing and yellow spoon.
Recipe

Get the Recipe: Poppy Seed Dressing (Healthy!)

4.33 from 268 votes
Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
4 servings
Print Rate Recipe
Prevent your screen from going dark
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.

© Author: Rachel Gurk
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  1. Sara says

    July 14, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    5 stars
    This is my go to recipe! Love it and SO much healthier without sacrificing taste.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      July 15, 2021 at 10:22 am

      So glad you like it! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment, it means a lot to me!

      Reply
  2. Chelsea says

    July 7, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    Could I use avocado oil instead of olive? Or would the flavor be off? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      July 8, 2021 at 2:05 pm

      That will definitely work!

      Reply
  3. Lacey says

    June 6, 2021 at 3:14 pm

    Terrific recipe!  I added fresh squeezed lemon to make it a lemon poppyseed dressing.  Better than the store bought! So good! 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      June 6, 2021 at 5:35 pm

      Love that twist! Thanks for leaving a comment!

      Reply
  4. Meg Domz says

    May 23, 2021 at 11:11 am

    Great dressing! Used it on a strawberry spinach salad for a party and it was a big hit. Many compliments

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      May 23, 2021 at 8:33 pm

      So glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

      Reply
  5. Jaime Cadegan says

    March 15, 2021 at 3:43 pm

    Can you revise for dairy sensitive people? I can’t eat yogurt except the one made with cashews. Thanks.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 20, 2021 at 8:20 pm

      I would probably just use your favorite non-dairy yogurt, as long as it’s plain (not flavored).

      Reply
  6. courtney says

    March 5, 2021 at 3:09 pm

    Is this White distilled vinegar used? Or white whine vinegar? Does it matter?

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 9, 2021 at 9:03 pm

      I use distilled vinegar, but either would work for this recipe!

      Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      March 9, 2021 at 9:04 pm

      I clarified it in the recipe, thanks for mentioning it.

      Reply
    • Racha says

      October 3, 2021 at 11:33 pm

      5 stars
      I used rice vinegar and it turned out amazing! A keeper. Thanks for the recipe

      Reply
      • Rachel Gurk says

        October 6, 2021 at 6:37 am

        Glad you liked it! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

        Reply
  7. Rachel says

    February 5, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    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??

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      February 8, 2021 at 9:18 pm

      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?

      Reply
  8. Cassandra says

    January 7, 2021 at 2:28 pm

    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! 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 8, 2021 at 9:29 am

      Oh I bet it was delicious with raspberries! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment!

      Reply
  9. Wendi says

    November 25, 2020 at 7:29 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      November 26, 2020 at 8:14 am

      I’m so glad you liked it, Wendi! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!

      Reply
  10. Lou Cohen says

    September 4, 2020 at 8:22 pm

    This was really delicious but it made me fart nonstop! My wife says she won’t make it again, thanks to me.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      September 7, 2020 at 8:38 am

      Oh boy! That’s not ideal. Are you lactose intolerant?

      Reply
  11. Chie says

    July 27, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    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? 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      July 28, 2020 at 9:27 pm

      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.

      Reply
      • Chie says

        July 29, 2020 at 12:18 am

        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!

        Reply
        • Rachel Gurk says

          July 30, 2020 at 8:47 am

          You’re welcome! Glad you liked the taste!

          Reply
  12. Annie says

    June 4, 2020 at 12:55 pm

    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!!!!

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      June 6, 2020 at 1:41 pm

      So glad you liked it! That sandwich sounds like a winner! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!

      Reply
  13. Janice Marela says

    February 7, 2020 at 8:28 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      February 25, 2020 at 8:15 am

      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!

      Reply
  14. Darrell says

    January 20, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    If you are looking for a good poppy seed dressing, keep looking, it isn’t here.

    Very disappointed.

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 23, 2020 at 11:02 am

      Hmm….what didn’t you like about it?

      Reply
  15. Andrea says

    January 14, 2020 at 9:40 pm

    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! 

    Reply
    • Rachel Gurk says

      January 16, 2020 at 10:28 am

      Yes, I think you probably can, especially if you are looking for it. Maybe try sour cream instead?

      Reply
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