This Creamy Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing has a kick from freshly cracked peppercorns that play against the savory parmesan cheese! It’s a quick, easy dressing that is wonderful on a green salad or with crunchy, cold vegetables as a dip!
We love homemade salad dressings because they always taste so much better than store-bought! Not only are they easy and quick to throw together, but they use fresh, real ingredients that I feel good about. Some of our other favorite salad dressing recipes are Olive Garden Salad Dressing, Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing, and Papaya Seed Dressing.
Sorry ranch and blue cheese, but there’s a new sherriff in town and its name is parmesan peppercorn dressing. Its cheesy, its savory, its spicy, and its my new favorite of all time. Im not even a huge salad person, but I will eat a salad any day of the week as long as I have some of this dressing on hand.
This stuff is amazing. It gives a surprising kick to any salad with a wonderfully deep, savory flavor from the nutty parmesan cheese. Be sure to use a brick of parmesan that you grate yourself on the small holes of a grater so that it mixes in with the dressing well. Freshly grated parmesan cheese has better flavor and mixes into the dressing better than the powdered stuff in a canister.
The base of the dressing is made with a combination of sour cream or greek yogurt mixed with mayo and white wine vinegar for more kick, plus a little buttermilk to thin it out.
If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, you can make an easy substitute by adding 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar to a ½ cup measuring cup, then filling the rest of the way with milk. Let this sit for 5 minutes, then use it in place of buttermilk in the recipe.
This is my favorite type of dressing to use on a salad made with leafy greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and croutons.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, grated Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and water until a creamy dressing forms. Taste and if you’d like a bolder pepper flavor, add more ground black pepper to taste. Store refrigerated up to 1 to 2 weeks.
How to make parmesan peppercorn dressing
Like most homemade dressing recipes, this one is incredibly simple to make. It takes five minutes, MAX, and that’s including the time it takes to grate the parmesan cheese by hand.
Start by roughly cracking the peppercorns. You could use ground black pepper, but with a dressing like this there is a noticeable difference in the quality of the ingredients you choose and whole peppercorns are a must in our book. See the recipe notes for how to use ground pepper if that’s all you have on hand though.
Throw the whole peppercorns in a heavy-duty zip tight bag and take out your aggression on them with a rolling pin or meat mallet. You just want them to be coarse ground so that you get little spicy bites of peppercorn throughout the dressing.
Add the cracked peppercorns with all of the rest of the ingredients, including the freshly grated parmesan cheese, in a medium bowl and whisk well to combine. I recommend starting with the smaller amount of buttermilk listed in the recipe, then adding more to thin it out to your liking.
Transfer to a small pitcher or jar and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so the flavors can combine. Serve over your favorite salad, a wedge salad, or with fresh, crispy veggie sticks. We made a salad with mixed greens, cucumber slices, tomato wedges, and crunchy croutons and used this dressing with it. For such a basic salad, the flavors were just out of this world.
What to serve with parmesan peppercorn dressing
A salad drizzled with this creamy, spicy dressing goes so well with a homemade pizza made with our favorite pizza dough recipe. Or serve it with homemade breadsticks on the side.
PRO TIP: Dip your breadsticks in the parmesan peppercorn dressing. It’s so good!
It is really reassuring also to give your family a freshly made salad dressing that you know exactly what goes into it.
Did you make this recipe?
Let me know what you thought with a comment and rating below. You can also take a picture and tag me on Instagram @houseofnasheats or share it on the Pinterest pin so I can see.
Homemade Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing on The Coastal Kitchen
FAQ
What is peppercorn dressing made of?
What are the ingredients in Ken’s Parmesan peppercorn dressing?
What is Parmesan vinaigrette made of?
How many calories are in Parmesan peppercorn dressing?
What is Parmesan peppercorn dressing?
Here are all our secrets. Parmesan peppercorn dressing is a creamy dressing made with Parmesan cheese and black pepper. There are several bottled versions from various brands on the market, but it’s easy to make at home. Even better, you can customize the spiciness of the pepper to taste when you make homemade.
Is Parmesan peppercorn dressing vegan?
This Parmesan peppercorn dressing is… Vegetarian and gluten-free. In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, Greek yogurt, grated Parmesan cheese, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and water until a creamy dressing forms. Taste and if you’d like a bolder pepper flavor, add more ground black pepper to taste.
How long does Parmesan peppercorn dressing last?
Parmesan Peppercorn Dressing is a zesty blend of savory Parmesan flavor and peppery heat that’s mellowed out with a creamy texture. And it takes just 5 minutes to make! Whisk together all ingredients to combine. Store in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days.
What to do with peppercorns?
It’s a quick, easy dressing that is wonderful on a green salad or with crunchy, cold vegetables as a dip! Roughly crack the peppercorns by placing in a heavy duty zip tight back, sealing, then hitting with a rolling pin (affiliate link) or meat mallet to break them up into coarse pieces.