Low calorie ideas for a salad dressing????

2

Replies

  • wrests
    wrests Posts: 84 Member
    If you like taco salads, some nonfat sour cream mixed with salsa is pretty tasty. Adding lime and hot sauce is optional but gives a nice punch of flavor.
    I like to use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream..better for you and pretty close in taste! However if you can't tell, I use Greek yogurt for just about everything D:

    I have never really liked the greek yogurt. I think it was because it wasn't as sweet as regular yogurt. Now I am curious to see if I would like it like that!! Ty
    You can always sweeten it to taste with jello powder, artificial sweetener, honey, it goes on! Hopefully it works for you in a savory way though!
  • joyfulteach
    joyfulteach Posts: 419 Member
    you can make low cal ranch using the powder mix, low fat olive oil mayo, and reduced fat milk. Mines comes to 50 cal for 2 T.
  • amberlynnsinspired
    amberlynnsinspired Posts: 438 Member
    Fat Free Roasted Red Pepper Dressing. It is fat free, obviously and only 15 calories per 2 tablespoons. It isn't spicy; I know it sounds like that though, lol. It is so amazing and yummy. I definitely recommend you to try it because you'll never wanna try a different dressing. :p
  • janisdianis
    janisdianis Posts: 49 Member
    I am excited for my salad tonight lol :)
  • I plan on having a salad for dinner, and instead of using Ranch I need great ideas on what to use as a dressing. One thing I can say is I DO NOT like any type of oil/vinegar style dressing.....

    Thank you :happy:

    5.5 ounces of greek yogurt (Yoplait 100 calories), 1/4 cup frozen raspberries, 2 tbls of lemon juice. Mix in food processor till smooth. Yum! Can thin with fat free milk for creamier version.
  • sahm23ladies
    sahm23ladies Posts: 91 Member
    Iknow this will sound crazy but hot sauce & mustard. I change up the mustard with yellow, spicy or dijon to be different.
  • BUMP!!!!
  • mrjtc
    mrjtc Posts: 7 Member
    I like to have my salad with just a little bit of salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and either a freshly squeezed lemon or lime.
  • Vmax1992
    Vmax1992 Posts: 41 Member
    2T fresh orange juice, 2T fresh lime juice, 2t. dijon, 2t. honey, sal, pepper. Mix your salad in a large bowl, dress the bowl not the salad. Pour a little down the sides of the bowl and toss the salad in, you will use less dressing. This dressing goes well with spinach, sliced apple and red onion (thin sliced). Top with a little FF blue cheese. Check out the site www.3fatchicks.com I found this salad years ago on there, it is mine and my wifes fav. Good Luck
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
    Walden Farms Creamy Bacon Ranch 0 calories... Don't know how they do it
    Bolthouse yogurt Blue cheese 45 calories a tbs
  • KathrynCatlady
    KathrynCatlady Posts: 86 Member
    My family laughs at me when it comes to eating a salad. They like to drown theirs, and I admit I use to as well. I'm not a fan of low cal, light, non fat dressings. I think you sacrafice the flavor for calories or fat free and then you just don't want to eat the salad anyway. So I take a shot glass, (crazy I know) 2 tablespoons fit perfectly and put my salad dressing in there. I then dip my fork into the dressing before I get some salad. You get the flavor of salad dressing with every bite and you use way way less salad dressing. Plus you get to actually taste the salad. When I'm done with a salad I usually have over half of the dressing in the shot glass left.

    I am a salad dressing dipper too, for the same reason!
  • StellaHarmon
    StellaHarmon Posts: 34 Member
    Quick, easy, low cal to lo cal, low sodium, and low sugar, Plus it delicious! Can that be possible! Sure is!

    scoop of Italian herbs
    large scoop of dijon mustard
    any kind of vinegar such as apple, wine, etc... (To make it the right consistency

    stir and enjoy!!
  • tgmshierry
    tgmshierry Posts: 83 Member
    WOW!!! Such great ideas!!!

    Going to try a few of them with next weeks planning!!

    Quick question.. How long will the "Greek Yogurt Ranch" last in the fridge? I am the only one that would use it in my house and as a dipper myself I really don't use very much at a time.
  • My family laughs at me when it comes to eating a salad. They like to drown theirs, and I admit I use to as well. I'm not a fan of low cal, light, non fat dressings. I think you sacrafice the flavor for calories or fat free and then you just don't want to eat the salad anyway. So I take a shot glass, (crazy I know) 2 tablespoons fit perfectly and put my salad dressing in there. I then dip my fork into the dressing before I get some salad. You get the flavor of salad dressing with every bite and you use way way less salad dressing. Plus you get to actually taste the salad. When I'm done with a salad I usually have over half of the dressing in the shot glass left.

    I am a salad dressing dipper too, for the same reason!

    I say "Dippers Unite!"
  • Showmm
    Showmm Posts: 406 Member
    Another vote for just plain balsamic vinegar here. I try to buy the slightly more expensive stuff, as the flavour is more complex than just vinegar because it's sweeter. I have some white balsamic vinegar that's really nice too, if you can find that.
  • spamantha57
    spamantha57 Posts: 674 Member
    Walden Farms. Calorie, fat, sodium, etc free and it tastes great!
    ^ If you don't mind ingesting a boat load of chemicals in liquid form.


    Vinaigrettes are usually 25-35 cals per serving. Raspberry is usually my fav, but I use balsamic vinaigrette a lot too.
  • MishaKudo
    MishaKudo Posts: 25 Member
    Boathouse farms yogurt dressings are yummy! Just tried them for the first time recently thanks for an MFP friend and loved them! I also love Marzetti Simply Dressed Pomegranate Vinaigrette.
  • magdalen13
    magdalen13 Posts: 62 Member
    My favorite is Maple Grove Farms Fat Free Honey Dijon. I don't buy many items that are processed, but this one is low-calorie, tasty and I use just a little. Google it.

    YES I love that stuff. Also their fat-free balsamic vinaigrette (although not for OP, maybe others would like it :)

    The ideas about homemade "ranch" with Greek yogurt are great!

    The other thing I do is in restaurants when they don't have a low-cal dressing, is ask for lemon slices and use the juice as a dressing with some cracked pepper, it's pretty tasty.
  • Greek yogurt with a little bit of feta cheese makes a great dressing!
  • Cassierocksalot
    Cassierocksalot Posts: 266 Member
    I second the Greek yogurt with ranch seasonings, although my absolute favorite "dressing" for a salad right now is just plain ol' avocado, mashed up with a tiny bit of garlic salt. I put it over any type of green and mix it all up to coat evenly so it doesn't seem clumpy. Good stuff!


    This is what I do (minus the salt in the garlic powder :happy: )! I also let the juices from whatever meat I'm using as protein get in there a little bit for moisture.
  • cad615
    cad615 Posts: 1
    try Drew's varities
  • Fightin2GetFit
    Fightin2GetFit Posts: 69 Member
    Marie's Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing - 2 tbsp/70 calories

    It's in the refridgerated area of the produce department. It's AMAZING.
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    I know you said no oil and vinegar, but this isn't exactly that. 1 part olive oil, 1 part Dijon mustard, and 2 parts lemon juice, plus salt and pepper to taste. I LOVE it with salmon or chicken on a salad.
  • mamamc03
    mamamc03 Posts: 1,067 Member
    Wishbone makes a spray dressing. 1 cal/spray and you get perfect coverage.
  • jktefft
    jktefft Posts: 27 Member
    I really like the bolthouse dressings!
  • WOW!!! Such great ideas!!!

    Going to try a few of them with next weeks planning!!

    Quick question.. How long will the "Greek Yogurt Ranch" last in the fridge? I am the only one that would use it in my house and as a dipper myself I really don't use very much at a time.

    I have found it lasts about as long as the expiration date on the milk I used to thin it out.
  • twinkiemon
    twinkiemon Posts: 216 Member
    I found this salad dressing I absolutely LOVE made by Panera - I bought it at Target but it's probably other places too - it's a poppy seed dressing, super delicious and only 15 calories per serving. I also like those salad dressing spritzers - those are full of flavor and very few calories.
  • nataliescalories
    nataliescalories Posts: 292 Member
    My favorite pre-made dressings are Whole Food's 365 Ginger Miso dressing and Annie's Goddess dressing. Both are roughly 50 calories per tablespoon.

    Favorite outside-of-the-box dressing: baba ghanoush. If you add some cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and olives it it like a falafel salad (and mmmm for vegan gyro meat).

    Favorite mix: balsamic glaze and wheat germ oil
  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    If a salad is all your having for dinner then I wouldn't worry too much about calor'ries. If you measure it out, it should be fine. By elminating oil and vinegar types you're cutting out most low calorie dressings.

    I like goddess by annie's. It's a very unique dressing. If you like ranch you'll like it, doesn't taste like ranch though.
  • I like my salad with mustard and pepper. Sounds strange, but it is quite tasty :)