This creamy roasted garlic dressing uses just 5 ingredients, is easy to prepare, naturally vegan, and made with all-natural, wholesome ingredients. With a combination of naturally sweet and flavorful caramelized roasted garlic with zingy ginger, sweet honey (vegan optional!), and heart-healthy olive oil – you’ll want to add this creamy garlic dressing to everything!

I relied almost exclusively on a simple olive oil vinaigrette as my go-to salad dressing for the longest time. And while I still think that’s great, over the last few years of experimenting with options like Asian salad dressing, ginger salad dressing, or homemade honey mustard dressing, I’ve really come around to the idea of experimenting, like this creamy roasted garlic dressing!

Unlike store-bought salad dressings, homemade versions often take just minutes to prepare, allow you to take 100% control of the ingredients (so no preservatives and stabilizers), and can easily be tweaked. Even better, you can make exactly how much you need so you can try new options without the risk of waste and don’t end up with tons of bottles of half-empty dressings hiding away in the back of your fridge, destined to go down the sink.

If you’re a garlic lover, then this creamy garlic lemon dressing with ginger and honey (vegan option included below) is going to become your new favorite! The combination of mellow-sweet roasted garlic with fresh lemon, zingy ginger, rich extra-virgin olive oil, and just a touch of sweetness is moreish to the extreme! Use it over salads, in wraps, with pizza, and more!

And if you’re looking for other recipes that help garlic shine, you might also enjoy this Lebanese garlic sauce (toum), garlic confit, or simple pickled garlic (2 ways)!

The Ingredients

This creamy garlic dressing requires just 5 cupboard friendly ingredients, including:

• Roasted garlic: I nearly always have roasted garlic in my fridge or freezer. However, you can also make it fresh for this creamy garlic salad dressing (method below).
• Lemon: use fresh lemon juice for the best flavor. You could also add some lemon zest. Alternatively, lime juice, white wine vinegar, or apple cider vinegar could work in this garlic ginger dressing.
• Liquid sweetener: I use honey, but you could use dandelion honey or maple syrup for a vegan option.
• Ginger: you can use fresh ginger or ginger paste. Adjust the amount to taste.
• Olive oil: it’s best to use high-quality extra-virgin olive oil.
• Salt & Pepper: season to taste.

Want to learn more ways to deal with garlic? You might enjoy these how-tos for how to peel garlic easily, how to make garlic paste, and how to make garlic powder and garlic flakes!

Optional Add-ins and Variations

• Red pepper flakes: add a pinch of chili flakes to the roasted garlic salad dressing for some heat.
• Dijon mustard: when making this recipe, I allowed my Instagram followers to vote for certain ingredients to be added/omitted, and mustard was JUST edged out. However, feel free to add a little Dijon mustard for extra zing.

You could also omit the ginger and use Dijon mustard instead if you aren’t a ginger fan!

• Sesame oil: you could substitute the olive oil for sesame oil for extra flavor.
• Mayonnaise: add a couple of spoons of mayonnaise (regular or vegan) to the creamy lemon garlic dressing for extra rich creaminess.
• Milk/Vegetable broth: if you want to make a thinner roasted garlic vinaigrette, then adding either water, milk, or vegetable broth work best. Simply add a splash at a time, stirring/blending in between, until you reach your desired consistency.

How to Make Creamy Roasted Garlic Dressing?

If you don’t already have roasted garlic, first start by roasting the garlic (refer to this post for all my top tips and tricks on making roasted garlic cloves or whole garlic head).

To roast a whole garlic head, slice the top off the garlic head and lightly drizzle with olive oil, then wrap in foil or parchment paper to create a parcel. Then roast in the oven for 30 minutes at 400ºF/200ºC, or until golden and super tender. For a darker color/more caramelized top, unwrap the parcel in the last 5 minutes.

When cool enough to manage, simply squeeze all the roasted garlic into a small mixing bowl or jar (with a tight-fitting lid). Gently mash it if needed to break it down into a paste-like consistency.

Then grate the ginger directly into the container and add the lemon juice, olive oil, sweetener, and salt and pepper.

Mix well or close the jar’s lid and shake well to mix. Then taste and adjust any of the ingredients if needed, enjoy!

You could also use a small food processor/blender to blend all the ingredients if preferred. This will yield the smoothest results, which some may prefer.

How to Make Ahead and Store?

Make ahead: you can roast the garlic in advance and store it in the fridge for 3-5 days or the freezer for 3 months. I’m also a big fan of making the lemon-garlic salad dressing a day in advance. That way, it has time to sit and “marinate” in the fridge. Then, once all the flavors are melded… delicious!

Store: after mixing the dressing, you can store the creamy garlic salad dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.

How to Serve?

Obviously, this creamy garlic salad dressing tastes great to toss with salads (like a simple Caesar, this massaged kale salad, or rainbow vegetable salad). However, that’s not the only way you can enjoy this creamy garlic dressing. You could also:

• Add it to pasta salads – like this Caprese pasta salad.
• Use in grain bowls Buddha bowls – like this Avocado Salad Bowl or Mediterranean Buddha Bowl.
• As a dip for pizza.
• In place of mayo over bread for sandwiches, etc.
• Spread in pita sandwiches and options like gyros/souvlaki.
• In tacos – like birria tacos.
• Use with roasted/grilled veggies and even fries/sweet potato fries.

Let me know in the comments how you best enjoy this roasted garlic dressing.

FAQs

Recipe Tips and Notes

• Use high-quality olive oil: use extra virgin olive oil and ensure it’s good quality for the best flavor.
• For a thinner roasted garlic dressing: this is naturally thick, thanks to the roasted garlic puree base. If you want to thin it, add a little water, milk, or even low-sodium vegetable broth.
• Be careful not to burn the garlic: or it will become bitter and ruin the lemon garlic salad dressing.
• I recommend roasting garlic in bulk: you can store any leftovers for several days in the fridge and up to 3 months in the freezer! Add it to pasta, spread over garlic bread, use in soups, add to mashed potato. You won’t run out of uses!
• Allow it to “marinate”: while you can use the assembled garlic lemon dressing immediately, it tastes EVEN better after marinating for an hour in the fridge before serving!

More Delicious Garlicky Recipes

• Easy Garlic Lemon Pasta (Pasta al Limone)
• Çilbir (Turkish Poached Eggs with Garlic Yogurt)
• Homemade Roasted Garlic Butter
• Quick Cheesy Garlic Bread Recipe
• Fermented Garlic Honey
• Garlic and Chili Infused Honey (Spicy Honey Sauce)
• Homemade Garlic Naan Bread (Indian Flatbread)
• Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

If you try this creamy roasted garlic recipe, I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions below. Also, I’d appreciate a recipe card rating below, and tag me in your recipe recreations on Instagram @Alphafoodie!