A salad dressing is a sauce for salads, a condiment used on virtually all leafy salads. Dressings may also be used in preparing salads of beans (e.g., three bean salad), noodle or pasta salads and antipasti, and forms of potato salad. A dressing may even be made for fruit salads. Salad dressings can be drizzled over a salad, added and tossed with the ingredients, or offered "on the side". The functionality of some of these sauces has been extended, meaning they can be served as a dip (as with crudités or chicken wings).

In Western culture, there are two basic types of salad dressing:

In the United States, buttermilk-based ranch dressing is the most popular, with vinaigrettes and Caesar-style dressing following close behind.

Some salad dressings include: