Best salad dressing?!

Maldivesbeachbodplease
Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
in Food and Nutrition
Hi all,

Can anyone tell me what dressing is best for salads? e.g. i go in subway and normally have lite mayo with my salad as i am watching carbs/sugar and all the other dressings are quite high in sugar/carbs.

Is this ok? another salad place i go to i get sweet chilli as that is quite low. I know it's prob best to have just lemon juice but it bores me soooo much! i need flavour!

thanks! xxx

Replies

  • Maldivesbeachbodplease
    Maldivesbeachbodplease Posts: 444
    bump - anyone?! xxx
  • lizzie1030
    lizzie1030 Posts: 60
    My favorite is the Maple Grove Farms Fat Free Balsamic Dressing. 15 Calories for 2 Tbsp. 2g sugar. 3g carb. I usually only use 1 tbsp on a sandwich or dinner salad.
  • wobblychopz
    wobblychopz Posts: 13 Member
    my favourite to have on a salad is balsamic vinegar mixed with a little olive oil. YUM
  • bairborne
    bairborne Posts: 23 Member
    I go with the balsamic vinegar mixed with a little olive oil, too but I don't know about the "YUM" part - really I love blue cheese ummmm.
  • chuckyp
    chuckyp Posts: 693 Member
    When I make a baby spinach salad, I use aged balsamic vinegar and olive oil. High in Cals, but healthy.
    With regular iceberg lettuce or a lettuce mix, I like Kraft Light Catalina. 50 Cals per 2 tbsp.
    If I want a Caesar salad, it's Ken's Steakhouse Lite Creamy Caesar. 70 Cals per 2 tbsp.
  • hbunting86
    hbunting86 Posts: 952 Member
    Yeah balsamic and olive oil is A-MAZING. Season your salad with a little salt and pepper, mix through with good quality balsamic and a little olive oil, plus a squeeze of lemon juice and you can't go far wrong. Also if you toss some fresh basil in it's really fragrant so acts as a dressing in a way. I also think the same if I have red onion in a salad... it is really flavoursome so removes the need for a heavy dressing.

    Sometimes when I make a salad I add capers or anchovies or olives - they all have strong, distinct flavours so 'pep' up the salad!

    Enjoy :)
  • sweetsarahj
    sweetsarahj Posts: 701 Member
    I've been eating spinach salads every day for the past 4-5 months. Oil and vinegar gets boring. I use Renee's dressings because they are natural and there are many yummy varieties. I really like the yogurt ones. because they are creamy like the mayo-type dressings, but they are only 40-45 cals per tablespoon. I justify the 'expense' of about 100 cals in dressing by not adding other things to the salad, like cheese, avocados or croutons.
  • bairborne
    bairborne Posts: 23 Member
    I'm a crazy sald eater since the end of March when I started! Two big salads a day, trying to make it fun :)
  • Audrey403
    Audrey403 Posts: 50 Member
    Zero calorie salad dressing:

    http://www.waldenfarms.com/products/dressings.html

    Just found this at my local Stop & Shop. I bought the balsamic and the honey dijon. So far I've tried the honey Dijon with some cucumbers, pretty tastey, probably won't be my favorite flavor. It didn't have any weird after taste though, so that's good. Can't wait to find and try the other favors!
  • sgarrard01
    sgarrard01 Posts: 213 Member
    The company that make low calorie spray oil for frying also make salad dressings... 10 sprays for a large salad works out at 5 around 5-7 calroies!

    http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/#/tesco-price-comparison/dietary/salad_light_balsamic_dressing_spray_250ml.html

    Si
  • kathyms13
    kathyms13 Posts: 497 Member
    I'm a crazy sald eater since the end of March when I started! Two big salads a day, trying to make it fun :)
    this is me on some days its brill.
  • simplyshannal
    simplyshannal Posts: 188 Member
    We live in Germany and over here they serve the lowest calorie, best tasting simple dressing. It is just vinegar, safflower oil and salt. We eat it on all our salads. I think the vinegar is an apple vinegar. You don't pre-make it, you just sprinkle the vinegar on first and then the oil and take a pinch of salt and spread it over the salad. It has virtually no fat or calories.
  • purplepollypops
    purplepollypops Posts: 323 Member
    I've got used to salad without dressing now but sometimes I like the extra flavour so I make my own with either sweet chilli sauce or mango chutney, some wholegrain mustard and lemon juice. Just mix a small amount of each in a little bowl until you get the right consistency and flavour you like. :smile:
  • tamerica07
    tamerica07 Posts: 22 Member
    I just find out a couple of months ago that olive garden sells their salad dressing. It's so good!!! It only 80 cal for 2 tbsp and 2g of carbs and 2g of sugar although high in sodium though :( but its so good and you feel like you get olive garden everyday. we take it everywhere we go in little bowls lol
  • Italianyc84
    Italianyc84 Posts: 192 Member
    I like balsamic vinegar and olive oil best...for a lower calorie blue cheese, sometimes I'll take fat free plain yogurt (you can use greek), add some lemon juice, salt, pepper and then the blue cheese. Sometimes I'll mix in hot sauce if I want it spicy, depending on what kind of salad I'm eating. easy and good :-)
  • impyimpyaj
    impyimpyaj Posts: 1,073 Member
    You could mix up and bring your own. My latest fave is a little lemon juice, some red wine vinegar, a healthy sprinkle of dill, and about half a teaspoon of olive oil. Sometimes I add a little pinch of garlic salt. Low-cal, high flavor.
  • debbies807
    debbies807 Posts: 3
    I finally found a vinaigrette I like. Marzetti Simply Dressed all natural vinaigrette with Champagne and extra virgin olive oil. It's really really good. I find it in produce section at Hannaford's super market but they probably have it other places too.
  • Junepal
    Junepal Posts: 148 Member
    Zero calorie salad dressing:

    http://www.waldenfarms.com/products/dressings.html

    Just found this at my local Stop & Shop. I bought the balsamic and the honey dijon. So far I've tried the honey Dijon with some cucumbers, pretty tastey, probably won't be my favorite flavor. It didn't have any weird after taste though, so that's good. Can't wait to find and try the other favors!

    I second Walden Farms dressings.
  • shel1103
    shel1103 Posts: 185 Member
    I am obsessed with Frank's Red Hot. I will mix this with a tiny bit of light blue cheese dressing and it's amazing. Definitely a lot of flavor.
  • Lieberm
    Lieberm Posts: 51 Member
    I like to use pico de gallo or salsa.
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
    I like Ken's Northern Italian Lite dressing
  • IMissIceCream
    IMissIceCream Posts: 8
    I am obsessed with Frank's Red Hot. I will mix this with a tiny bit of light blue cheese dressing and it's amazing. Definitely a lot of flavor.

    I've started putting this on everything now. My husband thinks it's hilarious...but it's a really good low cal and relatively low sodium/sugar way to make stuff extra delicious! :tongue:
  • realme56
    realme56 Posts: 1,093 Member
    Flavored vinegar from Perel with a dash of oil, better than anything commercially based!

    I also use a good salsa with added citrus or vinegar....
  • kayemme
    kayemme Posts: 1,782 Member
    we usually make our own at home. sugar in dressings is only necessary for shelf stability

    if we're out, i try to mimic what i would do at home:

    1part mayo (if available) or oil
    2 parts vinegar or mustard
    a squirt of lemon juice
    garlic or onion
    salt and pepper

    edit: and sugar is added to mayo, just fyi. i make my own at home. the recipe calls for 1tsp of sugar... commercial mayo has all kinds of weird shelf stabilizers, so if it were me, i'd stick with olive oil, mustard (or vinegar) and a little salt & pepper.

Categories