By Martha Rose Shulman
- Total Time
- 15 minutes
- Rating
- 5(1,141)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Green Goddess is a California classic. It makes a great dip for crudités and a wonderful dressing for robust lettuces like romaine hearts, but it’s too thick and intense for delicate spring mixes. Although I’ve made the anchovies optional, I recommend them because they add depth to the flavor. If salt is an issue for you, leave them out.
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Ingredients
Yield:Makes a little more than 1½ cups
- 1cup parsley leaves
- 1cup packed watercress or spinach leaves, stemmed
- 2tablespoons tarragon leaves, rinsed
- 3tablespoons minced chives
- 1garlic clove, roughly chopped
- 2anchovy fillets, preferably salt-packed
- 3tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Champagne vinegar or sherry vinegar
- ½cup canola oil or grapeseed oil
- ½cup mayonnaise, preferably homemade (see note)
- Kosher salt
- freshly ground pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (1 servings)
1843 calories; 200 grams fat; 22 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 92 grams monounsaturated fat; 85 grams polyunsaturated fat; 12 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 1013 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
In a blender, combine the parsley, watercress or spinach, tarragon, chives, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, vinegar and canola or grapeseed oil. Blend until smooth, about two minutes. Add the mayonnaise, and blend again until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Tips
- To make your own mayonnaise, beat an egg yolk in a bowl. Wrap a damp dishtowel around the base of the bowl so that it will not move around on your work surface as you whisk. Drop by drop, whisk in ¼ cup of canola or grapeseed oil. When the mixture looks emulsified and stable, add another ¼ cup of oil (canola, grapeseed or olive oil) in a slow stream. Season to taste with salt and, if you wish, a drop of lemon juice.
- Advance preparation: This dressing will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator but tastes best when freshly made.
Ratings
5
out of 5
1,141
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Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Gene
People people! Stop whisking your mayo and get an immersion blender. Use a pyrex measuring cup, egg on the bottom, cover it in oil and blend from the bottom up. Boom, instant mayo, aioli, caesar dressing, vinaigrette... perfect emulsions every time.
KarenChicago
Just made this... I added 1/4 C fresh basil and 1 tablespoon fresh marjoram. It is swear words inducing in the very best way. Crisp romaine and sweet tomatoes will be very glad to have it. Thanks for this recipe, it's a winner! And yes, add the anchovies.
Regina
I use kalamata olives rather than anchovies (we are vegetarian) and has a great flavor. Use a variety of green things like basil, green onions, whatever is in the house....easy to change it up.
Morningside Heights
Don't leave out the anchovies. Melissa Clark uses buttermilk instead of mayonnaise. Maybe a mixture of the two would be nice.
Jane Eyrehead
Yes, half buttermilk and half mayo is delicious. Thanks.
Calvin Zone
We've always made it with avocado instead of spinach...delicious!
Try with roasted corn and tomatoes...
Substitute avocado for mayo?
Tom Henkenius
I love this dressing. Each time I change it up a bit.
Once, I didn't have anchovies so I added extra salt.... perfection.
While I made it once as recommended from another with 1/4 cup of basil I found it turned it into a basil dressing so now I just add 5 or 6 basil leaves.
Mary
Fabulous on an iceberg wedge with blackened salmon!
TriciaPDX
Use tarragon vinegar instead of some or all of the regular vinegar or lemon juice.
J Schmidt
Made this for Easter and it was delicious! Did not use the anchovies, used a blend of avocado oil and olive oil, green onion instead of chives, salt and pepper! Everyone loved it. Next time I will double. Had fresh tarragon but I would have used dry tarragon if I didn't have the fresh! It's a keeper!
Louise
Love this! I added a few leaves of basil as per previous reviewers suggestions, and only used about 2 tablespoons of oil and threw in a little greek yogurt as well. At the end I thought it was still a little too tangy (probably from my addition of the yogurt), so I put in some Stevia.
I used the 'light' mayo I already had. I think it would've probably tasted better with some homemade mayo, but I was trying to keep it as low calorie as possible. It was still fantastic!
Tim
Made it this weekend! couldn't find tarragon so we substituted dill and it was delicious! Can't wait to try some of the other suggestions.
Berrygrrl23
I LOVE this recipe as is! thank you! Also, to accommodate an egg allergy, we once made it with plain greek yogurt instead of mayo - the tanginess of the yogurt made up for the slightly less creamy texture without the mayo.
ceci zola
Fresh celery leaves in lieu of watercress. Serve as a veggie dip: celery sticks, carrots, and olives. Large toasted croutons on the side. Feast!
Abigail
Play around with the greens for a variety of flavors.Can use dried tarragon.I microplaned the garlic before putting in blender No need to add mayonnaise....can use the green goddess mix with oil and vinegar and put on saladsAlso on chicken salad or other...chickpeas even lentils without the mayo
A novice cook from Chicago
Excellent!
claraend
Amazing. Did half Mayo half Greek yogurt and subbed scallion tops for chives. Came out so good.
LCPowel
3 Tb Olive Oil
Alicia
Excellent! I followed the recipe except for a couple small changes. I substituted plain Greek yogurt for Mayo and added some basil and capers. It is beyond amazing, thank you for the recipe!
Sage
Not sure where I went wrong but this came out thick and the flavor profile was off (I made it with freshly homemade Mayo, my own recipe). Added a bunch more lemon juice, vinegar, and salt which fixed things.
Vicki
I have always preferred Green Goddess on co*cktail shrimp in place of co*cktail sauce. Really great combo for a party appetizer.
D
Delicious, I added 1/4 cup of buttermilk and 1/4 cup light mayo. Also added olive oil instead of canola and thyme and marjoram.
NDN
Yum! A great base recipe. I used what I had, half cilantro and half parsley, and a shallot because I can’t have garlic. Delish! Love riffing off of NYT Cooking recipes! It’s the best!
Ginger
This was way too tangy for me. After reviewing the ingredients, it totally makes sense. It's also not creamy enough. Maybe next time I'll add more herbs, leave out the vinegar, and add mayo or avocado.
Ajoh
I didn't love this, it was a little too fishy and mayonnaisey. Not bad, but not the ultra fresh, herbaceous salad dressing I was looking for.
Mo
Delicious! Love to take this to work as a dip with fresh veggies to snack on. I skip the tarragon (don’t care for it) and add a small splash of Worcestershire.
Allison
We felt there was a little something missing so added capers—they are the perfect secret ingredient!
Suz
So good!! Instead of watercress, I added total 2 cups of a mix of parsley, cilantro and mint. About 2-3 parts parsley, 2-3 parts cilantro, 1 part mint. Also omitted the anchovies
gp
I made this with fish sauce as a substitute for anchovy and was great.
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