This Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing is a hit in or house, even with the kids! Made with a tomato sauce, olive oil, and red wine vinegar base, this tangy dressing is flavored with garlic and onion powders, Italian seasoning, celery seed, paprika, a splash of sweetener, and sea salt! {Gluten-Free + Vegan}

Bright orange salad dressing in a glass jar next to a spinach salad on a white marble surface.

Friends, I have a confession. As a child, I could not bring myself to even try Catalina dressing. I didn’t like its color, assumed it would taste terrible (even though I loved salads), and never bothered to actually try it.

Then I did a little research on a favorite Taco John’s taco salad dressing from my childhood and discovered that, according to legend, it used…you guessed it…Catalina dressing. Well, hold me back, I’m heading to the kitchen to whirl up my own batch of Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing. Because if I unknowingly loved it then, would I love it now? Yes, yes I would.

So here we are. Several decades of flat-out ignorance undone, and now I add Catalina dressing to every single thing I can think of. Salads, of course, but also chicken, ground beef, and vegetables.

Oh, friends, if you have not tried Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing, please do. The ingredients are super-easy to find in stores. I did use tomato sauce instead of tomato paste because it was more readily available in my local stores. There IS a difference between the two. Typically, tomato sauce is spicier and tomato paste is milder. If anything, I like the tangy sauce flavor in this recipe. And if you love tangy flavors, then this is YOUR salad dressing.

Get after it, friends. No more boring meals that slump. Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing will see to it! And if you’re wondering how to make this deliciousness, let me ask you one question: Do you have a blender? Because if you do, then you’re in business to make your own dressing.

Yup. You’re just going to throw everything together in the blender, mix until smooth, and then dollop this goodness on pretty much anything you can find.

Bright orange salad dressing in a glass jar with a spoon next to a spinach salad on a gray napkin and white marble surface.

GLUTEN-FREE CATALINA DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

For the base: tomato sauce, olive oil, and red wine vinegar.
For the flavor: onion salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, celery seed, paprika, sweetener (I use agave nectar, but honey, stevia, or maple syrup would work), and sea salt.

If you’re curious about the difference between garlic and onion salts versus powders, then you might enjoy this article from SPICEography, Onion Salt Vs. Onion Powder: SPICEography Showdown!

Bright orange Catalina salad dressing in a glass jar next to a spinach salad on a gray napkin and white marble surface.

HOW TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE CATALINA DRESSING:

Add the ingredients to a high-speed blender in the order listed in the recipe card below. Blend on a MEDIUM to HIGH speed until combined.
Pour into an airtight container (I like mason jars).
Refrigerate for up to one week.

Bright orange salad dressing in a glass jar in front of a spinach salad on a white marble surface.

TACO SALAD DRESSING:

If you’d like to recreate a Taco John’s-inspired taco salad dressing, combine approximately equal parts Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing and Gluten-Free Enchilada Sauce. Both of these individual recipes are thicker than the Taco John’s recipe I remember from my childhood. But the flavor is SPOT ON. If you’d like to thin the mixture out, then add a little more olive oil and emulsify in the blender, if needed.

Drizzle the final product over tacos, burritos, or even these Spicy Quinoa-Stuffed Peppers.

There are other delicious taco-flavored and taco-inspired recipes on the blog, too! And if you want to put your eyes on them, then click through the recipes below! So. Freaking. Delicious.

Gluten-Free Catalina Dressing

Made with a tomato sauce, olive oil, and red wine vinegar base, this super-tangy dressing is flavored with garlic and onion powders, Italian seasoning, celery seed, paprika, a splash of sweetener, and sea salt! {Gluten-Free + Vegan}

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 1 1/2 cups 1x
Category: Salads and Dressings
Method: Blender
Diet: Gluten Free

Scale

Ingredients

8 ounces tomato sauce (or tomato paste for a milder flavor)
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons onion salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon paprika
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (see notes for details)
Few drops of sweetener (honey, agave nectar, or stevia will do)

Instructions

Add the ingredients to a high speed blender in the order listed. Blend on a MEDIUM to HIGH speed until smooth.
Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for up to one week.

Notes

For a milder flavor, you can use 1/4-1/3 cup red wine vinegar. If the dressing is too thick, add a little extra olive oil to thin it out.
Onion and garlic salts contain, as the name implies, added salt. Onion and garlic powders do not. While they are not the same, I confess I use them interchangeably in dips and sauces like this Catalina dressing recipe. If you use garlic and onion salts, you can likely reduce the amount of sea salt added to the dressing. To be sure, you can also start out with just 1/8 teaspoon sea salt and add more as desired.
We used tomato sauce in this recipe because it was available at stores while tomato paste was out. They are different flavors, and this dressing typically uses paste, which is milder.