Oak Lane Caesar Salad Dressing€0.75 for 250ml €3 per litre

This is very cheap. Unfortunately it tastes even cheaper than it actually is. While there is no sign of anchovies – something we would have thought was a prerequisite for a dressing of this nature – there was plenty of reconstituted dried egg which, we think, speaks volumes about this dressing. It is insipid and watery and, while describing it as vile may be a step too far, it is certainly a long way from the summery, salady flavours we were hoping for. It has a very sharp and lingering aftertaste and is the kind of dressing that would ruin a potentially lovely lunch. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, we could never describe it as good value for money.

Verdict: Pretty poor

Star rating:**

Tesco Light Choices Caesar €1.35 for 250ml €5.40 per litre

We’re going to try really hard to be nice about this product because it is, at least on the surface, better for you than the more traditional options. It contains 80 per cent less fat than a standard Tesco dressing, which is to its credit and a serving has 0 propoints (for WeightWatcher fans). There is a big but, however. It is sort of horrible. Apart from vinegar, we struggled to discern any Caesary flavours here. It is, initially, incredibly sharp tasting and once that fades away it is pretty tasteless and has a watery texture that is singularly unappealing. To be fair to Tesco, it does make a range of dressings that are a whole lot better than this one.

Verdict: Awful

Star rating:*

M&S Creamy Caesar Dressing €2.99 for 315ml €9.49 per litre

Okay, let’s deal with the elephant in the room first: the price. This is nearly four times dearer than the cheapest dressing we reviewed and is almost twice as expensive as the four-star product from Hellmann’s. Sometimes it is worth paying a high price, however, and we fear this might just be one of those occasions. It is, by any measure, excellent. It is creamy and fresh, and the ample amount of real Parmesan stirred into the mix lends it a complexity that is not to be found elsewhere. It has a gorgeous sweetness that is nicely offset by some distinctive lemony flavours. While it is salty, as something that contains anchovies should be, it is not excessively so, and we absolutely loved the garlicky kick.

Verdict: Dear but gorgeous

Star rating: *****

Hellmann’s Caesar Dressing €1.50 for 235ml €6.38 per litre

We approached this with a heavy heart as we figured that such a mass-produced product from a giant company like Hellmann’s would surely let us down. We were almost entirely wrong. This has a surprisingly natural and short ingredient list and comes with a freshness that we were not anticipating. It is flecked with herbs, and the ever-so-tiny pieces of onion in the mix retain a surprisingly decent crunch to them. It tastes very salty – which is, we think, to its credit – and is very moreish. It is not, by any means, the most high-end dressing we have ever tasted by is still perfectly pleasant..

Verdict:Surprisingly good

Star rating:****

Heinz Caesar Salad Dressing €1.50 for 220ml €6.81 per litre

This is a very odd product that left us ever so slightly conflicted. It lacks the freshness or the layered flavours of some of its rivals – we were unable to detect any Parmesan or anchovies in the mix, for example – but it still has an oddly familiar and comforting taste. We decided after deliberations that this was down to its salad cream connections which brought us right back to the 1970s when the only Caesar dressing any of us knew anything about was to be found in Latin text books. It is the second most expensive of the products we tried this week although it is, broadly speaking, the same price as its main rival from Hellmann’s.

Verdict: Familiar

Star rating:***