Special Dressing Recipe
For all who have asked and any who may be interested, here is the recipe for the homemade version of Brockles Special Dressing:
Ingredients:
1 pint jar of real Mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)
4 Tbsp of drained sweet pickle relish
2 tsp of paprika
1 to 1.5 ounces of crumbled Blue Cheese
1 to 1.5 Tbsp of garlic powder (adjust as desired for taste)
- Spoon Mayo into a mixing bowl
- I put the relish in a fine mesh strainer and press with paper towel
- Add ingredients, each with a bit of stirring
- Hand mix to an even color and texture
- Put back into cleaned mayonnaise jar (or container of your choice)
- Keep refrigerated
We often double or triple the recipe, making two or three jars at a time. Let us hear from you if you make some. 
Thank you! Perfect time of the year for this wonderful gift.
I especially was surprised at the paprika–but love it!
Sharon
December 9, 2008 at 8:54 am
So the color was from paprika – never thought of that. I’m truly glad to have this as I have fond memories of Brockles Special Dressing from my youth.
Thanks
Clyde
December 9, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I never ate at Brockles, so never had the real thing although I grew up in Dallas. Tried one of theposted imitation recipes once and thought it very complex for a successful restaurant to mix. Looking forward to trying the real thing.
Can you share a word about the changes between this and the restaurant mix? No preservatives in this one maybe?
Thanks,
Bill
December 9, 2008 at 1:53 pm
The difference between this and the dressing sold at stores in the old days is primarily that the production version started with eggs, oil, vinegar, and salt, not mayonnaise per se. I suspect the original base was not exactly equivalent to mayo.
Jim
December 9, 2008 at 2:16 pm
While some say that paprika must be heated to release its flavors, the Special Dressing just does not taste the same without it. You will also find that after sitting overnight in the fridge it tastes even better. All of the cousins agree that the short cut recipe is very very close in taste to the original. Happy holidays everyone!
Chester Jr.
December 9, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Thanks for the recipe, my Dad’s gonna love it, I’m going to make him some for Christmas….maybe even sooner…..:)
Is there some reason why nobody’s making it full time in production?
David Neaves
December 10, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I returned from the store about an hour ago and made two batches. My two sons and I have just finished off the first jar with crackers. We’ll let the other jar age until tomorrow and serve it with salad. Thanks so much for sharing this with everyone. The Lord Bless You!
Sincerely, Rev. Bobby Andrews
Waco Texas
Bobby Andrews
December 10, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hoooray!!
We have been Brockles lovers for years. Just couldn’t find any. The Fort Worth Star Telegram food section ran a recipe a few weeks ago and . . .
Blah, uggg, yukkky. boo-hiss
Will try your recipe tomorrow – looks good. Thank you for a wonderful gift. We already have Cheese-its and buttermilk.
Merry Christmas blessings to you and yours. . .
Note from Jim: That Star Telegram story ran in the Recipe Swap Column on 11-26-08. I emailed Amy Culbertson and she will soon run another article with the “right” recipe from our website here. Thanks for the info.
Mike & Linda Brandon
December 10, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Get creative. When I was little, my mom Sophia Brockles Ellis, would put it on our spinach and cooked broccoli and it was great. . . It’s also a great sandwich spread and makes burgers taste like the old Keller’s #5.
Chester Jr.
December 10, 2008 at 8:53 pm
What a wonderful gift. Three generations of my family enjoyed the un-replaceable Brockles Dressing! We made salad dressing and of course ate it on crackers. I searched relentlessly on the internet and asked every one I knew from Texas to Oregon to check every time they went to a store to see if they had Brockles. Then I finally learned it was no longer available. I was so disappointed!!! But you bet as soon as I can get to the store I will be trying your recipe!! Much graditude to you and all Brockles family!!!
donna overbey
December 11, 2008 at 8:12 am
THANK YOU! What a wonderful Christmas gift to all of us that loved this product. I tried the ‘online’ version and just knew that Miracle Whip wasn’t the base as it was SO sweet…… so I added more smoked cheese and dill pickle relish but it still wasn’t the same. I never thought of blue cheese! Can’t wait to make a new batch.
Thanks Again & Merry Christmas!
Sherry
Sherry
December 11, 2008 at 11:13 am
Thank you so much for this recipe. It is like being young and in love all over again. Now, we can have a “date” and remember the days when we visited the restuarant.
Have a blessed Christmas.
Connie
Connie allen
December 11, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Reading all these comments is making me hungry. Can’t wait to come over and have some more. I trust there will be plenty at Christmas, yes?
BTW – when are some photos of the 1952 Brockles Restaurant menu going up? Hehe.
J. Richard Ellis, Jr.
December 12, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Thanks so much for saving me the trouble of making the Star telegram version, but now what to do with a $7.00 jar of Miricle Whip ??? A downtown hotel in FtWorth had a “pink” dressing on their salad bar for Thanksgiving that was delicious, but did not have quite the dash of Brockles.
Kay Chadwick
December 16, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I used to get a jar every Christmas from Andrew Arge Brockles III and looked so forward to that day. Now I know how he became so fat!
Merry Christmas to all!!
Armand
December 17, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Thank you so very much for the Recipe. I have been telling my wife about the great Brockles Dressing for years. I don’t think she ever believed me. So now she will learn a truism. Good food was found in Dallas.
Bruce Vincent
December 29, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I just wanted to post the fact that the family members were polled by Jim as to whether or not to GIVE THE RECIPE AWAY FREE. You might expect that there would be many family members who would want to keep the recipe a family secret. Quite the contrary is true. The fact is, the family WANTED to give the recipe out for free. We all hope you will make some and enjoy it! Happy New Year!
Mike Ellis
January 1, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Thank you so much for the recipe!!I have been looking for the Brockles Special Dressing for years! I am going to make some today..
Linda Gossett
January 16, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Like so many others, our family has been looking for this amazing product for years. Brockles was the “secret” ingredient in our Mother’s traditional potato salad that we always enjoyed during the holidays. We can hardly wait to revive the tradition with the great-grandchildren.
Michael
January 19, 2009 at 4:44 pm
YABBA DABBA DO! WHEN I WAS A KID, I WOULD SIT DOWN WITH A HALF HEAD OF ICEBERG LETTUCE, SOME BROCKLES, AND SOME RITZ CRACKERS AND JUST EAT EVERY CRUMB! THANKS FOR THE RECIPE. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR IT FOR YEARS!
LEE
January 28, 2009 at 1:24 pm
My mother made a small batch from the recipe you posted, and it was so good my youngest daughter thought it was the best thing she’d ever tasted. So… she made another batch. And today she made yet another… now we’re totally hooked (seems like I remember a similar addiction to the real thing back in the 60s).
My grandmother was a well-known businesswoman back in the 50’s, and she often took me to Brockles Restaurant when I was eight or ten. We’d always get one of those wonderful “salads” – as I recall, it was nothing more than a wedge of lettuce slathered with Brockles Special Dressing. But it was the stuff that dreams are made of!
I couldn’t possibly count the number of crackers I’ve had in my lifetime that were topped by BSD, and I’ve stocked up on crackers here since we found the recipe earlier this month. Thank you for sharing it!
(I still cannot believe there’s bleu cheese in it!)
Steve
January 29, 2009 at 9:54 pm
I am a 72 yr. old woman, who grew up eating Brockles Salad Dressing. My mother served her meat loaf with a wedge of lettuce & the dressing.
Today I was making meat loaf ( just like my mom’s) and was, suddenly, so hungry for the salad dressing — looked on the computer and behold!!
Enjoyed the blog so much — just like old times.
Thanks, for sharing, Ann White
Ann White
March 2, 2009 at 12:33 pm
I’m so glad to get your recipe. I was introduced to Brockles at the state fair. Samples were given out on saltines, & my family ate many jars after that.We especially loved it on ham sandwiches. I even named one of my earlier doll “Brockles”. Thank you.
Dianne Hooten Wilson
March 15, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Yes! I remember getting a free sample of Brockle’s on a cracker at the State Fair also – hadn’t thought of that in many years! BTW, the recipe is awesome!
Steve McAlister
March 15, 2009 at 5:19 pm
MADE MY FIRST BATCH OF DRESSING FROM YOUR RECIPE. IT CERTAINLY WILL NOT BE THE LAST. WHAT A TREAT AND A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE. DOES ANYONE RECALL A SOURCE FOR THE CRACKERS SERVED WITH THE DRESSING PLACED ON THE TABLES? ALSO i RECALL A BROCKLES JUST ACROSS INTERSTATE TWENTY IN CANTON TEXAS. I THINK IT WAS OPEN EVEN AFTER THE DALLAS LOCATION CLOSED. WAS THIS A FAMILY OWNED PLACE OR A FRANCHISE? THANKS AGAIN FOR THE RECIPE,
JERRY BRUCE
March 21, 2009 at 5:28 pm
so there isnt any smoked cheese in it? wow what a great and simple recipe. Im on my way to the store to make a few jars for me and my family….cant wait!!! thank you all so much for sharing it with everyone. As you see it brings back a lot of family memories. With gratitude and a growling tummy….im on my way to the store!!!!
suzette
March 25, 2009 at 9:58 am
WOW wow yea brockles family and thank you is not praise enough.
this is a real treat and boy o boy do we thank you for the recipe. like a couple of other folks, we bought more than one jar of mayo and the first one got eaten before the dressing got back in the bottle. learned a little n the first run. the more you can crumble up the blue cheese, the better it makes the dressing, but of course, letting the whole bottle sit for 30 days (it was difficult) the blue cheese permeated the whole bottle and we can not actually tell much difference from the original. we find it is best on wheat thins.
my first experience in that wonderful resturant was in 47 or 48 as a small boy, and my last was the week before they closed (took my wife of today) which i think was the late 60’s. good food, great owners that cared for their customers. Dallas truly lost a treasure.
Brockles dressing was a regular sunday night treat for my kids growing up and they stole all my dressing the first weekend after they raided the icebox…. it works for us.
Thank you Brockles family for sharing.
john nall jr
April 4, 2009 at 7:50 am
My father would bring home a jar of Brockles Special Dressing as a treat for our family. We loved it on sandwiches, burgers and anything else us kids could get away with putting it on.
I have looked for it in the stores for years.
I had seen the recipes with smoked cheese, but I remembered BSD had blue cheese in it.
I am about to make a batch. The ham sandwiches after Easter will be special in our house.
thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
Jim Temple
April 9, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Jerry,
The Brockles Jr. Restaurant was opened and operated by my dad, Chester Sr., my mom, Sophia, and brother Billy on Interstate 20 just outside of Canton TX during the 70’s. It was sold when Dad and Mom retired to Cedar Creek Lake sometime around 1978.
Chet
April 10, 2009 at 7:51 am
So very glad I found this site! BSD was a favorite of my family’s for years. I have made my first batch and have already foud some tweaks to make it more original. I will post when I get more refined. Thanks so very much to the Brockles family
Fred`
May 14, 2009 at 10:21 am
Thanks for sharing the recipe for this wonderful dressing. For years it was the basis for my potato salad recipe.
Mix Brockles’ half and half with Miracle Whip, a small spoonful of French’s mustard, more sweet pickle relish, plenty of chopped onions, chopped hard-boiled eggs, black pepper, and Lawry’s seasoning salt (original). Sprinkle the top with paprika and garnish with more boiled eggs.
Now I can make potato salad just like I used to do it. My daughter made my day when she told me of finding your site.
Thanks again.
Marva Sansing
Marva
May 21, 2009 at 5:32 pm
We learned to love Brockles dressing from Lesters Hickory Inn in Wichita Falls. The recipe tastes great but seems to be thicker than we remember. Suggestions? My wife suggests yogurt?
bob rey
June 3, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Bob Rey,
The thickness is pretty close to the original, but if you want to thin it, I would use a little buttermilk. My Mom thinned it that way on occasion.
Jim
June 4, 2009 at 5:44 am
My Mom and Dad served the Special Dressing at our Restaurant in Brundidge, AL for years. Dad had it shipped in every week . Everyone loved it and wanted to buy some from us. This was in the 50’s and 60’s
Jim Bowden
June 19, 2009 at 3:13 pm
So glad I found this. It is so nice to find a recipe for something we recall from our past. What brought me here was a search to include Brockles Texas. Yes, I was lucky enough to work with one of the Brockles at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas ever so many years ago. Had a special lunch at their home of Chicken Tetrazinni with just a hint of ground cloves in it, and we’ve made ours that way ever since. I recall Chris saying something along the lines of “everything tastes better with lemon added.” Those Greeks so know how to cook and would never dream of cooking anything plain and blah.
MaeDean Smith
July 10, 2009 at 7:35 pm
i, too, am elated to find the “honest to gosh” recipe!
i have searched for years for more jars of the dressing. everyone who isn’t from the area thought i was crazy… i was obsessed with locating it.
i remember in my youth, we would vacation in galveston almost every year and brockle’s and crackers was the FIRST staple on the list! as a teenager i remember driving to garland from carrollton to stock up on the pint jars. that place on forest ln. was the last place i could find it.
and then… they were gone
thank you…thank you…thank you
i’m now on my way to the grocery store and will have my first batch tonight!!!!
lorrie smith
July 28, 2009 at 4:52 pm
We made Brockles Special Dressing and seem to enjoy it more every day. Did you ever consider the possibility it is addictive?
Wendell Smith
July 31, 2009 at 7:41 am
Thanks for the comment, Wendell. Yes, it seems quite addictive to us too. Perhaps the recipe should contain a warning to that effect. Ha! Best wishes.
Jim
July 31, 2009 at 8:04 am
At last after many years of wishing and looking MY DAUGHTER E-MAILED ME. I also enjoyed it in Wichita Falls at Lesters Steak House. Jane (Booher) Loveall
j.b.loveall
August 10, 2009 at 9:19 am
Thanks Jim, I will put it to use in an hour or so. Have made the the other cumbersome version and it reminded me of my childhood, but just did not take me back all the way. Am looking foward to trying this and making some for my dad (that was our thing saltines and BROCKLES at the table when he came home from work, I was 6 or 7 or so), My grandmother used to mail us some every few months and bring it on trips. The last batch I recall she brought seperated in flight, big “LETDOWN” and then it was gone, no where to be found. Have googled periodicaly for years and only found that cumbersome one. So today I was bored at my desk, hungry and BROCKLES came to mind, BAM you put it up 9 months ago. Wish I new sooner. Gotta go, heading to store for some mayo and make my dad happy, Just wishing my Gammaw could give a try.
Thanks again Jim and the Brockle family
Scot
S.w. Hays
August 28, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I will pass this recipe on to my brothers. We can remember as a children Brockles and crackers were a special treat. We had an uncle who would walk in the house and ask my mom: “Got any Brockles Betty?” Not only was he happy, but so were we when the Brockles and crackers came out to enjoy. Oh how I wish my Mom, Dad and Uncle were still alive so I could make them a batch! I will make some for my grandchildren and hook another generation on Brockles. Thanks so much to your family for the recipe.
Vicki
September 6, 2009 at 11:07 pm
There are some things you just never forget. Certain memories, aromas, & flavors that stay with you all your life, and Brockles Special Dressing is one that has stayed with me since my teenage years and I’m now 73 yrs. old. Thanks so much for being generous with the recipe, and God bless..
Gail
September 18, 2009 at 11:54 pm
What fun to find a website and picture of Brockles Restaurant! I was about 12 years old when I went to the restaurant and it was a very special treat. I attended Central Baptist Church at the corner of Ervay and St. Louis streets, there’s a freeway there now, and Brockles was close.
I’m anxious to try the dressing, thanks for posting recipe!
Great memories!
mickey
September 20, 2009 at 11:17 am
My Dad starting serving Brockles Special Dressing in our Restaurant Bowden’s Cafe in Brundidge, AL back in the late 50’s and until you went out of business. He would serve a wedge of lettuce with dressing on top. People all around South Alabama loved it and still ask for it today. I have made several quarts of it and love the taste, just like the old days.
Jim Bowden
Jim Bowden
September 20, 2009 at 12:01 pm
My daughter just made me another batch of this stuff, and I took a small container of it to a teller at our bank. She’s in her 70s and was so excited when I told her that we’d found the recipe that I felt that I had to take her some, although I saved most of it for myself! She also said that she’d seen an advertisement on television for Brockle’s a couple of weeks ago – I figure that it must have been one of those old ads that TVLand runs sometimes. Or she might have just imagined it!
The thing about the dressing that’s amazing is that it contains bleu cheese – I don’t like bleu cheese, and if you told me that it had that ingredient I would have thought you were kidding.
By the way, not only is it good on a wedge of lettuce, and on crackers (of course), but it’s excellent on hamburgers – my son figured out that one!
Steve McAlister
September 20, 2009 at 12:10 pm
Just made a batch of the dressing and it’s wonderful! We didn’t have a salad, just dressing and crackers. Brought back great memories.
Thanks for the recipe – it’s so simple.
mickey
September 23, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Chris and I are making it for the Cowboy’s game tonight. I hope it turns out half as yummy as it does at the pool parties!
Heather
September 28, 2009 at 3:13 pm
My stepfather lived downtown for many years, and Brockles Restaurant was among his favorites. When he married my mother, he introduced it to all of us. I tried to make the dressing once years ago, using catsup for the “red,” but of course it wasn’t the same. I came on to this site because I had just read of “cumback sauce,” something produced by a Greek restaurant in Memphis. I’m wondering if there is a similarity between it and Brockles dressing. Now that I have your recipe, I’ll go looking for cumback sauce! Thanks so much for the wonderful treat I’m about to have.
Julia Niebuhr Eulenberg
November 7, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I have one recipe that was printed in the Jackson, Mississippi, newpaper and is still available to read. I have not tried the Crescent City Grill Comeback Sauce recipe yet bacause I have not found cottonseed oil to purchase.
Here’s the link:
http://orig.clarionledger.com/news/0108/01/fjohn.html
MaeDean Smith
November 8, 2009 at 10:45 am