I know I’m all about grilling during the summers, but just important are the things served with your grilled food. To me, food in the summer is fresh and flavorful, especially the salads. But a less thought-out part of the meal is the dressing.

There are thousands of recipes for lemon poppyseed dressing out there, and many of the ones I’ve tried are quite good. But they often include lots of ingredients, lots of steps, and sometimes end up tasting like syrup. Jules loves poppyseed dressing, so I wanted to come up with a version I could make in less than 5 minutes that would still deliver the flavor. Indeed, you could make this in less than 2 minutes if you decided to forego toasting the poppy seeds.

Here’s what you need:
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp poppy seeds

First, toast the poppy seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently to prevent it from burning. Once toasted, add the poppy seeds to the sugar and mix together. The sugar grabs some of the aroma from the hot poppy seeds and gives you a more distinct poppyseed flavor. You can skip this whole toasting part when you’re in a hurry, but it does make a difference.

Wash and dry the lemon, then use a microplane to shave off about 1/4 tsp of zest. Add the zest to the sugar, then juice the lemon through a fine-mesh sieve to catch any seeds. Combine the sugar mix (with poppy seeds and lemon zest) in a bowl with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and vinegar. Whisk together until smooth. Donezo.

To me, this dressing is summer. Despite being mostly mayonnaise, the acid from the lemon and vinegar lighten it up and the toasted poppy seeds give it a nutty component that works perfectly with tender salad greens. It works especially well in salads with fruits and berries.

Print Recipe

5 Ingredient Lemon Poppyseed Dressing

There are thousands of recipes for lemon poppyseed dressing out there, and many of the ones I’ve tried are quite good. But they often include lots of ingredients, lots of steps, and sometimes end up tasting like syrup. This version only has 5 ingredients and takes only 5 minutes to put together.

Prep Time2 minutes mins

Cook Time3 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Mayonnaise
• 1/2 Cup White Sugar
• 1 Lemon
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp Poppy Seeds

Instructions

• Toast the poppy seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, tossing frequently to prevent burning.
• Add the toasted poppy seeds to the sugar and mix together together.
• Wash and dry the lemon, then use a microplane to shave off about 1/4 tsp of zest from the skin. Add this zest to the sugar and mix together again.
• Juice the lemon through a sieve to catch the seeds.
• Combine the sugar mix (with poppy seeds and lemon zest) in a bowl with the mayonnaise, lemon juice and vinegar. Whisk together until smooth.