If you like ranch on your salads...

poustotah

I make my own ranch.

1/2 c greek yogurt
1/2 c olive oil mayo
2 tbsp fresh chives
1/4 c of chopped fresh parsley
salt, pepper and garlic to taste

Chop the parsley real fine and mix everything together. This is a very thick dressing but very good.

LizC26

I make my own low-cal ranch with 1 ranch packet, 1 cup of Greek yogurt, and a splash of 2% milk....It's really tasty---better than any low-fat ranch you can buy in a store.

mizjohnston

I haven't tried making my own. I just mix half a tbsp with fat free and half a tbsp with regular. I just dip my salad or whatever else it is I am using it with.

cassondraragan

I personally don't like ranch on salads (but I do on baked potatoes) but here is a homemade recipe from skinnytaste.com. All of her stuff I have ever made has been amazing. This is 52 calories for a 1/4 cup! That's 4 tablespoons...and most are about that much for 2 tablespoons. I'd try it if I were you

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/09/low-fat-buttermilk-ranch-dressing.html

lindalou0703

Walden Farms makes a zero calorie dressing (well a lot of them actually). I used it early on to wean myself off the Ranch on everything attitude. It tastes pretty good! I only use it occasionally now so I don't mind using regular or low fat Ranch for something.

Edit: I often use a half cup of cottage cheese instead of dressing now (about 90 calories in the one I use) and it gives some moisture to a salad and more protein!

I use cottage cheese as well

mill1295

I lost my taste for ranch after making it in the dining hall in college. 5 gallons of mayo, 5 gallons of buttermilk and 2.5 cups of ranch seasoning.. seeing 5 gallons of mayo in a giant bowl at the same time almost made me vomit.. I don't think I ate it for a good solid 5 years after that.. I prefer Italian if I use any..

Dipping the tip of your fork into the dressing instead of dumping it on is a really good tip though..

andreabball

I'm not a ranch person anymore, but I just can't do low-cal dressings. I use olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I'd rather use a little less of the real stuff and have it taste good. Good luck finding something that works for you!

cassondraragan

I make my own, which is far better tasting than bottled anyway. I loosely follow this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/ranch-dressing-ii/detail.aspx

We often don't add the salt - and we use equal parts sour cream, mayo, and buttermilk (or else it's too thick).

Delicious!

and I have made this before and it was really good, and milk is def. needed because it is really thick and dip like without it.

KatiD83

Ranch is the one item I will not give up. I hate the taste of fat free or low fat dressings. I add a little skim milk to my ranch to thin it down and make it go further. I also just started using the hidden valley packets of ranch dip mix. I made it with 3/4 cup of light mayo and 1 1/2 cup of skim milk. It's not bad and it's not nearly as salty as the bottled stuff.

josaleigh

Do you like the ginger dressing you get on a salad at a Japanese restaurants? As a former Ranch-o-holic, I thought I would never like another dressing...

Until I met Litehouse: Sesame Ginger Toasted Dressing. I love it! Its like a ginger dressing you get before hibachi style meal, but thinner. The toasted sesame just adds a nice kick. Love love love love love...

LexieSweetheart

Tske a chiboni yogurt and a packet of ranch seasoning! 20 calories for two tablespoons

mariapuhl

Oh oh oh, and also, I see someone else mentioned the walden farms ranch.

I used it for a while and got SO sick of salads because of it. I was dreading lunch everyday. I realized it was that that made me hate salad. Once I switched, happy again. A few more calories on my salad with the light hidden valley, but SO much better. I enjoyed my salad again.

DougM53

Get your dressing in a cup or small bowl and dip your fork into the dressing and then get your salad on your fork. When you get through eating, you will be amazed how little dressing you can eat and still enjoy the taste in every bite.

EricNCSU

If you have a Harris Teeter near you, their brand of Light Ranch tastes pretty good, and it's often on sale for 1.98 a bottle or less, so it's also very affordable. I'm like the other Ranch-a-holics, I just cant eat a dry salad, but I try to drizzle lightly and not use have the bottle.

Renise01

I only eat ranch on my salads as well and i've found that if I load my salad with veggies (carrots, broccoli and fresh spinach) its very filling! And I make my salads in containers with lids, use 1 or 2 tbl of ranch, close the lid and shake! I find that shaking after mixing it up distributes the dressing in a way that allows for maximum flavor without adding more dressing!

QueenofCups

I only use Hidden Valley ranch, and usually the Light. But I will buy the reg often. I agree with another poster - if you are using 2 tbsp of reg ranch on a salad with low cal veggies, its not that bad.
One way I learned to use less dressing; I put all my salad ingredients in a bowl with a lid, measure out the 2 tbsp, put lid on and shake-shake-shake. Gets dressing on every bite and makes the 2 tbsp go a long way. Thats if you are eating a huge salad as a meal. if you are just eating a side salad, you can do the same thing with 1 tbsp of reg ranch and its still not bad cal wise.

I am focusing more on carbs that cals lately, though.

lazatin

I recently found the Waldon Farms dressing. I can handle the taste for 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 cards, 0 gluten, 0sugar....0 everything except sodium and i don't find that too bad 240-270 for two tablespoons!

JediMaster_intraining

i gave it up...too tempting to keep around and not use it on everything! :ohwell:

ndaney

I am trying to get away from salad dressing and have been making my own as well. My very favorite is made with White Balsamic vinigar. I take one cup of WBV and slow simmer it on the stove until it reduces and thickens. It turns a nice orange color. It loses that tart vinegar taste and is on the sweeter side. 1 tbsp of vinegar is 15 calories so putting a couple tbsps on is ok!

staceyseeger

I stopped eating salad dressing about 1 1/2 years ago. I use some sort of meat, tuna, grilled salmon or grilled chicken for the moisture.