Salad dressing blunder !!

chatal36
chatal36 Posts: 167 Member
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
Im in search of a low calorie salad dressing that tastes great. I usually like ranch or cesear but the fat free ones of thos tast like crap! Any suggestions?

Also ive recently been adding crasins and nuts to my salad (soo good) Anyone have any other salad suggestiongs? They can get really boring but are a staple in many of our diets !
Thanks :happy:

Replies

  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
    my absolute favorite thing on salads ever is lemon juice - just plain ole lemon juice - and cal free!

    Also, I like cubed fresh peaches on my salad.
  • Healthyby30
    Healthyby30 Posts: 1,349 Member
    I love making my own vinaigrette dressings Or you could just do some olive oil and vinegar (red wine is my fav). Balsamic goes great with salads with fruits! (I HATE Italian dressing at the store but love mine )
  • ZebraHead
    ZebraHead Posts: 15,207 Member
    Kraft Fat Free French dressing taste as good as regular French dressing IMHO. I don't think you would be disappointed if you tried it.
  • messyhare
    messyhare Posts: 366 Member
    I can certainly relate to this post!! My fridge has SO MANY dressings I have tried and HATE!

    I finally tried Maries Yogurt dressing and really it's the closest to real I've found. AND only 70 calories for the 2T's! They have several flavors - I'm stuck on the blue cheese right now.
  • rclarke05
    rclarke05 Posts: 23
    I, as well, do just plain olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Lately, I've tried to stay away from the processed dressings. If I were forced to choose a bottled salad dressing, I would buy Paul Newmans. Yummy!
  • apetty21
    apetty21 Posts: 137
    Have you ever tried the salad dressing spray? I love the honey mustard and it's low in cals. It gives you the flavor without drowning you salad in dressing. Here is a link to Wishbone's caesar spritzer.

    http://www.wish-bone.com/Dressings/1926/Caesar-Delight-Vinaigrette.aspx
  • gambitsgurl
    gambitsgurl Posts: 632 Member
    I love Kraft lite Toasted Sesame
  • aprilwoo97
    aprilwoo97 Posts: 16 Member
    If you prefer a creamy dressing that is a bit lower in fat and calories, I've been enjoying Kraft's light 3-cheese Ranch. It's less than half of the fat than regular ranch, but has a much better flavor than most reduced fat creamy dressings.


    Also, there's a specialty spice store called Penzey's. There are several across the country, but they have a website that you can order from as well. They have a Buttermilk Ranch seasoning base. You can add it to light sour cream or plain yogurt, or even make a ranch flavored vinaigrette with it.
  • janet6567
    janet6567 Posts: 129 Member
    Ken's Raspberry and walnut dressing is low fat and has fewer cals. i make a salad with romaine, avacado, red onion, mandrine oranges, dried cranberries and sliced almonds. It's a nice change from garden or ceasar dressing. I also mix low fat buttermilk with some of the regular dressings and that tastes great.
    I also make a salad with red pears, red onion, walnuts and a little crumbled blue cheese and use a low cal blue cheese vinagrette.
  • laurenbausch
    laurenbausch Posts: 146
    Try Litehouse Toasted Sesame and Ginger. . .Soooo yummy! My fiancee likes Ranch, Thousand Island, etc., but he actually likes this one too! It's so yummy! I've even used it on Subway sandwiches rather than the sugary Sweet Onion Sauce. It has only 40cal./2 Tbs.
  • marulm
    marulm Posts: 26 Member
    If creamy dressings are your preference use fat-free Greek yogurt as a base, then add whatever low-fat addition. I have used fat-free feta cheese, no-salt seasoning, salsa, etc. I make several batches of Greek yogurt every week because it is a little pricey to buy, then you can use it instead of mayonnaise, sour cream, salad dressing, in smoothies and on and on.
  • potluck965
    potluck965 Posts: 529 Member
    I switched over to olive oil and rice vinegar. The rice vinegar is a very different taste sensation from your average wine vinegar.

    I like putting lots of interesting things in my salads, like a few walnuts and a little shredded cheese and grapes as well as all kinds of veggies, including broccoli and mushrooms. I'd rather do that and have a lighter dressing than using up so many calories on the dressing.
  • chatal36
    chatal36 Posts: 167 Member
    Yes! I was looking at the yogurt dressings the other day and i didnt want to waste the money if i wasnt going to like it! I think i might just try the bleu cheese one that soungs good.
    -3 cheese ranch- i didnt know they made that in light. I will def be checking that out!!
    -Toasted sesame and ginger is a popular response that one might be worth a try too !
  • MadiCole
    MadiCole Posts: 13
    I've been using fat-free zesty Italian dressing. It's about 10 calories per serving and awesome with romaine lettuce. It's definitely a taste I had to get used to though. :laugh:
  • NatalieWinning
    NatalieWinning Posts: 999 Member
    I didn't much like the light ranch in the beginning, either. I'm a little more okay with it. In my search I got a few I don't mind at all: Light red wine vinaigrette, Light balsamic Vinaigrette, Raspberry Vinaigrette with extra virgin olive oil, and Free Zesty Italian fat free dressing. All from Kraft. I also found out that if I use a tbs or 2 and toss it, it goes a lot farther. I liked a lot of dressing when I could choose high calorie! This trick helps.

    Sunflower seeds have less calories than walnuts. I found this out when I went way over calories once! I would have liked the sunflower seeds just as well.

    The more I eat them, the more I don't mind the fat free creamy things that were unacceptable to me before. Like cream cheese, ranch dressing, miracle whip. I'm still holding out on sour cream, though.
  • amycal
    amycal Posts: 646 Member
    I have some Ken's low fat Balsamic vinaigrette that I like. It is very zesty
  • denisesilvius
    denisesilvius Posts: 3 Member
    If you are looking for a low-cal salad dressing have you tried Maries yogurt dressing. It is really good. I have switched to that rather than the regular Marie's dressing and I do feel like I am compromising at all!!!!:happy:
  • rachelblank427
    rachelblank427 Posts: 180 Member
    I love Ken's light ceaser salad dressing .So good, and only 60 cal per serving. I also use Kraft Italian free, its like 10 calories and tastes pretty good. I try to avoid ranch because I only love Hidden Valley and the fat free is not yummy.
  • lkm111
    lkm111 Posts: 629 Member
    Here is my absolute favorite salad:

    Field greens or the Very Veggie bagged salad
    Grape tomatoes
    Black or Kalamata olives
    1 oz. block of tomato-basil feta cheese, crumbled
    1 T sesame seeds
    Red onion (when I'm in the mood)
    2 T Kraft Greek dressing

    Even if I'm out of one of the ingredients, it's still tasty!

    I also love the Kraft Light Toasted Sesame, and I think the Newman's Own has some good flavors.
  • NicCa90
    NicCa90 Posts: 37 Member
    i have yet to find someone who thinks this is as good as i do but no one will even try it!! i like to have
    - salad with walnuts and raisins like you said
    - i also steam up either a large whole carrot or a few baby carrots i cut that up and throw it in there..i love steamed carrots they are one of my favorite foods!!

    but heres the weird part.... a bunch of my family including myself LOVE pickles..so i always cut up at least part of a pickle and i use pickle juice as a dressing sometimes!! it sounds really weird and probobly has alot of sodium buuuuut it has sooo much flavor to it that i love it and its calorie free!!!
    - if i dont do that there is this french dressing that is light and its only like 15 calories per serving..it is sweet so it goes really well with the raisins too..
    -another thing i do is crush up a couple crackers and throw that on top..it gives the salad a good crunch..and adds flavor..

    dont get carried away though..these are all suggestions i do on different salads..not all on one!! :D
  • Deebo958
    Deebo958 Posts: 81
    Love Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch. My fav for salads and also for a raw veggie dip. I used to love Paul Newmans light honey mustard but the last bottle I bought was gross...don't know if they changed the recipe or if I just got a bad batch.
  • sheisbrown
    sheisbrown Posts: 171 Member
    Trader Joe's has a really good fat free balsamic vinagarette. It has about 25 calories per serving. I think its pretty tasty.
  • garedds
    garedds Posts: 251
    I like to add pineapple to my salad and then I rarely need dressing. ALso I will sometimes substitute cottage cheese for dressing.
  • Lisagonz
    Lisagonz Posts: 11 Member
    wow you guys know your dressings. i just sprinkle vinegar on my salads.
  • TheFutureIsMine
    TheFutureIsMine Posts: 5
    Here's a salad I've been eating a TON of lately :)
    -red leaf lettuce
    -thin strips of yellow or orange pepper
    -red onion
    -strawberries
    -blueberries
    -a sprinkle of goat cheese
    -grilled chicked strips ( I marinate a few chicken breast at a time with Krafts Roasted Red Pepper dressing for a few hrs before grilling, then quickly grill it while I'm making the salad or grill it all at once and have it on-hand in the fridge)
    -and my new favourite salad dressing - Renee's Asian Sesame - soooo delicious with this salad. yummmm
  • The_Wallflower
    The_Wallflower Posts: 111 Member
    Here is something I learned.. I hated low fat dressing so instead of deprive myself I use the dip method! I just dip the tip of my fork in my fav dressing and then stab some salad... you are probably only consuming the same amount of cals you would globbing fat free on it, if not less! It helps I promise!
  • Sheepdoglady
    Sheepdoglady Posts: 93
    For a low cal, fat free dressing I make my own.

    Mix 2 finely chopped garlic cloves (8 cal) with some lemon juice, mustard powder (13 cal) and cidar vinegar (0 cals) or balsamic vinegar (20 cals depending on which brand you use) and add a little salt and pepper to taste.

    I vary my salads, but I like :

    chopped satsuma
    spring onions
    red onions
    lettuce
    celery
    apple
    yellow pepper

    mixed with the above dressing.

    If you want to add olive oil, incidently, it is a whopping 119 cals per tbsp!
  • brityn
    brityn Posts: 443 Member
    Im in search of a low calorie salad dressing that tastes great. I usually like ranch or cesear but the fat free ones of thos tast like crap! Any suggestions?

    Also ive recently been adding crasins and nuts to my salad (soo good) Anyone have any other salad suggestiongs? They can get really boring but are a staple in many of our diets !
    Thanks :happy:

    Try buying fat free plain yogurt and mixing it with a powdered ranch packet. I've tried all different flavors and that's my 'go to' dressing now
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