Your favorite healthy salad dressing

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akafful
akafful Posts: 64 Member
edited November 2021 in Food and Nutrition
What is that salad dressing you would like to have that works well with your overall fitness and dietary goals?
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Replies

  • LazyBlondeChef
    LazyBlondeChef Posts: 2,809 Member
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    Most of the time I use a light spritz of olive oil and sometimes add a little balsamic. I don't like most store bought dressings. However, out of laziness I sometimes buy salad kits (mostly organic to keep the garbage factor lower). I still barely tolerate the dressings and sometimes don't use them preferring to use olive oil instead.

    For packaged dressings I like the Primal Kitchen line which are made from avocado oil.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,070 Member
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    Guacamole or avocado mash, thinned with some good vinegar.

    Vinegar + seasoning + seeds or cheese (no oil, the seeds/cheese fill that role).

    Cottage cheese, possibly with salsa or herbs.

    Seasoned plain Greek yogurt, with various herbs, spices, minced garlic, salt, whatever. In season, there are fresh herbs in my garden I can use.

    Various vinaigrettes, homemade, but usually with minimal or no oil (because I prefer to spend my fats calories elsewhere in the meal, or on the salad).

    Toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar, maybe some chopped green onions.

    Tahini with lemon juice and/or a light white vinegar, maybe minced garlic, onions, something like that.

    I don't buy pre-made dressings. There's nothing wrong with them IMO, but I live alone and having a whole bottle of dressing to use up sort of bores me. I'm more whim-ful than that, want something different pretty much every time, and it only takes a minute to stir something up.
  • Safari_Gal_
    Safari_Gal_ Posts: 1,461 Member
    edited November 2021
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    My fav is a mix of EVOO & Guiseppe Giusti balsamic vinegar .. I add in some herbs de provence and sea salt. 😋

    Once in awhile I’ll crave a Caesar salad
    I found a recipe which I like.. I only make enough for a serving. The
    minced anchovies and hit of Dijon in it give it nice flavor.


  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,710 Member
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    Good Foods plant based dips, Siete Cashew queso, Nutritional yeast, gluten free soy sauce and very good balsamic vinegars
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
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    I pack a big salad almost every day for work. I will occasionally get Walden Farms thousand island, but I generally make my own. My standards are:
    * A drizzle of good basalmic and a health bunch of fresh herbs (rosary, basil, thyme) (no oil, thank you)
    * soy sauce, ginger &garlic paste, and powdered peanut butter for an Asian satay vibe
    * Silken soy tofu, pickle juice, a heavy shake of garlic powder, a dash of curry, and some olives. Whip that up in a blender and it's dressing and protein all in one!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,389 MFP Moderator
    edited November 2021
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    All things G.Hughes. Very low calorie and delicious.
  • chris89topher
    chris89topher Posts: 389 Member
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    Not really a "dressing", but my usual thing I put on my mixing bowl sized salad (which I have every day) is malt vinegar, sriracha hot sauce and different seasoning blends. 👌
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,426 Member
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    Any fruit flavored balsamic vinegar by Veronica Foods. They sell to many local gourmet stores, who rebottle under their own names. Great on salad, or cottage cheese, as a marinade, or their honey ginger is great on a stir fry in lieu of other sauces.

    Salsa

    I often throw leftover chicken I’ve cooked with taco seasoning in the crockpot on top of salads. No dressing needed.

    Ditto for leftover vegetables roasted with balsamic. They are fabulous as is over lettuce or mixed greens with a bit of feta.

    Walden Farms Honey Dijon or Honey Balsamic. Zero calorie, and fantastic taste.
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
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    Many great suggestions - many of which are mine too. I don't purchase bottled dressings - always 'make' my own. Adding some raw veggies w/ a few nuts (cashews) and Nutritional yeast in a blender - various spices - lemon, etc., is good.

    Tahini dressings are super good.

    Also - many years ago my boyfriend purchased a super expensive/aged Balsamic Vinegar when we were traveling. Now I'm spoiled but certainly a little tiny bit is all that is needed.

    I play around with using pomegranate molasses - grainy mustards - spices (Sumac is yum).

    Salsa is a favorite too!
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 209 Member
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    I'm a fan of Tahini dressings -- mixed with a little garlic, tamari (or soy), lemon and water. I also like to do vinegarettes but I mix the vineger and oil in a 1:1 ratio which makes it more tangy and less oily/calorific Mustard, horseradish, capers and chopped pickles are always good additions to dressings as well.
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
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    I make all of my dressings. Bottled is rarely as delicious and when made fresh you can control the oil and sugar content.

    I use a fat, an acid, something salty, something sweet and something flavorful with whatever I have on hand.

    So it might be tahini, lemon juice, fresh or dried herbs, dijon mustard, seasoning and agave.

    Or maybe olive oil, rice vinegar, herbs, dried or frozen berries, seasoning and agave.

  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,606 Member
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    I like this ranch recipe. Use the smaller quantity of mayo or replace the sour cream with yoghurt. Buttermilk is very low in calories, being what's left after butter has been removed from the milk.
    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ranch-dressing-recipe_n_3769342

    Another dressing I like that uses less oil than classic vinaigrette (3 parts olive oil to 1 part lemon or vinegar) is a vaguely asian mixture of 1 part each of soy, balsamic, and strongly flavoured nut oil (sesame, hazelnut or walnut).

    If you like SE Asian salads, try nuoc cham which contains no oil but quite a lot of sugar.

  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
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    I normally make a vinaigrette with a good olive oil and a tasty vinegar (I like to try different vinegars). I don't make a traditional vinaigrette as I've found you can reduce the amount of oil and it is just as good, but I do often like to include the olive oil, especially if the salad/meal is otherwise quite low fat.

    For super low cals, I just use a vinegar (most often red wine vinegar, but again try different ones) and a mustard -- I tend to enjoy spicy brown mustards, but dijon is always good.

    For an Asian-style salad that calls for spice, I do soy sauce, lime juice (lemon works if that's all you have), and sriracha, plus maybe a tad of fish sauce. Also extremely low cal.
  • perryc05
    perryc05 Posts: 209 Member
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    Another good one is an avocado blended to a mayo-like consistency with a little lemon juice and water. Season to taste with salt and peopper.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,606 Member
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    I stumbled on an asian dressing with less oil than classic vinaigrette.
    https://www.chinasichuanfood.com/5-minutes-zucchini-salad/
  • ja20102004
    ja20102004 Posts: 349 Member
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    I use a fat free ranch. But might look into making my own.
  • russellholtslander1
    russellholtslander1 Posts: 285 Member
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    I use Newman's Own.. Classic oil & vinegar dressing.

    This is high fat, low carb, which is what I eat, but the dressing has a strong flavor, which allows me to use only a few Tbsp. I can put 4 Tbsp. on 3 cups of greens, mix that up, and then add some veggies, and cheese on top.

    When I eat creamy dressings like Ranch or Blue Cheese, I tend to consume more, and never sure how much.. since you can't pour them into a Tbsp. measuring spoon, and have any hope of getting it onto the salad. So we eyeball it, and always over-indulge.

    No one ever talks about how they had to guesstimate how much creamy dressing to put on their salad, and now are losing too much weight, because they use too little dressing.

    I think most dressings, if used properly, in proper amounts, are healthy. Dressing is supposed to add flavor to the greens, but many people cover everything in the salad in dressing. A serving is about an oz. or 2 Tbsp.

    So a 16 oz. jar of Blue cheese or Ranch, is 16 servings. Even if you use 2 servings for 3 cups of greens, that means 8 salads, before the jar is empty. How many actually consume 8 big salads from a jar of dressing?

    THAT is what is unhealthy.. because we have a little salad with our dressing, not the other way around.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,592 Member
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    ja20102004 wrote: »
    I use a fat free ranch. But might look into making my own.

    Oh man, because my normal Bolthouse dressings haven't been on sale/had coupons, I discovered the Hidden Valley fat free ranch and I am in love. :)
  • panda4153
    panda4153 Posts: 417 Member
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    I personally don’t do a low cal/low fat dressing. I like creamy Caesar or full fat ranch. However because I use a more calorie dense dressing I make sure to limit other calorie dense ingredients like cheese, bacon, and nuts, and I also make sure to stick to one serving by weighing how much goes in my salad. I load up with all the veggies I want add a lean protein and some Ranch it’s perfect for me that way.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,070 Member
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    russellholtslander1 wrote: »
    I use Newman's Own.. Classic oil & vinegar dressing.

    This is high fat, low carb, which is what I eat, but the dressing has a strong flavor, which allows me to use only a few Tbsp. I can put 4 Tbsp. on 3 cups of greens, mix that up, and then add some veggies, and cheese on top.

    When I eat creamy dressings like Ranch or Blue Cheese, I tend to consume more, and never sure how much.. since you can't pour them into a Tbsp. measuring spoon, and have any hope of getting it onto the salad. So we eyeball it, and always over-indulge.

    Not to disagree with you, but to help other people with this issue, there are two options:

    * Put the salad on the food scale, zero/tare it, pour dressing on the salad, read the number of grams.
    * Put the dressing bottle on the food scale, zero/tare it, pour dressing from bottle onto salad, put bottle back on scale, read the negative number (it's how much was poured out).

    No eyeballs, no extra utensils, works for any personally preferred portion of dressing, accurate, easy.
    No one ever talks about how they had to guesstimate how much creamy dressing to put on their salad, and now are losing too much weight, because they use too little dressing.

    I think most dressings, if used properly, in proper amounts, are healthy. Dressing is supposed to add flavor to the greens, but many people cover everything in the salad in dressing. A serving is about an oz. or 2 Tbsp.

    So a 16 oz. jar of Blue cheese or Ranch, is 16 servings. Even if you use 2 servings for 3 cups of greens, that means 8 salads, before the jar is empty. How many actually consume 8 big salads from a jar of dressing?

    THAT is what is unhealthy.. because we have a little salad with our dressing, not the other way around.

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