Our Favorite Bottled Salad Dressings to Up Our Vegetable Consumption in 2023

Nutty sesame dressing, herbaceous ranch, tangy vinaigrettes, and more.

salad dressings bottled
A bottled salad dressing for every occasion. | Design by Maggie Rossetti for Thrillist
A bottled salad dressing for every occasion. | Design by Maggie Rossetti for Thrillist

My new year’s resolution is to eat more leafy greens. I sneak in bok choy or wilted spinach occasionally, but I’d like to be the type of person to enjoy a nourishing salad with greater frequency in 2023. And what better way to do that than to top mountains of leafy greens with a delectable dressing that will keep me coming back over and over again?

I tapped my colleagues for their favorites and picked up some new dressings I’ve never tried before. These are the vinaigrettes and sauces we love with mixed greens, sturdier veggies like cabbage and cucumbers, and even in noodle salads and grain bowls. For once, I think I’ll be able to accomplish this resolution.

Although the green goddess salad from Baked by Melissa went viral on TikTok last year, we’re bringing this herbaceous dressing with us into the new year. Trader Joe’s version has simple ingredients, a punch of acid from lemon juice, and a chunky texture that we particularly love over hearty bases, like cabbage, avocado, and cucumbers. The one downside: without any preservatives, it doesn’t stay fresh very long, but it’s so delicious that the bottle is usually finished in a week anyway.

At Costco, this dressing is available as a whole jug—which you’ll definitely need if you’re a fan of sesame. Kewpie’s roasted sesame dressing has a deep nuttiness, a touch of sweetness, and just enough acid to keep everything balanced. It’s perfect tossed with your favorite lettuces or mixed greens to make a simple salad, or to use as a dip for chicken. Just be careful—the slippery texture tends to rush out of the bottle easily (but honestly, with this dressing, the more the merrier).

We love chili crisp on everything, and that includes in a vinaigrette atop a salad. This dressing has a base of aged black vinegar and is spruced up with Fly by Jing’s signature chili crisp, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Yes, you can have it on a salad but it’s also the ideal accompaniment to dumplings or drizzled over cold noodles.

It’s a bit of culinary wizardry to make a plant-based caesar dressing so creamy, but Primal Kitchen has achieved that. This keto-friendly and Whole30 approved dressing has all the caesar salad notes you love—garlic, lemon, and even a salinity reminiscent of anchovies—without eggs, dairy, fish, soy, or canola oil (it’s an avocado oil base). We love it for a traditional caesar but it also works as a great marinade for chicken.

Although it’s a vinaigrette, this dressing still has a creamy texture that envelops greens. It tastes like the dressings you’d find during a summer in Europe: tart with vinegar, garlic-forward, a kiss of mustard, and plenty of cracked black pepper. Have it with a salad base, over cold pasta, or in a grain bowl paired with kalamata olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes. It also happens to be free of sugar, gluten-free, and vegan.

If there’s anything more American than indulging in ranch dressing, it’s opting for a vegan version, enhanced with greenhouse-grown basil. This dairy-free ranch, created by indoor farming pioneer Gotham Greens, boasts all the familiar sensations—a buttermilk-esque creaminess, a bit of herbaceousness, and garlicky tang—but somehow feels lighter. It takes all that unwanted bitterness out of any leafy green, but like all ranch dressing, it’s even better as a dipping sauce.

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Kat Thompson is a senior staff writer of food & drink at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @katthompsonn.