Salad Dressing ideas

I use one tablespoon of ranch dressing and mix in a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar.

Wishbone salad sprays are fantastic as well as the Walden line of dressings.

I've been taste testing quite a few...

The Kraft FF ranch tastes like a light creamy italian 60 cals pretty good and not teeth squeeky)
Paul Newman's Light Honey Mustard is very creamy but 70 cals very good on spinach salad
Market Pantry FF Ranch is the best ever and tastes like full fat dressing -- 45 calories
Kraft FF french pretty good for a bit of change or spice

Since the serving is 2 tbsp, I do mix them every once in a while for great results and a change up.

I love eating salads, and I really love the taste of full flavor (and usually full fat) dressings. I've tried several store bought brands of the light stuff and I'm not a huge fan. What is your favorite kind?

Or do you make your own salad dressing with fewer calories? I'd love ideas. Thanks!

I normally make my own when I can and have fresh ingredients to do so. But my recent trip to the grocery store I was standing in the salad dressing isle looking for something better then what I normally get. When I asked the store clerk if he has ever tried this brand I was looking at he said no but a lot of people buy it. So reluctantly I purchased the salad dressing and I am in love with the brand which is called Ken’s Steak House Salad dressing. Just thinking about it, it makes my mouth water. The one I purchased was the pecan vinaigrette. When I go back to the grocery store I plan on looking at other dressing in this brand. Good luck in finding what you are looking for. They also have a walnut one!

Ken's Light Northern Italian dressing is good, too. And I hate italian dressing!!

For taco salads, mix 2 parts salsa to one part ranch...yum

I switch off all the time to add variety, some full fat some low fat, just depends on how many calories I have to play with. If I add fruit (diced apples, rasins, etc) to my salad, I like to use a raspberry vinaigrette. Marie's and the Kraft Light both have similar fat and calorie contents. I have tried a couple of the salad spritzers lately, only one calorie per spritz and not a bad flavor on the ones I have tried. I also often use salsa when I don't have a lot of calories to spare....lots of flavor, very few calories.

I make my own. The only prepared one I get is trader joes balsamic vinaigrette. It is I think 90 calories for 2 tablespoons and very tasty.

You really don't need lots of fresh stuff to make a tasty dressing. You can use pantry staples of garlic or onion (chop up around 1-2 tablespoons). Add 3 parts acid, one part Dijon mustard and 1-2 parts oil with salt and pepper to taste. You might even add a bit of sweetener. This is great if you use balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, lemon juice and orange or grapefruit juice. You can leave out the mustard. Add fresh herbs and even use a bit of jam for the sweetener. I typically have 5-8 kinds of vinegar in my pantry and 5-9 kinds or oil. I just switch around.

Another tasty option is tahini, lemon juice, water, salt, pepper, and cumin. Nutty creamy, and rich.

Or make a creamy dressing using greek yogurt.

I usually make one of these when I have salad. Half the time I am too lazy to chop onions/garlic so I just use oil,acid, salt, pepper, mustard, sweetener and mix. I save the mini glass jars from jam and similar and shake it up in that. No blending needed. These will keep for a few weeks in the fridge.

For a really good "honey mustard" flavor just mix mustard & a little splenda, zero calories I usually thin it with a little water but I bet with greek yogurt it would be good too. I also mix up my own dry ranch dressing & my own taco seasoning & am thinking combining the two with some greek yogurt would be a really good spicy ranch type.

A few months ago, sick of salad dressings that had enough calories and sodium to make my salads unhealthier than mac and cheese, I discovered Bolthouse Farms dressing. It's yogurt-based, so it's creamy (which I like better than vinaigrette), but it's very low-calorie. The honey mustard dressing is also very low in sodium, but they have other flavors.

Now if I can find a substitute for crunchy croutons with less calories and sodium...

Have you ever tried making your own? I use sorta stale bread, cut into cubes, spritz very lightly with EVOO. Sprinkle on some Nature's Seasoning (there are 2 versions - reg & low sodium) and bake them in the oven.

I switched from thousand island dressing to Italian. I use very very little however. I can also eat salads without dressing (especially if grilled chicken is in it). I think moderation of how much you put on your salad is important.