Salads are the foundation of a healthy diet and balanced living; they bring you vitamins and fibers and keep you slim. But all that ends when you top your beautiful salad with a store-bought dressing, rich in calories and low on nutrients. Making your own healthy salad dressing is the solution, and it’s more convenient than you think.
Salads to go are every busy person’s salvation when trying to have a healthy meal without wasting much time. Of course, it’s common knowledge by now that the dressings we buy are not a good option. But who has the time for DIY projects in the kitchen?
Well, a healthy salad dressing is easier and faster to make than you may expect. And there are so many simple dressing ideas you can try without making yourself late for work. Basically, there is a healthy homemade version of every store-bought dressing. But the ones I’ll show you below are also diet-friendly.
The five dressing recipes below will add flavor to your salads while also keeping the calories under control. And if you make a few and store them in your fridge, you are set for the week.
Why Make Your Own Dressing?
Homemade food is always better, and dressings are no exception. Still not sure your upgraded salads are worth spending a little time in the kitchen? Take a look below for the tremendous advantages you get from making your own healthy salad dressing:
- You save money; once you discover your favorite combination, you can have the ingredients ready in the fridge so you can make fresh and healthy dressing on the spot
- You avoid artificial ingredients
- You can customize the dressing to your taste
- You know exactly what you are eating, which is particularly important if you have allergies
- It’s not just for salads; you can use it as a dip or for marinating your meat before cooking
And let’s face it, if you take the time to chop the veggies for your salad, how hard can it be also to make your own dressing? This step is crucial if you want to lose weight, as you won’t be adding unnecessary calories to your carefully planned menu.
Checklist for Making your Own Healthy Salad Dressing
Ingredients aside, there are a few things you need for making your healthy salad dressing for weight loss and storing it safely. Make sure you have these in your kitchen, and you’ll put together a light and delicious dressing any time, adjusting to the ingredients you already have in your fridge.
Here’s what to put on your checklist:
- A jar to mix the ingredients – make sure the lid fits tight
- A blender may be better for some recipes
- The ingredients of your choice
- An airtight container if you want to make more dressing and keep it in the fridge for a few days
How to Store your Homemade Dressing
You can safely store your custom-made healthy salad dressing in your refrigerator. But you need to use airtight containers, preferably made of glass. That will keep the dressing fresh, and the taste won’t be affected. Plastic containers are less efficient in that respect.
As for how long you can store your homemade dressing in the fridge, the answer depends on the ingredients. If you don’t use perishable ingredients, like ginger, lemon zest, or fresh herbs, your dressing can maintain its quality for up to two weeks. For more complex dressings that use fresh ingredients, the term for safe storing is one week.
Balsamic Vinaigrette – the Classic Healthy Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
- Balsamic vinegar – 3 tbsp
- Dijon mustard – 1 tbsp
- Minced garlic
- Olive oil – about half a cup
- Salt
- Pepper
Balsamic vinaigrette is one of the most popular salad dressings and also one of the healthiest ones. Not to mention a go-to option when you want to keep your salad low in calories.
But there are many other solid options out there.
5 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes that Won’t Affect your Diet
If you’re trying to lose weight or simply improve your eating habits to get a healthier lifestyle, you are probably no stranger to salads. But to make sure your salad does what you expect it to, you must be careful what dressing you use.
Not paying attention to the ingredient can turn your innocent salad into a menace to your diet. You could be adding more calories than you think to your daily count, with what you think is a light meal.
The following healthy salad dressing recipes are excellent for spicing up your salads while staying on the right track, calorie-wise. As you will see, a low-calorie salad dressing recipe doesn’t equal bland taste.
1. Strawberry Dressing
A fruit-based dressing is a great idea, especially since we don’t usually eat as many fruits as we should every day. And strawberries are one of the best options. Why? They have no sodium, no fat, no cholesterol, and are low on calories.
#healthydressing
I was impressed by how well strawberries mix with basil; the final taste of this healthy salad dressing is amazing. It may not work with any salad, but this vegan dressing is definitely unique and worth trying.
2. Avocado and Cucumber Dressing
This yogurt-based DIY dressing has such a fresh flavor, and the texture is close to some of the store-bought dressings you may be tempted to buy. But there’s nothing in this homemade salad dressing but healthy ingredients and natural flavor. Not to mention it’s also a healthy dressing to dip veggies in.
If you’re not the biggest fan of avocado, this healthy salad dressing is an excellent way of adding it to your diet without noticing its taste. It will be worth it; avocado is crazy healthy!
Read more about Adding the Avocado Shade of Green to your Diet.
#greenbutnotbroccoli
#healthyavocadodressing
3. Garlic Vinaigrette
Garlic is used in many dressing recipes, but in this case, the flavor is quite rich. This healthy salad dressing is a simple vinaigrette upgraded with the strong taste and the special texture of garlic.
#garlicvinaigrette
If you love garlic, this may be the best vinaigrette dressing for you. But you can also use it to marinate the meat before cooking to make the perfect stir-fry. Or you can put it over your meat and veggies once cooked to add flavor.
4. Yogurt Dressing
This is another excellent option for a yogurt-based homemade dressing. The parsley really adds a nice touch, and it mixes perfectly with the other ingredients. You can also use this as a dip when you want to indulge yourself in a fuller meal. The best part is you’ll feel like you’re cheating without actually eating nasty preservatives.
#yogurtdressing
Yogurt is a crucial ingredient in healthy weight loss, and if you use Greek yogurt, the taste will be a winner too. You can read more about the benefits of yogurt in this article:
The Potato and Yogurt Diet – Crash Diet or Useful Aid?
5. Herbs and Lime Dressing
This is a very easy dressing recipe, despite the long list of ingredients. If you don’t have all the herbs, you can adapt the recipe; the taste will still be great. And it goes well with many salad recipes. If you’re looking for a healthy dressing without vinegar, this is the one to try; orange and lime juice will bring light acidity to the mix.
#citrusdressing
If you’re looking for a healthy salad dressing for weight loss, you may avoid adding sweet ingredients. But in this case, honey improves the taste significantly, and you don’t have to add very much. Besides, honey is one of the healthiest sweet things you can have, unlike the sugar and sweeteners store-bought dressings contain.
FAQs on Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes
What is the healthiest dressing for a salad?
Balsamic vinaigrette is generally considered the healthiest option when it comes to salad dressings. It’s a basic dressing with healthy ingredients, and it’s also quite versatile, suitable for many types of salads.
If you’re not sure what healthy dressing to put on a salad, the general rule is to avoid creamy dressings. But you can make your own healthy salad dressing with a creamy texture, using only natural ingredients and not adding too much oil.
What is a good salad dressing for weight loss?
Is dressing bad for you when you’re trying to stay healthy and lose weight? Yes, the one you buy from the supermarket definitely is. Just one glance at the list of ingredients will make that perfectly clear.
But you can make your own healthy salad dressing without sugar or other harmful ingredients and still enjoy a tasty salad. Balsamic vinegar dressing is the safest and most simple choice, but all the dressings I showed you above are good options for weight loss. A homemade dressing is the best option when you want to lose weight because you’re fully in control of the ingredients.
How do you reduce the acidity in salad dressing?
If your homemade salad dressing is too acidic, you can quickly fix that by diluting the dressing with a bit of water. Another quick fix is adding some honey or maple syrup to balance the acidity from the vinegar.
You can also add more oil; as long as you’re using a good oil like extra virgin olive oil, that shouldn’t be a problem. Still, to make sure your healthy salad dressing isn’t too acidic, don’t add too much vinegar, to begin with. You can use the rule of 4 parts of oil for 1 part of vinegar.
Is there a homemade salad dressing under 50 calories?
The vinaigrette is a homemade salad dressing under 50 calories, as long as you keep the oil quantity under control. But you can keep many other salad dressings at a low caloric level by avoiding ingredients like nuts, sweet fruits, sour cream. Even avocado can add calories to your healthy dressing, so don’t use too much of it.
Is dressing unhealthy?
Bottled dressing you get at the store is usually unhealthy. It contains many harmful ingredients, fats and preservatives, and the infamous palm oil. On the other hand, Homemade dressing can improve your salads without affecting your health or weight.
There is such a thing as a healthy salad dressing; there are many options, actually. But you must carefully choose the ingredients and the quantities, and don’t keep the homemade dressing in the fridge for too long.
Is there a fat-free salad dressing?
There is no fat-free salad dressing, but there are healthy salad dressings that only use good fat. The dressing needs a particular texture that you cannot get without using some kind of fat; even the famous vinaigrette has oil.
But your body needs fat. So even when you’re on a diet, you still need to add good fats to your menus if you want to stay healthy. The goal isn’t to find a fat-free salad dressing but to only use healthy fats that your body needs, like high-quality oils or avocado.
Written by Mia Davis
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