The 5-Ingredient Feta Dressing I’ve Been Making for Decades
I’ve been making this 5-ingredient creamy feta dressing for years to drizzle on everything from green salads to pasta salads. It takes just minutes to make.
Years before the baked feta pasta went viral on TikTok, and whipped feta dips were in everybody’s Instagram feeds, I was making my creamy dressing with feta that I still make today.
It all started in the late ‘80s, when fat-free foods were the rage and everybody was using processed, sugary, fat-free salad dressings. I was cooking in Health Food Store Deli and made salads and dressings every day. It seemed to me that it would be better to eat dressings made from real ingredients, not corn syrup. So, I started making dressings with purées of nuts, seeds, and cheese that were creamy and flavor-packed.
One that stuck with me is this super easy feta dressing. It’s just as good tossed with cooked grains and pasta salad as it is with a green salad. You can even use it as a tasty dip.
How To Make the Creamiest Dressing
A clove of garlic and a chunk of feta go in a food processor and are blended until completely smooth. It will start out as tiny bits of feta flying around, but as it gets processed it will start to bind to the blade. Scrape it down and add yogurt, lemon juice, and black pepper and process some more.
The best part about this recipe is using the processor to create a stable emulsion. Just turn on the machine and drizzle the oil slowly through the feed tube. Whipping it in with the blades spinning creates a stable dressing that won’t separate.
Choosing the Right Feta
If you are buying easy-to-find, American-made “Greek-style” cow’s milk feta, you’ll get one that is very firm and quite salty. That is totally fine. Buy a block, not crumbles, which are coated in an anti-caking agent. Use the rest of the block to crumble over the salad.
This is actually a great recipe for using inexpensive American feta because it gets puréed with yogurt, smoothing out the chunky texture. If you’ve got more options, authentic Greek sheep and goat feta are often creamier and tastier. I’m fond of Greek Mount Vikos and the French brand Valbreso.
All the Dressings
Blend the dressing:
Place the garlic and feta in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and process until smooth. Scrape down and process again. If using the parsley, add it now. Add the yogurt, lemon juice, and pepper and process, scraping down as needed, until everything is incorporated.
Add the olive oil:
With the machine running, drizzle the olive oil through the feed chute, creating a creamy emulsion. Taste and season with salt as needed and transfer to a pouring vessel or jar.
Store any leftover dressing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Shake well before using.
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