Alternative to salad dressing

BernadetteChurch

Try Thai sweet chilli sauce. Makes a fantastic dressing if you don't mind a bit of heat.

Kerri_is_so_very

A lower sodium alternative--and one that I like a bit more than plain olive oil and vinegar--is to mix a touch of Dijon mustard in with the olive oil and vinegar and make it into more of a French vinaigrette.

^^^This!

To make a creamy honey dijon use plain, nonfat Chobani, balsamic vinegar (garlic wine vinegar works well....experiment with different varieties), dijon musturd, crushed garlic and a touch of honey.

jerbear1962

I enjoy lemon or lime juice they add a brightness to the lettuce..and help cleanse the palate.

tcunbeliever

I make most of my dressings from scratch, the salt is added to premade dressings to keep them from spoiling during transport and shelf life, the same dressings made from scratch will be much healthier. They will usually only last a week or two, but you can make as much or as little as you need in that time period.

kayemme

i like to use homemade salsa in place of dressing

bathsheba_c

Tahini is good on salads, too.

StaceyJ2008

I use olive oil, italian seasoning, pepper, and lemon juice on my salads.

vim_n_vigor

If you want to try to get away from salad dressings, you can grill onions, peppers and mushrooms and put them on top of the salads (season them however you want when you are grilling/sauteing them). The 'juice' from them can really add a lot of flavor to your salad.

Vinegar and oil are good. There are a lot of flavored vinegars out there besides balsamic if you don't enjoy the balsamic. I found a blueberry one that was incredible.

Salsa is really good on salads too. If you want a creamy dressing, you can take salsa and mix in just a little of sour cream and you start to get a really decent creamy dressing too.

shar140

Pretty much what everyone else has said - I've done my own with olive oil and vinegar (though I use rice wine), if I'm at home I just add both then mix the salad; if I take it to work, it's mixed in a container first. Then I add spices (salt, pepper, garlic & onion powders, oregano, thyme) to taste. I've also done avocado and/or cottage cheese. I've also started adding coconut oil to whatever protein I'm adding to my salad - heat, mix, eat, don't need any other dressing.

I might have to try the dijion mustard idea, though - thanks, Hambone!

thingal12

How are you cooking your tuna and chicken? If you are having chicken breast, for ex, and putting it in the oven with even just 1/2-1tsp of evoo then the juices from the chicken would be enough for you and you won't need any dressing.

SlvrBluGoddess

Personally, I never liked the taste of any salad dressing... But I have found that if you squeeze lemon wedges over your salad it makes it not so dry & bland.

JennaM222

I use olive oil, italian seasoning, pepper, and lemon juice on my salads.

YUM!

TheFinalThird

Lemon juice, red pepper flake and mashed avocado.

djcon

bump

TrailRunner61

I use olive oil, but not as much as most recipes call for. Any kind of vinegar I have on hand, which can be rice wine vinegar, red wine, seasoned rice, regular, apple cider vinegar, a bit of balsamic, whatever. I add herbs like parsley, oregano, basal and some garlic or garlic powder, paprika, a pinch of salt, pepper and if I'm in the mood for something sweeter I'll add a little sugar, honey or lemon. I also add different varieties of mustard like spicy mustard, dijon, honey mustard and Walmart has a low sodium/no sodium (not sure) southwest spicy mustard that I use since I have to cut back on sodium too. I usually keep it in the frig overnight if I can wait that long to use it. Shake it like crazy before you use it. I put it on tomatoes, cukes, whole grain pasta and of course, salads.
There are a million recipes out there. Look some up, get a large sized canning jar, mix up your healthier ingredients and voila! Fresh and healthy dressing! It also tastes a LOT better.
If you dont want to add oil due to the fat calories, there are recipes that call for cooking the dressing with a bit of cornstarch to thicken it and disperse the flavors the same way oil does.
Also you can used dried herbs instead of fresh and they sell them at Sams club or costco in huge, cheap containers. It's like a dollar more than the little bottles you find in the supermarket.

bcf7683

I like to mix balsamic vinegar and fat free italian. OR, (my favorite) put a blob on guacamole on the salad and use salsa.

bthewes2

In the past, I have used cottage cheese. It is actually quite nice plus you get calcium and protien.

erinlibke

extra virgin olive oit (tiny bit) and balsamic with oregano- acts like a greek dressing. I also LOVE a good Balsamic glaze, its heavily reduced so you only need a little and has a sweeter taste than your basic vinegar. Plus you don't need any oil with that stuff. I put it on everything!!!

DanaDark

Just saying...

Salads tend to be high in fiber, which can help lower cholesterol levels... but this can only be done if the fiber is ingested along with fats.

So, a regular, non-fat-free salad dressing is actually healthier and better for the body. More calories yeah. But, if the salad is ate along with a meal that contains fats, then its perfectly reasonable for a non-fat dressing.

MMark2012

I sometimes use a teaspoon or 2 of medium spicy salsa! It adds flavor w/out any fat at all!
Another alternative is a 1/2 teaspoon of cocnut oil with pinch of garlic salt and pepper.
You could also go sweet with a few raisins, cut up, small pieces of tangerine/orange, and shopped walnut!
Experiment! I eat a salad almost every day!