homemade salad dressings

Bintychops

I am starting to lose weight but love my dressings! Would like to make my own as i am sure they are better than bottled ones (when trying to lose weight!) Help please!! How much oil etc

polly1970

I make a lot of homemade creamy salad dressings using Greek yogurt as the base. It's versatile and high in protein. There are a lot of recipes online and some great ones on Pinterest. I've also made dressing with an avocado and olive oil in a food processor. Delicious!

Venus_Red

Have you ever tried Walden Farms? Zero calories.

abetterluke

withaflourish wrote: »

Have you ever tried Walden Farms? Zero calories.

Zero taste....

Edit: Zero taste is unfair...it has a taste. It's just not good.

devilwhiterose

I quit using oil. I take a little garlic red wine vinegar and add some McCormick salad seasoning.

pussingtonp

I love balsamic vinegar as a dressing - I just put it on, no oil or anything, but it might be a bit too "vinegary" for most people. I also tend not to dress salads if I use "wet" ingredients - for example putting goats cheese in a salad, or cut tomatoes, or pickled beets - I find the juice from these can help instead of dressings.

juggernaut1974

I'm generally not a big proponent of low-cal substitutions (in general I find they also lack flavor and satiety)

But I am a big fan of the OPA Greek Yogurt salad dressings (especially the blue cheese). I'm sure one could re-create them at home, though I can't say I've tried.

Venus_Red

abetterluke wrote: »

withaflourish wrote: »

Have you ever tried Walden Farms? Zero calories.

Zero taste....

Edit: Zero taste is unfair...it has a taste. It's just not good.

I like them. I couldn't make the leap to oil and vinegar because..eww. It satisfies my need for a creamy clinginess to the salad.

abetterluke

withaflourish wrote: »

abetterluke wrote: »

withaflourish wrote: »

Have you ever tried Walden Farms? Zero calories.

Zero taste....

Edit: Zero taste is unfair...it has a taste. It's just not good.

I like them. I couldn't make the leap to oil and vinegar because..eww. It satisfies my need for a creamy clinginess to the salad.

Ah see I like the oil based dressings. Especially just oil and lemon juice. Creamy dressing is nice sometimes but I don't really miss it if I don't have it.

lemurcat12

Bintychops wrote: »

I am starting to lose weight but love my dressings! Would like to make my own as i am sure they are better than bottled ones (when trying to lose weight!) Help please!! How much oil etc

The traditional vinaigrette ratio is 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar, but I find it works fine if you reverse that -- I started doing one to one and just experimented with reducing the oil and find a tablespoon of vinegar plus a teaspoon of olive oil will work. The trick is to have a really good vinegar. I do a basic balsamic that way and one with red wine vinegar. I also like just plain red wine vinegar and mustard, especially if I have olives in the salad.

I also do an Asian salad (usually based on cucumbers and tomatoes) with sriracha, lime, and soy.

Tzatziki sauce can make a good dressing too. Mix Greek yogurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil (only need a little), lemon juice, and dill.

marsinah1

I make a slightly lighter version of ranch dressing by swapping regular mayo for olive oil blended mayo. There's a whole board on MFP devoted to recipes that you might want to go search for ideas. You'll probably find quite a bit more there.

alt5057

I make vinaigrettes heavy on the vinegar. A recipe might call for 1 part vinegar, 2 parts oil...I reverse it. So the oil is just enough to give it the emulsification and the rest is vinegar. I like the bite it gives to salads.

rhtexasgal

I don't even make the vinaigrette anymore. I have a spritz bottle I fill with olive oil and spritz my salad with it. I know how many spritzes it takes to make one tablespoon. Then a splash or two of vinegar, some sprinkling of seasoning (McCormick's Bacon and Chive is GREAT!) and then a drizzle of honey. Toss together and then sprinkle a little cheese if my calorie allotment that day allows.

I play around with flavored oils and vinegars often to keep salad interesting. On occasion, I use unflavored Greek yogurt as a base for a creamy dressing as it is healthy and offers protein

justrollme

If you like dijon mustard, a really delicious and super quick dressing is equal parts freshly squeezed lemon juice and dijon mustard (I usually use around 20 grams/ 20 ml of each) with a gram or two of dried tarragon. Just whisk it together, it will stick, and if you want it even thicker, mix it with a small amount of smashed avocado. Yumyumyum.

callsitlikeiseeit

i dont desire to make the time to make my own dressing. i like the bolthouse farms ones though.

Liftng4Lis

I like OPA greek yogurt dressings 60 c per 2 tablespoons.

LovingLife_Erin

Not really a dressing but I love spinach with cut up slices of strawberries on it. They make it nice and sweet and adds another portion of fruit to my day.

Francl27

I use Dijon mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper. That's enough for me.

wkwebby

Lemon juice (instead of vinegar), with some salt and pepper is plain and nice on simpler fare. Otherwise, I will also do the vinegar and dijon mustard. No oil is needed unless you want some, but I find if you want to water the vinegar down a little bit, put some salt and some water into the dressing. Salt will cut the acidity and the water will literally water it down. No need for the oil (or all those extra added calories).

I bought the home made dressing containers (they have french dressing, italian dressing, and even an easy ceasar salad dressing recipes printed on the side of the container). I modify as necessary to cut the cals or change the taste. Homemade dressings are way better tasting (fresher in my opinion too).

Good luck!

wkwebby

Pampered Chef is the brand of container I use, but there are lots like it online.

southhamptonmike

3 parts evoo, 1 part vinegar of choice, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 3 cloves chrushed garlic, tsp italian spices.
shake well and pour. Needs no refigeration.

Bintychops

Evoo??

Bintychops

Thank you all so much!!

sherbear702

I love ranch dressing, but not from the bottle; yuck. If you buy hidden valley ranch in a packet (or bulk at Costco) you can use fat free milk and light mayonnaise and it comes out to 45 calls per tbsp. It's still very tasty

Linzon

Depending on the type of salad I like straight balsamic vinegar, yogurt mixed with seasonings and some lemon juice to make a 'ranch,' or salsa and yogurt for taco salad.

TinyTexn59

I make Vietnamese salad dressing. It is very low in calories and big in taste. Made with fish sauce, a bit of brown sugar, lime juice and water. It is high in sodium but I use such a small amount it isn't a problem with my drinking a gallon of water each day.

acpgee

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/19/ranch-dressing-recipe_n_3769342.html

Use the larger quantity of buttermilk and smaller quantity of mayo and sour cream in ranch dressing. Lower calorie than classic vinaigrette which typically is 1 part vinegar or lemon to 3-4 parts olive oil.

Another lower calorie dressing I like is 1 part balsamic vinegar, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part nut oil (hazelnut, walnut or sesame all work well).

Venus_Red

Bintychops wrote: »

Evoo??

Extra virgin olive oil

abetterluke

withaflourish wrote: »

Bintychops wrote: »

Evoo??

Extra virgin olive oil

or Elves vomiting on orangutans

stevencloser

200 g Low fat quark with herbs in it + 50 ml mik = 250 g dressing with 180 calories and 20 grams of protein.

rainbowbow

If im feeling like i need some fat i'll add olive oil, some days i am not feeling it though.


Balsamic vinegar
crushed carlic
salt
pepper
dijon mustard
water
shake shake shake

sometimes- 2 tablespoons of olive oil.