My Hunt for the Costco Caesar Dressing Ingredients
Okay, so I got hooked on the Costco Caesar salad. Like, really hooked. That dressing is just something else, right? So, the other day, I got this idea, maybe I could try and make something similar at home, or at least figure out what makes it tick. Naturally, the first step was figuring out what’s actually in the Costco Caesar dressing.
My first move was obvious: head to Costco. I usually just grab the pre-made salad kit, the big one in the produce section. So, I grabbed one of those during my regular shopping trip. Mission number one: inspect the packaging.
Back home, I took out the components. You know, the lettuce, the croutons, the parmesan, and the most important part – those two little packets of dressing. I flipped one over, looking for the ingredient list. It’s usually there, right? In tiny print.
Finding the List
And yep, there it was. I had to squint a bit, but I found the ingredients printed right on the dressing packet itself. Sometimes it’s on the main bag label, but this time it was definitely on the smaller packet.
I started reading through it. It wasn’t super surprising, mostly the usual suspects for a Caesar dressing. Here’s kinda what I remember seeing, based on my read-through:
- Some kind of oil, looked like soybean or canola, maybe both. That’s pretty standard.
- Water, obviously.
- Egg yolk, which gives it that creamy texture.
- Parmesan cheese, definitely gotta have that.
- Garlic, another classic Caesar flavor.
- Vinegar, for the tanginess.
- Anchovy paste! Yep, saw that listed. Some people don’t like it, but I think it’s key for that authentic umami kick.
- Salt, spices, sugar, the usual flavor enhancers.
- Then there were a few things like xanthan gum, probably to keep it thick and stable.
Food Court vs. Kit?
I also wondered if the dressing they use in the food court Caesar salad is the exact same stuff. I didn’t specifically check that out this time, like asking the food court folks (doubt they’d list it easily anyway). But comparing the taste from memory, the dressing from the take-home kit feels pretty darn close, if not identical, to the food court version. The ingredient list I found on the kit packet seems like it would produce that taste.
So, yeah, that was my little investigation. I basically just bought the salad kit I normally get and took a minute to actually read the label on the dressing packet. No big secret, just had to look closely. Now I know roughly what goes into it. Will I try making my own? Maybe someday. For now, grabbing that kit is just too easy.
