Salad dressing?

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Priasmama416
Priasmama416 Posts: 103 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Any suggestions on brand and flavor/ types of salad dressing? I find it hard to find a dressing that is low in calories, sodium and sugar, but taste good. I've tried a couple from Primal kitchen and Newman's, they seem ok, but nothing I'd eat every time like a good old fashioned ranch or Italian. What are some of your favorites?

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  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    During the summer months when I eat a lot more salad I make my own. Right now I have a bottle of Newman's in the fridge. A good deal of the time I use kimchi and acv to flavor it.
  • mydogisthebestdogever
    mydogisthebestdogever Posts: 703 Member
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    I think Skinny Girl honey dijon is good for a low fat, low cal, low sugar dressing.
    Sodium not horrible but not the best either. (250 mg for 2 tbl.)
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,643 Member
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    I like the Bolthouse dressings. Balsamic vinagrette, italian, the two nonspicy ranches, and the bleu cheese.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,711 Member
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    I second Bolthouse dressings in the fridge in the produce department. I stop at a bigger grocery store for the variety and have about 8, my favorites are creamy garlic, honey dijon, sweet chipotle, salsa ranch, and creamy balsamic. Ranch is pretty good too. Least favorites are cucumber ranch and blue cheese. Litehouse poppyseed is my favorite low cal poppyseed. I have the ingredients to try this one next as poppyseed is my favorite dressing : https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/2018/04/10/oil-free-lemon-poppyseed-dressing/
  • hawksgirl229
    hawksgirl229 Posts: 467 Member
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    I also like bolthouse dressings and Panera's poppyseed salad dressing..please post how your recipe turns out.
  • JRsLateInLifeMom
    JRsLateInLifeMom Posts: 2,275 Member
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    Walden Italian or Chipotle. I’m also using nothing but spicing it up with Apple 🍎 if craving sweets to fried onion 🧅 if craving a new flavor sometimes boiled egg 🥚 broken up in some tuna spread on top it with vegetarian chicken to real chicken fun seasonings on the chicken.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    I make my own. I'm a vinaigrette fan, but you can definitely cut cals by using less oil than in a traditional vinaigrette. For fewer cals, I like a brown mustard mixed with red wine vinegar or for more of an Asian style soy sauce with lime juice plus sriracha (although that's not low sodium, of course).
  • lilawolf
    lilawolf Posts: 1,690 Member
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    I usually use kraft light ranch. Light not fat free. It's only 70 cals for 2 tablespoons which is enough for a pretty enormous salad for me. I add more flavor with garlic, basil (fresh and dried), smoke salt etc.

    Sometimes I will bulk it out with guacamole (higher cals but delightful and "healthier"), salsa or pico de gallo, balsamic vinegar, or spicy mustard.

    Sometimes, I will also use vinegar and a sunny side up egg. Its pretty and the yolk adds the creaminess.
  • vaman
    vaman Posts: 253 Member
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    While it certainly isn't in the same league as homemade Italian dressing, I find that the Great Value (Walmart) zesty Italian dressing works very well for everyday use. The sodium numbers are a little high, but at only 30 cals per tablespoon, it's definitely worth considering.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,811 Member
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    Very high quality balsamic vinegar has super low calories and you can use it by itself on salads, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, on roasted veggies etc, or I makes a great marinade for meats.

    The brand I use is local Oliandve.com. I know there’s a similar brand on the west coast where my daughter lives. It comes in a multitude of dark and “light” flavors including strawberry, dark chocolate (great for marinating pork), fig, blackberry, honey and ginger (great for a light stir fry seasoning), pomegranate, apple, and sooo many more.

    I attribute a lot of my weight loss to how satisfying such a simple product is. My afternoon snack every day is fruit, cottage cheese, a healthy dash of this stuff, and a spoonful of Grapenuts to give it a nice crunch.

    I swear I am not on the payroll, since I sing the praises of this stuff here every chance I get, lol. But it’s such a joy to find something so tasty, falls easily within the calorie count, and that’s not so bad for you! I buy this stuff by the case. Strawberry is my favorite, followed by the chocolate, because both go well on my fruit bowl. Fig is great on salads.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    springlering62 wrote: »
    Very high quality balsamic vinegar has super low calories and you can use it by itself on salads, fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese, on roasted veggies etc, or I makes a great marinade for meats.

    The brand I use is local Oliandve.com. I know there’s a similar brand on the west coast where my daughter lives. It comes in a multitude of dark and “light” flavors including strawberry, dark chocolate (great for marinating pork), fig, blackberry, honey and ginger (great for a light stir fry seasoning), pomegranate, apple, and sooo many more.

    I attribute a lot of my weight loss to how satisfying such a simple product is. My afternoon snack every day is fruit, cottage cheese, a healthy dash of this stuff, and a spoonful of Grapenuts to give it a nice crunch.

    I swear I am not on the payroll, since I sing the praises of this stuff here every chance I get, lol. But it’s such a joy to find something so tasty, falls easily within the calorie count, and that’s not so bad for you! I buy this stuff by the case. Strawberry is my favorite, followed by the chocolate, because both go well on my fruit bowl. Fig is great on salads.

    Balsamic on almost any soft cheese is divine :smiley: I do prefer mixed with olive oil (though a much higher ratio of vinegar to oil than one would typically use) on a salad but I could def imagine it's quite good by itself too!
  • MikePfirrman
    MikePfirrman Posts: 3,307 Member
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    Lots of vegans use flax seed or chia seed to thicken up water and replace oil in homemade dressings that way. Chia probably works best. Let the chia seeds sit in water for a while and it will thicken up. Then use that instead of part of the Olive Oil in an Italian recipe.
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    Since I discovered sriracha is 0 cal I started using it as a dressing, and started making a mustard vinaigrette which is real easy and tastes so good no sugar at all! It’s 100 cal for 2 tbsp. But helps keep me full after a salad for awhile
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    MikePfirrman wrote: »
    Lots of vegans use flax seed or chia seed to thicken up water and replace oil in homemade dressings that way. Chia probably works best. Let the chia seeds sit in water for a while and it will thicken up. Then use that instead of part of the Olive Oil in an Italian recipe.

    Id use 2 tbsp ground flax and 1 tbsp water not chia chia is too thick for this purpose unless you want it chunky lmao 😂
  • GirlWithCookies
    GirlWithCookies Posts: 138 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Priasmama416 wrote: »
    Any suggestions on brand and flavor/ types of salad dressing? I find it hard to find a dressing that is low in calories, sodium and sugar, but taste good. I've tried a couple from Primal kitchen and Newman's, they seem ok, but nothing I'd eat every time like a good old fashioned ranch or Italian. What are some of your favorites?

    Honestly, I have had far more success using a smaller amount of a good old fashioned ranch or Italian :smile: than finding a lower cal alternative. If I'm in the mood for a non-creamy dressing, I just whisk some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a smidge of mustard. I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions though!

    I do the same thing when I don't have dressing that I want on hand. Sometimes I'll add a sweet/spicy hot sauce in addition to or instead of the mustard.
  • jgratopp6
    jgratopp6 Posts: 11 Member
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    I am a big mustard fan, so I may be a bit biased. But I found a "honey mustard" that is just 1 part balsamic vinegar, 2 parts yellow mustard, and sweetened with Stevia. I normally do 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup mustard, and 5 packets of Stevia. It's not very sweet, but I am in love with it and I can put it on almost anything.
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
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    Right now I’m going through a bottle of Ken’s fat free raspberry pecan. It’s very good. I also make my own with frozen raspberries and a raspberry vinegar that’s fat free and I don’t use any salt or sweetener.
  • aries68mc
    aries68mc Posts: 173 Member
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    I usually use the store brand of fat free, which is basically the same as Kraft, if I use it which isn't always. And I use very little. I usually stay away from it at restaurants.

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