We Tried 13 Trader Joe’s Bottled Salad Dressings And Ranked Them Worst To Best

Leafy greens may often be key to a good salad (except for those salads that don’t actually include any greens, of course), but when you really think about it, any good salad truly comes down to the dressing. This is the case for both greens-based salads and those that don’t contain any lettuce, like macaroni salad or potato salad — a good dressing makes or breaks the whole dish. And, while it’s always a good idea to whip up your own salad dressing whenever you can, sometimes store-bought bottled salad dressings are the most convenient way to go, especially when you’re buying a dressing from a store like Trader Joe’s.

If you do the bulk of your shopping at Trader Joe’s, then you’ve likely noticed that the popular store carries quite a few salad dressings, both in the refrigerated section and in the condiments aisle. I’ve purchased and sampled 13 of Trader Joe’s bottled dressings — ranging from variations of classic ranch, a take on the trendy Green Goddess dressing, vinaigrettes, Caesars, and even a hot honey mustard dressing — in search of the absolute best that TJ’s has to offer. 

When tasting and ranking these dressings (each of which I paired with romaine lettuce), I paid attention to which ones simply tasted the best, but more specifically, which ones lived up to their names. (Was the hot honey mustard dressing actually spicy? Was the vegan creamy dill dressing truly creamy?) I also ranked these dressings based on which ones had the most complexity, which ones had the best textures, and which ones perhaps offered a particularly delicious, stand-out flavor or ingredient.

There’s certainly no shortage of ranch dressing options in this world — you can make homemade ranch easily enough, of course, or you can step into just about any grocery store and find about 20 options lining the dressing aisle. As such, I feel very confident in saying that if Trader Joe’s organic ranch dressing is the ranch you opt for time and time again, you’re doing it wrong. There really aren’t a whole lot of bad dressings in TJ’s lineup, but when it comes to pinpointing the worst one, it’s definitely the organic ranch.

The first noticeably wrong thing about this dressing is the texture. It’s so absurdly thick and goopy, to the point where it doesn’t even seem like a dressing. The flavor is far too mayo-forward in my humble opinion, and any added herbs are completely subdued amidst all of that creamy, thick sauce. I also believe that any good ranch should have a nice tanginess to it, and alas, there was no tang to be found in this bottle. Paired with salad, this ranch just weighed the greens down (even hefty romaine leaves didn’t stand a chance here) and genuinely made me think that I’d be better off eating plain romaine than eating it with this ranch. So, yes, if there’s one Trader Joe’s dressing that’s best left on the shelf, it would be the organic ranch.

Before delving into the details about Trader Joe’s cilantro dressing, I should admit that cilantro has never been my favorite herb. I don’t dislike it in a tastes-like-soap kind of way, but in a lineup of other herbs like basil, dill, chives, and parsley, cilantro has always paled in comparison. I do, however, see the merit of garnishing a dish with cilantro or including it in guacamole, so I can appreciate the herb when it serves as an enhancer. When cilantro serves as the main (or more accurately, only) flavor profile of a dressing? I’m less of a fan.

Surely there must be some cilantro enthusiasts out there who absolutely love TJ’s cilantro dressing, but this one just didn’t quite do it for me. The biggest issue is that I wasn’t really picking up on any flavors besides the cilantro, so I longed for a little more balance. The dressing just tasted like pure cilantro through and through, and that flavor completely overwhelmed the romaine lettuce that I put the dressing on. Allegedly, this dressing is mayo-based with additions including Anaheim chiles and cotija cheese, but any flavors that these ingredients possibly had to offer were completely overrun by the cilantro. So, unfortunately, this dressing was just a bit too one-note in flavor for me to consider ranking it any higher.

It’s hard not to love a good balsamic vinaigrette, though in my experience, the bottled stuff just can’t live up to homemade versions. There’s such a simple deliciousness to a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and it’s precisely the fact that you only need two ingredients (vinegar and oil) to make a winning dressing. Bottled vinaigrettes tend to have a few more ingredients in the mix, like Trader Joe’s version, which features additions like canola oil, water, sugar, garlic powder, and xanthan gum. And, unfortunately, the resulting dressing is one that was a touch too watery and a touch too bland.

Don’t get me wrong, this dressing wasn’t bad, and as far as bottled vinaigrettes go, this isn’t a terrible option. I simply wish that the dressing wasn’t so watery, as it had a hard time clinging to the romaine lettuce that I paired it with. Flavor-wise, it also lacked that distinct bite that makes balsamic vinaigrette so alluringly delicious, and was maybe just a touch too sweet. Overall, you’d simply be better off enjoying a homemade (and incredibly easy to make) version of balsamic vinaigrette as opposed to reaching for this lackluster stuff.

Of all the dressings on this list, the one I was most looking forward to in terms of fresh flavor was the Green Goddess dressing. The ingredients list for this dressing boasts lots of green goodies, including avocado, green onions, chives, parsley, and basil, along with a handful of other flavor-enhancing ingredients like apple cider vinegar, yellow onion, and garlic. The potential was definitely there with this dressing, and there certainly were some nice fresh, savory, herb-forward flavors to be found. More than anything, however, this dressing just tasted incredibly bland.

The first ingredient listed on the dressing’s bottle is water, so perhaps that should have been a clue into just how watery and bland this dressing would taste (to be fair, many of the dressings on this list have water as the first ingredient or at least somewhere in the list). Wateriness aside, there definitely were some nice herby flavors at play here, and I particularly picked up notes of basil and chives. So I certainly saw the potential and did enjoy the flavors that I could pick up on in this green goddess dressing — I just wish they were a little stronger and a little less watered down.

I’ve always been a big fan of Caesar dressing, and for the most part, I’ve found that bottled iterations of the dressing are often pretty decent (but nothing can beat homemade, of course). Trader Joe’s Romano Caesar dressing definitely fits into that decent-but-doesn’t-beat-homemade territory, offering up creamy, savory, and somewhat funky flavors that just fell a bit short of being exceptional.

Though Caesar dressing very often contains Parmesan cheese, TJ’s version opts for Romano cheese, a swap that certainly worked here, but one I’m not too sure was necessary. Classic Caesar dressing also contains anchovies, and this version doesn’t specify anchovies in the ingredient list (though it does list fish), so I can’t necessarily vouch for that distinct, briny anchovy flavor being present. While this dressing did have some nice savory notes, it ultimately fell short of ever reaching that gold-standard, deeply rich and tangy flavor profile that one might expect from any good Caesar. This stuff was pretty good but not great, making it a good middle-ground option — but not one I’d see myself returning to.

Another day, another Trader Joe’s salad dressing that features Romano cheese. This time, it’s an Italian dressing instead of a Caesar one, and honestly, I found this Italian dressing quite similar to the slightly lower-ranked Romano Caesar dressing (likely because they feature the same type of cheese). The texture of this dressing was the first thing that struck me, mostly because it was slightly grainy (again, I blame the cheese). Once I got past that, however, I was able to appreciate a dressing that had some nice savory flavors to offer.

Any savory Romano cheese flavor aside, I also noted lots of creamy and distinctly tangy notes in this dressing. Unlike some other dressings on this list, which I found to be a little lackluster in flavor, I found this Italian dressing to be nicely full-bodied in terms of creaminess, savoriness, and cheesiness. There was also a slight sweetness to this dressing that was maybe a touch too apparent, hence why I’m only ranking it so high. 

Though I’m personally a big fan of both hot honey and mustard (and mustard-based dressings, for that matter), I have to acknowledge that these food items can be a bit polarizing. They become perhaps even more polarizing when you combine them into a dressing, as Trader Joe’s has with its hot honey mustard dressing. The name pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the dressing: It’s a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, and a little bit mustardy. 

These are winning flavor profiles in my book, and for the most part, I think TJ’s executed this dressing quite nicely. I especially appreciated the distinct bite of both cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes, which went a long way in providing more spice than one might expect. Ultimately, however, this dressing was quite sweet, more so than I think it reasonably needed to be, even with honey being a key ingredient. Paired with lettuce, this stuff did taste pretty good, but it’s not exactly the most versatile dressing out there (for example, you could use many of the other dressings on this list as meat marinades, but I’m not so sure how well that application would work with this hot honey mustard dressing).

While you pretty much know everything you need to know from the hot honey mustard dressing by the name alone, ones like this Goddess dressing aren’t quite so easy to decipher. A single taste of the dressing, however, and I was quite intrigued, with a strong tahini flavor shining through along with more subtle notes of garlic and herbs.

Another notable thing about this Goddess dressing is that it was quite thick, but not goopy like the organic ranch — just thick enough to really coat the lettuce that I put it on. The thickness, combined with strong earthy flavors from the sesame tahini and herbs, made for a rather delicious dressing that I’d imagine would also pair well with non-lettuce veggies like carrots or broccoli. If I could tweak one thing about the dressing, I would actually add a touch of sweetness; just something to help contrast against those strong and rich tahini flavors. 

It’s not always easy for a food item to be both vegan and creamy, but against all odds, Trader Joe’s vegan creamy dill dressing manages to pull it off. As expected based on the name alone, this dressing highlights dill as its main flavor profile, but unlike another herb-based dressing that attempted to do the same thing (ahem, cilantro dressing), this one was much more successful all around.

For starters, though fresh dill was the most notable flavor profile in this dressing, it was nuanced enough not to completely overwhelm your palate the second you take a bite. Also, those bright herbaceous flavors were backed up with a considerable amount of creaminess, along with some garlicky goodness and a touch of tanginess from lemon juice. For a vegan dressing, this stuff was incredibly rich and creamy, and though the texture was slightly grainy, it wasn’t anything that kept the dressing from tasting good. My only real complaint here is that this stuff is sort of like a simplified ranch — so while it is good, there are very similar, better options out there (like an actually good ranch, for example).

There’s nothing quite like dunking a crunchy spring or summer roll into a bowlful of peanut sauce, and if the peanut sauce in question happened to be Trader Joe’s Thai-style peanut dressing, then you’d be in luck. This stuff is an absolute delight, offering up a distinctly rich, peanut-forward flavor profile with nice notes of sesame, ginger, garlic, and onion on top of that.

Since I am a fan of sweeter dressings and peanut-based sauces in general, this peanut dressing was naturally a huge hit with me. I will acknowledge that it is quite sweet, and without a doubt, sweetness is the foremost flavor profile (aside from nuttiness). If I could change one thing about this dressing, I would give it a little kick of spice just to help break up that sweetness and create a little complexity (though you could easily accomplish this by stirring a little sriracha into the dressing). So, I couldn’t justify ranking this one any higher since I do wish the sweetness was tempered just a bit. That said, I can’t deny that this is an absolutely delicious dressing, and one that pairs well with salads, spring rolls, noodles, chicken, and much more.

Though I would never re-purchase Trader Joe’s organic ranch dressing, the buttermilk ranch dressing is an entirely different story — in fact, this is the type of dressing I want stocked in my fridge at all times. Perfectly creamy, rich, herby, and tangy, this buttermilk ranch dressing proves that Trader Joe’s knows how to do ranch; you just have to know which bottle is worth reaching for.

Something I particularly appreciated about this ranch is that it reminds me a lot of a homemade version of ranch that I often make, meaning that it has a distinct freshness that one wouldn’t necessarily expect from bottled stuff. This ranch is very sour cream and buttermilk forward, so it does have a distinct tang and a slightly runnier texture than some ranches out there (both pros in my book). Paired with crisp romaine lettuce, this ranch hit the spot with each and every bite, with those creamy notes shining through along with strong hits of dill, garlic, and parsley.

Admittedly, I didn’t expect much from Trader Joe’s vegan Caesar dressing before sampling it. After all, how tasty could a vegan version of a dressing where anchovies and Parmesan cheese are so crucial possibly be? As it turns out, quite tasty, as this dressing managed to pack all of that rich, tangy, umami-filled goodness that classic Caesar does, but with absolutely no animal products.

Interestingly enough, tofu is a key ingredient to achieving that Caesar-like texture, while inclusions like lemon juice, miso, Dijon, and capers help add that distinct tanginess, brininess, and bite. Overall, though I can’t say this dressing tasted exactly like actual Caesar dressing, it was delicious nonetheless, and it at least captured the most important flavor notes pretty well. Plus, unlike the other Caesar dressing on this list, I didn’t find this one to be lacking in bold flavors at all, making it an easy choice for the second-place spot in this ranking.

If you were to combine the best elements of Trader Joe’s goddess dressing with its Thai-style peanut dressing, you might have something somewhat similar to this organic toasted sesame dressing — which is to say that you’d have something absolutely delicious. Indeed, this dressing is pure goodness bottled up, with strong, rich, nutty flavors shining through along with hints of saltiness, tanginess, and umami.

While certain dressings on this list struggled with striking a sweetness balance, this toasted sesame dressing has sweetness down to a science. There definitely is some sugar at play in this dressing, but it doesn’t distract from the toasted sesame flavor, nor does it overpower the dressing as a whole. The sweetness simply lends a hand, offering a slight contrast to an otherwise incredibly rich and more savory-leaning dressing. There’s just such an impeccably delicious nuttiness to this dressing, though it also somehow manages to taste slightly creamy and even a bit tangy. This stuff tasted absolutely delicious on romaine lettuce, but I’d imagine that it’d pair well with a whole slew of veggies or work well as a marinade for chicken. Between tasting so good and being so versatile, it’s no wonder the organic toasted sesame dressing managed to nab the number one spot.

When ranking Trader Joe’s bottled salad dressings, I paid closest attention to not only how good a given dressing tasted, but how strongly that flavor shone through. There were certain dressings on this list that tasted good — like the Green Goddess dressing or the Romano Caesar dressing, for example — but were a bit too subdued or straight-up watered down. Other dressings, like the cilantro one, weren’t inherently bad, but they were just too strong and overpowering, hence a relatively low ranking.

Balance of flavor was another important factor. Certain dressings had intriguing flavors but just couldn’t quite nail the balance, like the Thai-style peanut dressing that could have easily taken the number one spot had the sweetness been a little tamer. Those like the buttermilk ranch, vegan Caesar, and toasted sesame dressings all had a nice balance of flavor, hence their high rankings.

Finally, the texture of the dressings played a small role in the ranking, mostly when a dressing had a particularly bad texture (like the organic ranch). I also noted those dressings that were more versatile, though I didn’t necessarily give any dressing more or less credit for it (but it’s nice to know that your bottle of salad dressing might be stretched to serve a few purposes in the kitchen).