This delightfully tart and creamy Poppyseed Dressing is the perfect match for your salads! Made with mayo, poppy seeds, vinegar, and Dijon mustard, it has a beautiful blend of restaurant-quality flavors and can be stirred together in seconds.

Side view of bottle of poppyseed dressing on counter next to small bowl of poppy seeds.

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Close up of bowl of spinach salad with berries and poppyseed dressing.

Making homemade poppy seed dressing is a great way to add a pop of tang and creaminess to your favorite salad recipes. It’s the classic choice for strawberry and spinach salads but is just as delicious on a cobb salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, and more.

The best part is you can throw a poppyseed salad dressing together in minutes. A simple mix of mayo, poppy seeds, rice vinegar, and Dijon mustard is whisked together, then ready to use! The finished result is deliciously creamy, subtly sweet, tangy, and rich.

Ingredients

Mayonnaise – Mayonnaise is used as the base of this poppyseed dressing recipe. It gives it a thick and creamy texture and rich flavor that tastes very comforting.
Milk – To help thin out the dressing without losing the rich consistency.
Sugar – The sweetness from the sugar balances the rest of the tart and rich flavors. If you don’t want to use granulated white sugar, use coconut sugar, cane sugar, maple syrup, or honey instead.
Poppy seeds – Poppy seeds don’t add much in terms of flavor here, but they do give the dressing some personality and crunch! Plus, the small black seeds speckled throughout the dressing make it look totally irresistible.
Rice wine vinegar – If you don’t have rice wine vinegar, use apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar instead. Regular white vinegar is too tart and acidic for this recipe.
Dijon mustard – Try not to replace this with regular yellow mustard. A fancy brown mustard is a much better option because of the depth of flavor.
Kosher salt

How to make it

Whisk all of the ingredients together until you have a smooth and creamy dressing.

Use it immediately on your favorite salad (I love it on this Strawberry Spinach Salad) or store it in the fridge for later. Enjoy!

Ways to use it

Homemade poppyseed dressing is famously paired with a spinach salad topped with strawberries, red onion, and slivered almonds. The tangy flavors balance the sweetness of the fruit so well, while the crunchy poppy seeds add another textural element.

But that’s not all it’s good for! Drizzle the dressing on more of your favorite summer or winter salads, pasta salads, or on coleslaw. It pairs well with all of these recipes:

Poppyseed dressing being drizzled on salad.

Variations

Dairy free dressing – Use your favorite dairy free milk instead of regular milk.
Egg free dressing – Instead of making the dressing with mayonnaise, slowly stream in olive oil while whisking the ingredients together. Vegan mayonnaise works well as a substitute, too.
Instead of mayonnaise – Make a lighter version of this dressing by swapping the mayo for Greek yogurt or sour cream.
Add tartness – By stirring finely diced or shredded shallots or red onion into the dressing.

How to make ahead & store

Store the poppyseed salad dressing in an airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I don’t recommend freezing the poppyseed dressing because the dairy becomes grainy after it thaws.

Side view of bottle of poppy seed dressing with cork next to it.

More homemade salad dressings

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Here’s the full recipe for the Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing.

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