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Poppy Seed Dressing

This poppy seed dressing recipe offers bright lemon poppy seed flavor. It's lightly creamy, balanced and easy to make with basic ingredients.

Posted by Kathryne Taylor on July 8, 2025

2 Reviews

5CommentsJump to recipe

Let’s hear it for poppy seed dressing! This lightly creamy, lemony dressing is irresistible with tender lettuces and fresh fruit. The poppy seeds add a light crunch and nutty flavor that make your salads memorable.

This recipe is easy to mix together with quality ingredients, and beats store-bought dressing by a mile. It features poppy seeds, of course, as well as fresh lemon juice and zest. It’s sweetened with honey, which offers more flavor than plain sugar. Dijon mustard and a clove of garlic keep it interesting, and mayonnaise or Greek yogurt make it lightly creamy (your choice—mayonnaise offers a more luxurious texture, while yogurt lends a lovely tang).

Some poppy seed dressing recipes are excessively sweet or creamy, but this one is not. It’s just right. Below, you’ll find the recipe and complementary flavors to help you build a great salad.

How to Serve Poppy Seed Dressing

Poppy seed dressing is a lightly creamy, zippy yet balanced dressing. The dressing is lovely with tender baby lettuces, fresh fruit, a scattering of toasted nuts, and creamy goat cheese or ripe avocado. It complements spring and summer fruits particularly well, including berries and stone fruits.

I composed the salad you see here with baby arugula, strawberries, diced avocado, thinly sliced radish, and toasted sunflower seeds.

Here’s a list of ingredients that play well with poppy seed dressing to help you improvise the perfect side salad:

• Apple
• Avocado
• Berries: Strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries
• Goat cheese
• Greens: Arugula, spinach, spring greens, baby lettuces like baby gem
• Nuts and seeds: Almonds, pistachios, sunflower seeds
• Radish
• Stone fruit: Peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, cherries

More Salad Dressings to Try

Once you start making your own salad dressings, you’ll never go back to store-bought. These dressings are similarly light and bright, with prominent citrus flavors.

• Cilantro Lime Dressing
• Creamy Tahini Dressing
• Fresh Mint Dressing
• Lemon Vinaigrette
• Sunshine Salad Dressing (honey-mustard with lemon)

Please let me know how your poppy dressing turns out in the comments! I’d love to hear about the salads you make with it.

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Poppy Seed Dressing

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Total Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 1 cup
• Diet: Vegetarian

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews

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This poppy seed dressing recipe offers a bright and lemony poppy seed flavor. It’s lightly creamy, perfectly balanced and easy to make with basic ingredients. Recipe yields 1 cup dressing.

Ingredients

• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• ⅓ cup lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
• ⅓ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
• 1 small clove of garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ teaspoon fine salt

Instructions

1. In a liquid measuring cup, combine all of the ingredients as listed. Whisk until the mixture is fully combined and creamy. 
2. Taste, and if it’s too tart for your liking, whisk in 1 to 2 tablespoons more oil. Use as desired. Leftover dressing will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 10 days. The olive oil tends to solidify in the refrigerator, which is normal. Let the dressing warm to room temperature for 5 minutes or microwave it for about 10 seconds before using. 

Notes

Change it up: You could make lime or orange-flavored poppy seed dressing by changing the citrus zest and juice accordingly.

Make it dairy free: Use mayonnaise, not yogurt.

Make it egg free: Use yogurt, not mayonnaise.

Make it vegan: Use vegan mayonnaise and maple syrup.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Salad dressing
• Method: Whisked
• Cuisine: N/A