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
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.
Poppy Seed Dressing
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
- In a liquid measuring cup, combine all of the ingredients as listed. Whisk until the mixture is fully combined and creamy.
- 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.
I think this might be the nicest dressing I have ever made. Delicious
Thank you, Jane! Delighted to hear it.
This is the best poppyseed dressing I have ever made. I made it dairy free by using mayonnaise and used maple syrup instead of honey but otherwise made it as written. I loved that it was creamy and only subtly sweet. I will be making it again.
This dressing is absolutely delicious
Hi Anik, that’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Absolutely delicious! I wasn’t sure about the mustard as I’m not usually a big fan of mustard IN salad dressings, but I persevered and what can I say, it worked perfectly! And isn’t particularly mustard-y? It just all blends together in a delightfully fresh way.
We had Greek yogurt and honey on hand, so we chose that path, but I’d also like to try it with maple syrup as also suggested. Am also looking forward to trying this with lime or orange!
This is one of, if not the best poppyseed dressings I’ve had (and certainly the best one I’ve made myself!). We paired it with a salad of arugula and butterhead lettuce with mango and strawberries. Perfect for summer!
Thank you!
Hi Sonya, I’m glad you enjoyed! The salad with mango and strawberries sounds delightful.
Thank you, your recipes are so delicious. I am truly enjoying sharing these meals with family and friends.
I had a fresh, just picked, cabbage
I used the poppy seed dressing and made cole slaw! It was so good!
Tonight we had garden salad and I served the dressing on the side! Again it was a hit. We all love this new recipe!
Hi Shari, so glad you are enjoying this recipe and find it so versatile.
Delicious salad dressing! I omitted the lemon zest, used mayo instead of Greek yogurt and maple syrup instead of honey. Next time I’ll try it with the Greek yogurt and honey and see which option I like better.
All recipes. 10/10. Thank you
Could I use sour cream instead of mayonaise ?
Hi Denise, I think the mayonnaise helps emulsify the dressing, and that sour cream won’t incorporate quite as smoothly. It would add a nice tang.