Garlic Yogurt Salad Dressing

Garlic Yogurt Salad Dressing

The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 0 mins
Total: 5 mins
Servings: 4 servings

Garlic, lemon, and salt turn plain yogurt into a simple and delicious salad dressing. It has a nice, creamy consistency and a bright, tangy taste, perfect for dressing heartier salad greens, like romaine. It's also great on chopped vegetable salads or even served as a simple dip for crudités. It's tasty as is, but this dressing is also a great base from which to create other dressings.

It is best to use whole milk yogurt in this, as well as similar recipes. Yes, there is more fat in it, but it's also easier to find whole milk yogurt without stabilizers, artificial thickeners, and other things that aren't yogurt. That said, as long as it's unsweetened yogurt it will work, but non-fat yogurt will yield a more watery, less luscious dressing.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup yogurt

  • 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice

  • 1 to 2 cloves garlic

  • Dash of sea salt, to taste

  • Dash of black pepper, to taste, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Garlic Yogurt Salad Dressing ingredients

    The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

  2. Combine the yogurt and the lemon juice in a small bowl and whisk together until completely smooth. Alternatively, you can put them in a pint-sized jar with a lid and shake until smooth.

    yogurt and lemon juice in a small bowl

    The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

  3. Peel and mince the garlic, sprinkling a bit of salt on it as you do so to help the garlic from sticking to the knife.

    garlic on a cutting board, salt in a small bowl

    The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

  4. Add to the bowl or jar and whisk or shake to combine with the lemony yogurt.

    garlic added to the yogurt and the lemon juice mixture in a small bowl

    The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

  5. Add salt to taste; add pepper, if you like.

    salt and pepper added to the garlic, yogurt and lemon mixture, Garlic Yogurt Salad Dressing

    The Spruce / Tara Omidvar

  6. Serve immediately, or store in a jar in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

How to Store Garlic Yogurt Dressing

The dressing will store, covered and chilled, for several days. Note that if you plan on refrigerating it, you may want to pull back on how much garlic you add since its flavor will intensify as it sits.

Recipe Variations

  • Stir in some freshly chopped herbs such as mint, chervil, and dill, or a tiny bit of rosemary. Parsley is also an excellent addition.
  • Adding a bit of freshly ground cumin is particularly tasty, but so too is curry powder or garam masala. Experiment with your favorite spices by mixing in 1/4 teaspoon to start, tasting, and adding from there.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
21 Calories
0g Fat
3g Carbs
2g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 21
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 0g 1%
Saturated Fat 0g 1%
Cholesterol 2mg 1%
Sodium 59mg 3%
Total Carbohydrate 3g 1%
Dietary Fiber 0g 0%
Total Sugars 2g
Protein 2g
Vitamin C 1mg 5%
Calcium 55mg 4%
Iron 0mg 0%
Potassium 75mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)