Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

A cup of tea sitting on a table, with Salad and Poppy

This creamy sweet poppyseed dressing has had a regular home in our refrigerator for several years now. Sweet and slightly tangy, a dressing speckled with poppy seeds is a must-have staple for us.

Homemade Poppyseed Dressing

For years, I bought a store bought poppy seed dressing faithfully. I was brand loyal and swore by that dressing. A while back, I started switching to homemade versions of some of our favorite dressings and decided to see if I could duplicate a poppyseed salad dressing.

With a little tinkering, I came up with this poppyseed dressing recipe. My whole family agreed it was even better than the bottled version; it’s completely replaced the store bought stuff in our house.

Poppy Seed Dressing Recipe

Making creamy and sweet poppy seed dressing at home is as easy as can be. This recipe uses a base of mayonnaise and milk for its creamy base. White wine vinegar and a dash of dried mustard balance the sweetness from white sugar perfectly.

Of course, a couple of heaping spoonfuls of poppyseeds give the dressing its signature flavor and appearance. Okay, sure, you might end up with a few poppyseeds in your teeth but that’s half the fun. As easy as it is, there’s always something extra fancy feeling about a fruit filled salad drizzled with creamy poppyseed dressing.

It takes just a few minutes to whisk everything in this recipe together and the finished dressing keeps well in the fridge for about a week. I like to store this in a big mason jar so I can easily shake it up just before serving. Shaking helps recombine all the ingredients once they’ve settled in the fridge.

This is a pretty sweet dressing and a little goes a long way. I tend to use just a drizzle of it for a big salad.

Feel free to adjust the sugar and vinegar to taste. Less sugar and more white wine vinegar will create a tangier dressing and visa versa.

Poppyseed dressing is ideal for drizzling on top of green salads with fruit. I truly love this dressing on Strawberry Spinach Salad and Stonefruit Salad. It also works wonders on this Grape and Candied Walnut Salad.

When I have this dressing in the fridge I sometimes use it on Strawberry Chicken Salad as a substitute for the orange vinaigrette I usually put on it. We also enjoy our poppy seed dressing tossed with a simple green salad with apple slices and walnuts.

Salad Dressing Recipes

Can’t get enough homemade salad dressing? Me either. Once I learned how easy it is to make delicious dressings in my own kitchen, I almost stopped buying the bottled stuff completely.

For more tangy and vinegary salad dressings try The BEST Balsamic Vinaigrette and this Cucumber Salad with Spicy Tomato Vinaigrette. We also love this Homemade Italian Salad Dressing and this White Balsamic Vinaigrette.

For another spin on this poppy seed dressing recipe try Honey Mustard Poppyseed Salad Dressing. If creamy dressings are your jam, you’re sure to love my all time favorite Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing and this Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing, too.