What are the 5 most popular salad dressings?

According to a study by The Association for Dressings and Sauces, the top five most popular salad dressings in the USA are Ranch Dressing, Caesar Dressing, Italian Dressing, Balsamic Vinaigrette, and Thousand Island Dressing .

What is the healthiest oil for salad dressing?

In order to get the most health benefits, Pappa recommends looking for high-quality oil like extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil . These unrefined oils have favorable monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat profiles, which are considered “healthy” fats.

What is the unhealthiest salad dressing?

Caesar dressing . Made up of mayonnaise, cheese, salt and oil (and all too often, anchovies), Caesar tends to be one of the least healthy options out there. Those ingredients cause it to be high in both saturated fats and sodium.

Is vinegar and oil good for you?

Olive oil and balsamic vinegar are your new secret weapons. With benefits like promoting cell repair and being diabetes-friendly, it's no wonder they're considered superfoods . At Primo, we believe in simple recipes and great ingredients for a healthy lifestyle.

What is the oldest salad dressing?

French dressing is the oldest one on our list, but vinegar and oil dressing goes back nearly two-thousand years to ancient Babylonia.

What is the best vinegar for salads?

Balsamic vinegar : Makes a bold, slightly sweet dressing that is wonderful on green salads with fruit, such as apples, strawberries or peaches. Red wine vinegar: Packs a punch and works well with other bold flavors and bright veggies, like tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, cabbage and more (think Greek salads).

What is the best vinegar for salad dressing?

White wine vinegar This vinegar has a much mellower flavor than red wine vinegar and lacks the sharp tang of its sister vinegar. White wine vinegar is best used with more delicate salads and any situation where you want to add a hint of vinegar, but do not want that flavor to overwhelm the dish.

Is it healthy to put olive oil on salad?

Olive oil is a great choice for making your salads healthier and tastier . Experiment with different varieties, add some herbs and spices, mix with other healthy fats, balance the flavor with vinegar, add some sweetness, and top with healthy fats and proteins.

Is it better to eat salad with dressing or no salad at all?

Adding dressing, condiments, or cheese will not remove vegetable nutrients . Adding those extra ingredients to your vegetables will not give them less fiber or less vitamins. By adding cheese to your vegetables, you'll add some protein to it, which will help make them more satisfying.

What can I substitute for vinegar in salad dressing?

Lemon or lime juice is definitely the best alternative to vinegar to make a dressing. Personally, I eat salad sans dressing, although I use a lot of flavorful ingredients so I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

Is Italian dressing healthier than ranch?

Lower-Calorie Alternative to Creamy Dressings Italian dressing makes a better alternative than many other higher-calorie options. It adds taste to salad and offers good fat. Though many calories come from fats, it is better than primarily cream-based dressings like ranch , a thousand island, or blue cheese.

Is ranch or Caesar dressing healthier?

Which dressing is better for me? What did I learn? Well, ranch has more calories, but caesar has more sodium and sugar.

Is Caesar dressing heart healthy?

Caesar dressing is made with egg yolks, salt, and oil. These ingredients produce a dressing that is often high in saturated fat and sodium. While light and fat-free Caesar dressings exist, they typically only reduce fat and not sodium .

6 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes (2024)

Home > All Recipes > Meal > Lunch > Salad > 6 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes

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By: Author Samantha Rowland

Posted on Published: July 3, 2019- Last updated: July 18, 2023

These 6 healthy salad dressing recipes are my favorite way to add flavor to salad! These recipes are easy to make, are full of healthy ingredients and are packed with flavor! Never have a boring salad again!

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Why you are going to love these recipes

These healthy salad dressing recipes are all so simple to make! All you need is a blender and about 5 minutes for each recipe!
These homemade dressing recipes are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, paleo and Whole30 friendly!
There is a salad dressing for every cuisine you might be craving! It’s going to be tough to pick a favorite!
Making your own salad dressing at home helps you save money! If you have ever bought a bottle of salad dressing that has good, quality ingredients, it will likely cost you about $6 per bottle!

Why should you make salad dressing at home?

Many of the store bought salad dressings on shelves are full of low quality ingredients. Many have artificial ingredients (colors, dyes, flavors), high fructose corn syrup, canola oils and other less than ideal preservative agents.

There are some great high quality salad dressing options now, however they are often very expensive per bottle. You can make homemade dressing for a fraction of the cost with ingredients you likely already have on hand!

How many servings do these make?

Each of these recipes as written makes between 1 and 1.5 cups of dressing, the perfect amount for a week of salads!

If you want to be able to enjoy 2 or 3 salad dressing recipes in a week, you can always cut the recipe in half!

How much is a serving of dressing?

The typical salad dressing serving size is 2 tablespoons, so that is the serving size of these recipes as well. One cup of dressing is 16 tablespoons, which is about 8 servings.

Storage

Most of these recipes are good for about a week in a tightly sealed glass container. NOTE: many of these dressings will separate a bit in the fridge. Just shake the dressing well to mix everything back up before serving!

Almond Butter Turmeric Dressing

This dressing is just like the almond butter turmeric dressing that you can buy at Trader Joe’s! I became a huge fan of this dressing pretty quickly, but I don’t always remember to pick up a bottle when I’m out shopping, so I had to learn how to make it at home! It’s bright and has a slight kick from the fresh grated ginger and turmeric.

What it’s good on: Salads, dip for fresh or roasted veggies (these roasted brussels are so good dipped in this dressing), vegetable wraps, pasta salad dressing.

Notes: Best texture if you blend this together in a high-speed blender! Store this almond butter turmeric dressing in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. To make this recipe Whole30 friendly, be sure to use 1-2 medjool dates instead of maple syrup!

TIP: Turmeric stains everything, so be careful when measuring it out and blending this up. Clean your blender immediately so it doesn’t stain your blender.

Creamy Balsamic Dressing

Balsamic dressing is a classic! This creamy balsamic is my go-to dressing for my weekly salads! It’s thicker than traditional balsamic vinaigrette and it is great as a dip as well!

What it’s good on: Salads, sandwiches, as a dip for fresh or roasted veggies, pasta salad, tuna salad, dipping for pizza

Notes: This creamy balsamic dressing is best when blended in the blender for about 10 seconds. Store in a well-sealed glass container for about a week! Pour extra on your pizzas or take to work to dip your veggies in!

Creamy Italian Dressing

This zesty Italian dressing recipe is perfect for green garden salads or pasta salads! You are not going to believe how much flavor you get from this dressing!

What it’s good on: Salad, pasta salad, tuna salad, marinating shrimp or chicken, antipasto salads

Notes: This dressing can be made in a mason jar with a tight fitting lid, it doesn’t need to be blended! Store in the fridge for a week! The dressing continues to get more flavorful as it sits in the fridge! Great as a marinade as well!

Sesame Ginger Asian Salad Dressing

Sesame ginger Asian salad dressing is going to give the ginger dressing you get at your favorite Japanese steakhouse a run for it’s money! This sesame ginger dressing is packed with flavor! The sesame oil and fresh ginger are really important to the overall flavor!

What it’s good on: Salad, Asian salads, Asian slaws, tuna salad, marinating shrimp or chicken or as a dip for fresh or roasted veggies!

Notes: Best texture if you blend this together in a high speed blender! I buy fresh minced ginger in jars, since that is easier to use and measure in recipes. You can find fresh grated ginger in most grocery stores in the Asian cuisine area. You can buy it online as well! This sesame ginger dressing will last about a week in the fridge in a well sealed jar. This dressing will quickly separate in the fridge. Shake well before use!

Chipotle Ranch Dressing

This spicy chipotle ranch dressing is my favorite southwest salad dressing or dip! It’s thick, creamy and completely dairy free! You are going to love the kick from the chipotle chili powder in this recipe!

What It’s good on: salads, taco salads, drizzled on tacos or burrito bowls, as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets or salmon bites, on slaw.

Notes: This dressing has to be made in the blender since the base is cashews! This dressing is thick, so feel free to add extra water once you test the consistency! Store in an airtight container for 1 week! If you have extra, this is really good on burrito bowls!

TIP: This recipe requires that the cashews are softened. The easiest way to do this is to soak cashews in clean water for 3-4 hours or to boil the cashews in water for 3-4 minutes. Rinse the cashews of the water they soaked in and use new water in the recipe!

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing

This avocado cilantro dressing is bright and fresh and makes any dish instantly pop! You will not want to use any other kind of dressing on your next taco salad after you try this dressing!

What it’s good on: salads, taco salads, burrito bowls, tacos, tuna salad, as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets or salmon bites, as a dipping sauce for veggies (fresh or roasted), or on breakfast hash!

Notes: This recipe needs the blender to break up the cilantro! You can use the leaves and the stems from the cilantro! The avocado may start to go brown after 4-5 days in the fridge. Store in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to a week.

If you love these healthy salad dressing recipes, you should also try these homemade dressing recipes

Honey Mustard Dressing
Dairy free ranch dressing
Avocado Ranch Dressing
Vegan French Dressing
Greek Dressing (with kalamata olives)
Mango Lime Vinaigrette
Lime Tahini Dressing
Cilantro Tahini Dressing
Lemon Herb Tahini Dressing

What equipment do you need?

Most of these salad dressing recipes could be made with just a mason jar and a tight-fitting lid (all but the chipotle ranch and avocado cilantro). However, I have discovered that a quick spin in a high-speed blender (I love my Ninja Bullet Blender), creates the best-emulsified salad dressing, making it more like store-bought!

★ Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating below!

6 Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes

Average Cost: $3.04 Recipe/$0.38 Serving

These healthy salad dressing recipes take any salad from boring to flavorful! These salad dressing recipes are easy to make, packed with flavor, vegan, dairy free, paleo and Whole30 friendly!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Save Rate

Course: Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: healthy salad dressing, vegan salad dressing, Whole30 salad dressing

Prep Time: 5 minutes mins

Total Time: 25 minutes mins

Servings: 48 servings

Author: Samantha Rowland

Guided Recipe Video

Ingredients

Almond Butter Turmeric Dressing ($3.11 Recipe/$0.39 Serving)

1/4 cup almond butter - $0.92
1 cup water - $0.00
2 lemons, juiced - $0.84
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger - $0.36
2 tsp turmeric - $0.20
2 tbsp maple syrup (or 2 dates for Whole30) - $0.62
1 tsp salt - $0.05
1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
1/4 tsp black pepper - $0.02

Creamy Balsamic Dressing (2.26 Recipe/$0.28 Serving)

1/4 cup tahini - $0.82
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar - $1.25
1/4 cup water - $0.00
1 tbsp dijon mustard - $0.06
1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
1/2 tsp salt - $0.03

Creamy Italian Dressing (3.75 Recipe/$0.46 Serving)

1/3 cup avocado oil (or olive oil) - $1.94
1/2 cup dairy free milk - $0.29
1/4 cup red wine vinegar - $0.75
2 tbsp dijon mustarrd - $0.12
2 tbsp Italian seasoning - $0.50
1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
3/4 tsp salt - $0.05

Sesame Ginger Asian Dressing (2.73 Recipe/$0.34 Serving)

1/3 cup tahini - $1.13
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar - $0.24
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar - $0.12
3 tbsp coconut aminos - $0.53
1/3 cup water - $0.00
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger - $0.36
1 tbsp sesame oil - $0.30
1/2 tsp salt - $0.03
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper - $0.02

Chipotle Ranch Dressing ($3.30 Recipe/$0.41 Serving)

1 cup raw cashews, soaked - $1.86
1 cup water - $0.00
2 tbsp olive oil - $0.44
2 tbsp dried chives - $0.50
1 tsp Chipotle Powder - $0.10
1 tsp smoked paprika - $0.10
1 tsp dried parsley - $0.10
1/2 tsp dried dill - $0.05
1 tsp garlic powder - $0.10
1/2 tsp salt - $0.05

Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing (3.10 Recipe/$0.39 Serving)

2 small avocado - $1.25
2 limes, juiced - $0.66
1/2 cup dairy free milk - $0.29
1/2 cup water - $0.00
1/4 cup cilantro - $0.65
1.5 tsp garlic powder - $0.15
1 tsp salt - $0.05
.5 tsp cumin - $0.05

Instructions

Add the ingredients for the recipe to a high speed blender
Blend on high until fully incorporated
Store in a glass container in the fridge for 1 week.

Equipment

High speed blender

Notes

Serving Size: The serving size is 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. Each recipe makes about 8 servings (16 tablespoons).

Budget friendly tip: Substitute the avocado oil for olive oil and the Italian Dressing cost is $3.02 Recipe/$0.38 Serving.

Dairy free milk suggestions:

Unsweetened Almond milk
Unsweetened Cashew Milk
Oat milk
Coconut milk (in the refrigerated section)

How to soak cashews:

Soak in filtered water for 3-4 hours at room temperature
Boil in filtered water for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Drain the cashews after soaking. Use fresh water in the recipe.

Storage: Store the dressing in the fridge in mason jars or other easy to seal glass containers.

See how I calculate food cost.

Nutrition Information

Nutrition Facts

Amount per Serving

Calories

Fat

Carbohydrates

Fiber

Sugar

Protein

Where does nutrition info come from? Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy, sourced from the USDA Food Database.

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