The Best Type Of Olive Oil To Use For Caesar Salad Dressing

Caesar salad dressing has it all — salty parmesan, creamy egg yolks, umami anchovies, and aromatic garlic mixed with a dash of lemon juice or vinegar. However, it's the olive oil that brings all of these scrumptious elements together to create a luscious dressing that's thick enough to heartily coat a bed of crisp romaine leaves. We got the lowdown from expert Jasper J. Mirabile Jr., owner and chef at Jasper's Restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, on the best type of olive oil to use to make the ultimate Caesar salad dressing.

"I prefer a Tuscan olive oil because it's more peppery and has a little bit more depth than Sicilian or Apulian olive oil," explains chef Mirabile Jr. "The Tuscan oil has higher polyphenol content which enhances the peppery sensation."

Polyphenols are natural compounds found in olives, which lend olive oil a peppery bite and herbaceous, grassy character. The variety of olives used to make Tuscan olive oils — Frantoio and Leccino — are naturally rich in these polyphenols, imbuing them with an abundance of spicy, piquant flavor that can verge on bitter. This pronounced pepperiness is a sign of a high quality product.

Extra virgin olive oils have a particularly deep complexity because they're made by cold-pressing (rather than heat processing) olives which preserves those precious polyphenols. Emulsifying Tuscan olive oil into the base of egg yolks in a Caesar dressing gives it a peppy personality, which stands up to the savory notes in the anchovies, and the nutty aroma of the parmesan.

While other olive oils can be used in Caesar dressing too, their flavor isn't as assertive. For example, Apulian varieties have a sweeter and softer quality and Sicilian oils are known for being fruity and herby. Using a premium Tuscan olive oil (like this Fattoria Bini brand) that has an intense flavor means you can get away with using a smaller measure of dressing on your leaves. Moreover, the concentrated pungency and flavor of a bolder dressing can be used sparingly to gussy up anything from a Caesar-style pasta salad to a basic hoagie stuffed with deli meats.

An easy way to elevate the flavor of your Caesar salad is to make the dressing ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight. This simple hack allows the flavors of the individual ingredients to meld together, lending your dressing a balanced taste. Plus, it gives the pungent personality of a freshly minced clove of garlic the extra time it needs to mellow out and better complement the fruitiness of the high-powered olive oil and the heat of the dijon mustard. As Caesar salad dressing features binders, like egg and parmesan, it will likely remain emulsified and smooth until you're ready to toss it through your spears of romaine. However, if it does separate, simply give it a mix to encourage the ingredients to emulsify again into a yummy creamy dressing that will cling to your greens.