Since 1982, Paul Newman’s salad dressings have been at the forefront of the dressing game. The actor’s friendly face has decorated bottles in my house since I was just a tot, and with an attached foundation that gives away 100% of the profit, it’s an easy choice to make at the store.
But which flavors are worth your money? Which should you leave on the shelf? Though Newman’s rocks almost 30 flavors in its catalogue, here are 10 of the most popular flavors, ranked.
Newman’s Own provided samples for this review. Prices and availability are subject to change.
Related: What’s the Best Ranch Dressing You Can Buy? I Tried 13 To Find Out
Methodology
Newman’s Own was kind enough to provide samples for this taste test. Let me rephrase: Newman’s Own was kind enough to provide multiple bottles for each of the nine dressings they sent me. Let me rephrase again: Newman’s Own sent me 63 bottles of dressing, loose, in two gigantic boxes. Shout out to the mail-person who schlepped those boxes up two flights of stairs to my door. If anybody wants a lifetime supply of Caesar dressing, holler at your boy.
Once I swam to the top of my salad dressing prison, I separated the flavors and began tasting. I took them raw, straight to the dome in spoonfuls. No lettuce in my way this time, baby. Here they are, ranked.
Related: I Tasted 9 ‘Healthy’ Salad Dressings and These Are the Best
Best: Family Recipe Italian Dressing
$3.93 from Walmart
Perhaps this is just nostalgia talking, but this is the Italian dressing I compare most Italian dressings to. It’s got it all the usual suspects like onion, garlic, and lemon juice, but there’s just a perfect consistency to it. Watch it cling to lettuce. Observe the way it brightens up grilled veggies. Rejoice as it soaks into pasta salad. It’s a killer and thriller, and you want it in your pantry.
2. Lemon Basil Vinaigrette
$3.93 from Walmart
Imagine the classic Italian dressing, but instead of heading right toward onion and garlic, this went left toward lemon and basil. Both dressings are similar, but this is brighter and milder. It’s a keeper.
For more fun taste tests, please sign up for our free newsletters.
3. Classic Oil & Vinegar
$3.93 from Walmart
I’d pop this on an Italian sub before I’d pop it onto some salad, but it’s my firm belief that you can’t go wrong with oil and vinegar. Of course this has more goodies in there too, like oregano and celery seeds, but this flavor burst should liven up anything it touches. Especially grilled bread.
Related: 11 Easy and Delicious Salad Dressings You Can Make at Home
4. Balsamic Vinaigrette
$3.93 from Walmart
I’m not sure what you could ever need out of a balsamic vinaigrette that can’t be achieved in a bottle of Newman’s Own. It’s tart, punchy, and just peppery enough to stand out amongst a salad full of flavor-stealers.
Related: I Tasted 9 ‘Healthy’ Salad Dressings and These Are the Best
Trending on Cheapism
5. Light Balsamic Vinaigrette
Available on Instacart
With 63% less fat and 5% fewer calories than Newman’s other balsamic, this should probably be higher than the original. But this is a flavor competition, not a healthy competition, and with less fat comes less bold flavors.
That said: Had I not tasted these back to back, I doubt I’d ever be able to peg this as a “light” dressing. It still tastes great.
6. Caesar Dressing
Available on Instacart
Hope you like parmesan cheese! I don’t. There are about 10 trillion little chunkers of parm floating around in this thing, and had that amount been chopped in half, this might have topped the balsamics. I vastly prefer a vinaigrette-style Caesar to a creamy one, so this is the ticket for me … I just wish there was less cheese.
7. Southwest Ranch Dressing
$3.94 from Walmart
New on the lineup is Southwest Ranch, which boasts far more of a flavor profile than the original. I can almost taste everything in a southwest salad in one glob of this dressing; black beans, tomato, tortilla, paprika, corn, and more. The gang’s all here.
Sign up for our newsletter
8. Creamy Caesar Dressing
$3.93 from Walmart
If the level of creaminess in this dressing were attached to a dial, I’d love to turn it down from a 9 out of 10 to about a 6. There are great Caesar flavors in here like anchovy and garlic, but they are a bit lost in a river of mayo.
9. Ranch Dressing
Available on Instacart
I’m constantly flapping my trap about ranch dressing, and there’s really one brand for me. Newman went real mild here, with barely any dill or onion to speak of, and because I accept no substitutes, I can’t really get behind this.
10. Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette
$3.93 from Walmart
Tooooooooooo sweet. This is like a breakfast pastry or something; candied walnuts and sweet fruit are all I can taste. I don’t want this on my salad, folks.
