My Most Popular Recipe, 17 Ways (At Least) 🌱

A Green Goddess Deep Dive

Feb 26, 2025

When I made the Green Goddess Salad for the first time, I knew it was something special. The dressing is packed with mouthwatering herby flavors, lots of greens, and is vegan. It’s the best of all worlds.

I’m asked a lot how to adjust the recipe for dietary restrictions, so today I’m breaking down every component of the dressing and giving ingredient swaps to make it low FODMAP, nut-free, or work with your pantry ingredients. Go crazy with the flavor combos! When you land on your perfect recipe, tell me all about it.

Here’s what you’ll learn in today’s Green Goddess deep dive:

What each ingredient is used for in the original recipe
Ingredient swaps & substitutions to create different flavors and adjust for dietary restrictions
Six different Green Goddess recipes to get you started, with a variety of uses, textures, and flavor profiles
A printable ingredients substitution cheat sheet to keep on your fridge

Let’s dive in!

Ingredient Breakdown & Substitutions

Spinach - Spinach gives the dressing its bright green color, volume, and extra nutrients.
- Substitutions: Fresh kale is a great alternative that adds deep green color. Just remove the tough stems. Peas also add volume and creaminess with a neutral flavor.

Basil & Chives - Fresh herbs give the goddess body and flavor. The original Green Goddess is perfect for summer when basil bursts out of your fridge. When basil’s out of season, you can play around with different herbs to create new flavor profiles. The ideal ratio is 1:1 greens to herbs.
- Substitutions:
  - Dill + Chives + Parsley (aka Ranch)
  - Parsley + Cilantro
  - Cilantro + Jalapeno
Garlic - For the perfect garlicky bite.
- Substitutions:
  - Lower FODMAP: Garlic scapes, the green tops of scallions, chives, and garlic-infused oil will give you the garlicky flavor you want without using whole cloves.
  - Ran out of garlic? Use any of the above options or swap for 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.

Shallot - A slightly sweeter alium addition, and they're the perfect size to use the whole shallot.
- Substitutions:
  - Lower FODMAP: Use the green/light green parts of scallions or leeks. The white parts are higher in FODMAPs.
  - Other swaps: You can use 1/2 of any other type of onion (or a 1/4, depending on its size). Just be aware it might have a sharper bite!

Lemon Juice - For brightness and to balance out the creaminess without being too tart.
- Substitutions: I recommend sticking with lemon juice for the most part, but lime juice would be the closest swap—and would be great for using on tacos!
Cashews - Raw, unsalted cashews make the dressing creamy. They’re there for body rather than flavor.
- Substitutions: You can use walnuts, pistachios, or pine nuts for a similar texture (though cashews are typically most economical). To make it nut-free, swap for sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, avocado, drained and rinsed white beans, or silken tofu.

Nutritional Yeast - Nooch is my go-to pantry ingredient for adding vegan, cheesy flavor to recipes (it makes this tofu so crispy and flavorful, too). It has B vitamins, protein, and can help boost immunity, so it’s a great superfood.
- Substitutions: Nooch adds a unique umami which is hard to replicate. Freshly grated parmesan will get you closest, or you can add a small amount of white miso paste. (It’s also fine to leave out if you don’t have it!)

Olive Oil - I prefer olive oil in the goddess for its subtle flavor and antioxidants. (So much so that I worked with Kosterina to make a Green Goddess olive oil!)
- Substitutions: Play around with flavored olive oil if you have it (garlic-infused oil and bright herbs would be best). You can also swap for avocado oil.
Rice Vinegar - It’s slightly more sweet than white vinegar, but still gives an acidic bite.
- Substitutions: You can use whatever vinegar you have; apple cider vinegar or champagne vinegar would be the closest substitutes. If you prefer more acidic flavor profiles, white vinegar is fine! Use what you have.

My Top 5 Favorite Green Goddess Recipes

Playing around with the ratio of liquid to greens will result in a different goddess texture for many uses. Salads and pasta require a thinner texture to coat every ingredient evenly, while it’s better to make the dips and sauces thick so they hold up with what you serve them with.

Here are a few of my favorite Green Goddess recipes to inspire your cooking, with a few variations for each.

Green Goddess Salad

The OG recipe. This is the one I broke down above so you can mix and match ingredients to find a new variation you’ll love.

Variations:

The base of the original is super simple, with green cabbage, cucumbers, and chives. Make it heartier by adding chopped sugar snap peas, fava beans, or other green produce that’s in season near you.

Green Goddess Ranch

This recipe was the first time I tried playing with the herb combinations and it WORKED.

Variations:

I love to serve this with regular iceberg (keep it simple!), but you could use the original base with this dressing, use it as a dip with cut veggies, or toss blanched broccoli and cauliflower in. So good.

Green Goddess Pasta

Give your weeknight pasta an extra dose of nutrients.

Variations:

Mix and match the pasta shapes—think of this like a pesto pasta. The sauce works well with just about every shape.
Add lots of veggies! Blanched broccoli or broccolini, snap peas, chopped green beans are all great.

Green Goddess Chickpeas

If you make a Green Goddess Salad and end up with leftover dressing, toss chickpeas or blanched veggies in it. Perfect for stuffing a pita with for lunch and you don’t have to worry about it wilting.

Variations:

Follow this method for all the veggies you love. Cauliflower, broccoli, and other hearty veg are great. This would be great packed for lunch!

Green Goddess Grazing Board

When I’m hosting, I love to have a bowl of Green Goddess dip out for people to snack on while I finish cooking. Ideally, I use a mix of veggies so we have a rainbow of color.

Variations: