Salad Dressing

AwMyLoLo
AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
edited September 19 in Food and Nutrition
You may think you are being good having a salad as a meal, but salad dressing can add tons of calories, fat, sodium, and ultimately ruin your day. It is hard to find a good salad dressing that is actually low calorie without adding all kinds of unnatural ingredients. What I use on my salad is Red Wine Vinegar. It is the best bet to avoid the extra calories, I love the taste of it. Adding a little pepper will tone down the vinegar if it is too much for you!

Replies

  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
    You may think you are being good having a salad as a meal, but salad dressing can add tons of calories, fat, sodium, and ultimately ruin your day. It is hard to find a good salad dressing that is actually low calorie without adding all kinds of unnatural ingredients. What I use on my salad is Red Wine Vinegar. It is the best bet to avoid the extra calories, I love the taste of it. Adding a little pepper will tone down the vinegar if it is too much for you!
  • LuckyLeprechaun
    LuckyLeprechaun Posts: 6,296 Member
    I am a BIG fan of Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing. SOOOOOO yummy and only 35 cals per 2 tbsp.
  • Kelly11
    Kelly11 Posts: 75 Member
    Ooo! That's a great idea! Im going to try that out.

    I use a little olive oil and a lot of lemon juice and lemon pepper :) The combination is great :)
  • kileenas
    kileenas Posts: 14
    Also seasoned rice vinegar with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and oregano is delicious. My favorite!
  • AwMyLoLo
    AwMyLoLo Posts: 1,571 Member
    Thanks for the other great ideas! I LOVE ginger, I should try it. Also, be sure to read the ingredients to make sure there is no High Fructose Corn Syrup.
  • star139
    star139 Posts: 134
    I love Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame...only 60 calories but it doesn't taste light at all. I would like to use olive oil, but I don't like lemon flavored things and I think olive oil is too bland. Any other suggestions?
  • FitnessGeek
    FitnessGeek Posts: 487
    Homemade French Dressing

    2 tbsp red wine vinegar
    1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
    1 tsp honey
    1/2 tsp sea salt
    1 clove of garlic, minced

    Dissolve the sea salt and honey in the vinegar. Add garlic and oil. Eat. :flowerforyou:
    I love Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame...only 60 calories but it doesn't taste light at all. I would like to use olive oil, but I don't like lemon flavored things and I think olive oil is too bland. Any other suggestions?
    The Asian Toasted Sesame is one of my favorite from Kraft.:heart: I also like Kraft's Light Balsamic Vinaigrette (25 calories for 2 tbsp).
  • elli
    elli Posts: 593
    Newman's Own light honey mustard - 70 calories for 2 TBS. If you put 1/4 C cottage cheese in your salad it helps a little dressing go a long way!
  • Wolfena
    Wolfena Posts: 1,570 Member
    If you like a creamy type dressing try using the good seasons dry packets, but when you make it, use plain yogurt instead of oil.

    My favorite right now is the Kraft 3-cheese light dressing, I only use about a tablespoon (35 calories) and then I'll also top my salad with sliced pepperoncinis and their juice - makes a nice flavor :smile:
  • ktthegr8
    ktthegr8 Posts: 479
    I use Fat Free sour cream to make a ranch dip. That with some salsa is GREAT on chicken taco salad.
  • porka29
    porka29 Posts: 868 Member
    I really like Walden Farms' dressings, some are sugar-free, calorie free, etc.
  • oodesireoo
    oodesireoo Posts: 29
    sooooo........ my balsamic vinegarette is not a good choice.. heh! this whole time i was thinking i was doing good.. (well, compared to burger and fries) But its sooooo good!
  • Amy_B
    Amy_B Posts: 2,317 Member
    I am a BIG fan of Newman's Own Sesame Ginger dressing. SOOOOOO yummy and only 35 cals per 2 tbsp.
    I love that stuff too. I make a yummy chicken/spinach/fruit salad to go with it.
  • pettmybunny
    pettmybunny Posts: 1,986 Member
    Newman's Own light honey mustard - 70 calories for 2 TBS. If you put 1/4 C cottage cheese in your salad it helps a little dressing go a long way!

    Along with the cottage cheese, I add canned beets. Yummy!
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
    I really like Walden Farms' dressings, some are sugar-free, calorie free, etc.

    Me too- I use it for everything- on salad, as a veggie dip, and my favorite... I use the blue cheese with 99% fat free chicken to make "buffalo chicken" for dinner... yum!
  • Shadowpaws
    Shadowpaws Posts: 109
    I tried this yesterday, it was awesome! Thanks for the tips! :wink:
  • JJeMitchell
    JJeMitchell Posts: 160 Member
    Newman's Own Sesame Ginger is amazing! Everyone I know loves it!

    Also: WIshbone fat free Italian is awesome. It's simple and the cheapest one at the grocery store. This is also good for marinades and sometimes I cut cucumbers or carrots and drizzle a little bit of the Wishbone Fat Free Italian on top.

    Newman's Own has a lot of fat free and low calorie dressings that taste so good. I'd recommend trying one if you're looking for a delicious low-cal low-fat dressing.
  • ronkswife2000
    ronkswife2000 Posts: 176
    I just got back from the grocery store and spent about 10 minutes looking at salad dressings lol... I found something a little different, it's made by Wish Bone and it's the salad spritzers- Ranch vinaigrette dressing. There's 15 calories and 1 gram of fat in 10 sprays. I haven't tried it yet but that might be a good way to go also. They had about 5 different flavors.
  • willywonka
    willywonka Posts: 743 Member
    Hi guys, after reading this thread, I went out and bought some Newman's own Light Sesame Ginger and LOVE it!!! Thanks so much for the recommendation :flowerforyou:
  • nikii14
    nikii14 Posts: 403 Member
    I LOVE salad spritzers.

    Balzamic Vinegrette with a salad w/ apples and turkey....SOOO GOOD!!
  • Tiddle
    Tiddle Posts: 762 Member
    I use the salad spritzer, or salsa!
  • nikii14
    nikii14 Posts: 403 Member
    I use the salad spritzer, or salsa!

    Salsa..Great Idea!!
  • xbonbonx
    xbonbonx Posts: 170
    I don't have salads often, and when I do, it's a side salad from somewhere...

    so what I do is squeeze HALF of the dressing out of the packet, into the lid of the side salad, then get a fork full of salad to dip into the dressing. that way it's only half the calories. and I don't feel I need a ton of dressing anyway.

    I don't think I've ever had any type of vinegar dressing.
  • aymie24
    aymie24 Posts: 227
    If you are craving ranch, and I sure do sometimes, try blending either tofu or cottage cheese with enough skim milk to reach the desired consistancy and then either add your own seasonings (dill, onion, garlic) or use a packet. I am going to make a guess that the packet probably has a ton of sodium but I can't say for sure because I make my own little seasoing packs. I eat this either as a dip or on my salad. I also use it when I make tuna salad for wraps for the kids, they LOVE it!
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