Healthy salad dressings

mhernan8585

Share your recipes!

lemurcat12

Low cal or healthy?

Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.

mhernan8585

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Low cal or healthy?

Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.

They all sound good thank you... all I have at home is the reg. Ranch... time to get creative.

cupcakesplz

I like fresh lemon juice or lime maybe some chilli too

oh_happy_day

I mostly olive oil (lemon infused is my fave) and balsamic. And some herbs if I'm getting fancy.

Olive oil, honey and red wine vinegar with some cumin is fantastic with roast vegie salads.

sheldonklein

mhernan8585 wrote: »

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Low cal or healthy?

Basic salad -- balsamic and olive oil. You don't need as much oil as in a traditional vinaigrette, experiment to see what works. I tend to use a tsp of olive oil and twice that of balsamic. Use good quality of both.

Low cal -- mustard (whatever you like, I like spicy) plus red wine vinegar, maybe add some garlic or pepper. Taste before you use and adjust as you think works with the salad.

Spicy -- this is mine for cucumber/tomato salads or anything Asian influenced -- sriracha, fish sauce, and soy, plus lime juice (fresh is best). Add cilantro, basil, or mint to the salad.

They all sound good thank you... all I have at home is the reg. Ranch... time to get creative.

Pro Tip: stay away from ranch or other creamy dressings and you save a lot of calories, because it takes much less olive oil to properly dress a salad than a creamy dressing. Even for oil based dressings, you can avoid a lot of sugar and salt by making your own. Read the ingredient label on a lot of packaged dressings and you'll see they are pretty much savory pancake syrup. (Note -I'm not demonizing sugar and salt, but IMHO they don't belong in a green salad).

krepanie

I make this Greek yogurt ranch dressing: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ellie-krieger/ranch-dressing-recipe.html. I really like it. I do add dill to the seasonings, and sub regular milk with lemon juice for the buttermilk. It tastes best if it has had time to sit and let the flavors blend before using. When I plugged in the ingredients on MFP it showed 24 calories per tablespoon (it made 16 tablespoons total). Hope that helps!

br3adman

Greek yogurt,paprika, splenda, teaspoon of mayo,salt pepper. Really good low calorie dressing. Also yogurt ceaser is good like 45 calories per 2 tablespoons

Greenmountainsgoddess

I use Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar (Bragg is best or Trader Joe's) with EVO and Oregano (dried or fresh). It really must be RAW and UNFILTERED. You can pre mix this and place in a bottle or use in a spray bottle. Apple cider vinegar is really good for you too!!!

elarian

I tend to just use a little lemon and salt. I focus on getting the salad to taste good in the first place (lots of peppers, cucumber, tomato, mint, cilantro, parsley etc). sometimes I'll crumble over an ounce of feta or blue cheese or some seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, hemp hearts). Calories add up there if you aren't careful to weight, though.

kshama2001

I use the Joy of Cooking's Ranch Dressing or Tzatziki sauce (yogurt/cucumber/herbs) recipes for a low fat and hence low cal salad dressing.

crystalewhite

Not a big dressing person, I actually like dry salad. But if I am going to have dressing, this is the one I make:

8.00 Tbsp Olive Oil
3.00 tsp (5 g), Dijon Originale - Traditional Dijon Mustard
4.00 tbsp (15 g), Red Wine Vinegar
2.00 tsp, Garlic - Raw
1.00 tbsp chopped, Shallots - Raw
Fresh ground black pepper

This makes about 7 two-tablespoon servings at 144 calories each.

DerekVTX

I just squeeze lemon juice on mine....leaves way more calories for the good stuff like steak or chicken

tjphelps73

Following...