What salad dressing do you use?

I looove ranch dressing, that's the only one I've used for a long time. But now that I'm counting calories, it just takes up too many of my calorie allowance.

I bought the fat free Ranch but that just tastes like crap to me.

So, any suggestions?

Balsamic vinegar with a little olive oil is at the top of my list when it comes to low calorie choices.

Here's a good low calorie yogurt salad dressing that can be used either as a salad dressing or to mix up with your favorite chopped up vegetables for a chopped salad.  

1 cup low fat yogurt

4 tablespoons your favorite salsa

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic salt

14 calories per tablespoon - compared to 140 calories for 2 tablespoons of most blue cheese dressings.

Spread one teaspoonful of your favorite fatty dressing on top of the salad (in my case this is Maggiano's).  Then douse the salad with red wine vinegar.  Garnish with a little grated strong cheese (like mizithra or parmesan) and a lot of black pepper.  If you've got a few extra calories to burn add some chopped walnuts or dried cranberries.

Maybe I'm weird but I put salsa on my salad, sometimes salsa and cottage cheese.  If I have chunks of avocado I skip the dressing.  I also do the olive oil and balsamic vinegar thing.

I am a bleu cheese fan ... and I use Litehouse bleu cheese lite dressing and I don't notice the difference between the lite and the regular.  I think Litehouse also makes a lite ranch ... maybe it would be just as good as the bleu cheese?  I don't know why I never tried the lite before now ... I am kicking myself that I could have been saving those calories all along -- since they taste the same to me!

If you like some ranchy...I make a dip/salad dressing that is to die for, just low-fat plain yogurt (the only kind I use is Astro BioBest, it's amazing) and a bit of low-fat oliveoil mayo, chopped green onions, lots of pepper, and just a tiny bit of the ranch powder others have mentioned (I use about 1/2 tsp per 1/2 cup of dressing, no more is needed, really). Oh yum I am SO having that for dinner....it's great on salads, raw veggies, pita wraps, and also on spicy roasted potato or yam wedges.

I think the quality of the yogurt is integral.

Lemon vinaigrette -- just lemon juice emulsified with some oil, salt, and maybe a tiny bit of sugar.

Seasoned rice vinegar (i.e. rice vinegar with sugar and salt) -- no fat, but oh so good. 

Balsamic and red wine vinegar dressings are good too, but something about a well seasoned rice vinegar is just perfectly clean and fresh on a salad, imo.

oil and vinegar with papaya juice is a reaally good alternative to just regular oil and vinegar and it tastes much better!

I usually make my own dressings and just use very little of them, Bragg's brand makes a really yummy Sesame & Ginger Dressing that is the only bottled stuff I would ever eat. But here is a recipe that is practically calorie free and has lots of flavor:

I absolutely love Italian Dressing! Especially Wishbone Robust Flavor! It actually has fewer calories than the regular Wishbone Italian dressing which was a shock to me.

I also love ranch when I feel like eating my salad somewhat unhealthy.

A good suggestion that I got from my former roommate is to get the dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing and stab some salad with the dressing coated fork! This works especially well for ranch and other milk based dressings. (A bit harder with the italian and vinegrettes, but still doable)

Hope this helps!

I started using the Ken's Steak House Lite Honey Mustard spray on dressing, and I love it!!!! 10 sprays= 15 calories :)

Neumans Light Balsamic Vinegar or Kraft Light Cucumber are my usual picks. But generally I add a lot of (white) vinegar to thin out whatever dressing I have.. less calories and I hear it's good for the metabolism :)

I really like the new Bountifuls line of dressings by Wishbone-- especially the Berry Delight one. Full of big chunky berries and low in calories-- 35 per serving.

Original Post by mlilly1186:

Ken's now has a lighter line called Ken's Healthy Options. I like these a lot. Only like 25 cals for 2 tbsp. Haven't tried them all but I have loved their Caesar.

 I really like Ken's Lite Raspberry walnut vinagrette ... it's 80 cals per 2 tbsp serving - but that is really a lot of dressing because this is thin like italian ...!  I always thought that I was being terrible and drowning my salads, but the other day my daughter used one of those plastic medicine cups you get in the hospital (30 ml/2 tbs/2 oz), and it just naturally leaves a puddle in the bottom of the salad ... I think I'll try 1 tbsp with my next salad and see how it does.  I tried the "spray" raspberry walnut, but don't really get the same level of taste/flavor as I get with the Ken's.    

 Have you tried thinning your current ranch dressing in small increments with water or milk?  Start small and just increase the amount of the thinner until it's too runny to tolerate.

I also agree that salad with some salad dressing is better for your health than no salad!   Even if you get/put your dressing on the side and dunk your pieces, at least you're eating leafy green veggies!  I also find that the darker lettuces need less dressing than 'no flavor - minimum nutrition" iceberg.  (l learned how little there was in iceberg when my son had his iguana - could NOT feed iceberg, was taught that it would fill it's stomach yet die of starvation....)

Bottom line?  Good luck!  Keep trying ... you'll find something you can live with that you will continue with for life - remember, it's not about a diet, but your eating habits for life.

Currently hooked on MapleGrove Farms Fat Free Balsamic, Ras Vinegrette, Caesar and Greek all 20 calories or less per 2 tbsp's

I also like generic brand FF Italian its usually low calorie and quite cheap on sale, yes it has HFCS but you can't win em all

If you can't give up the ranch, try Hidden Valley Light Ranch.  80 Cals/2 tbsp, and it comes in a handy squirt bottle.

Something that helped me switch from ranch was cottage cheese.  Not necessarily low cal, but lower than most ranch dressings.  It's creamy and you actually get some protein and calcium and other good things from it!

Usually I use Ken's FF Italian. 25 cals/2 tbsp I think.

Going off the cottage cheese thing though, lately I've been eating salad with some cottage cheese and fat free French drizzled on top.  I don't know if anyone outside of my family does this, but it's delicious!

Regular Zesty Italian... I have 2-3 tbsp on my salad and it's enough. I've tried the fat-free and all it did was ruin my salad. I've started dipping my fork into the dressing and then stabbing the salad, but sometimes I'm lazy and don't feel like dirtying multiple dishes and just do 2-3 tbsp and enjoy. I always plan my meals out so I always leave room for the dressing.