Expand Your Salad Dressing Options
Not many of us eat lettuce salads without dressing. It can be the highlight of the salad or even what gets us to eat more veggies! However, we know that salad dressing is USUALLY where all of the calories and fat are loaded. You’ve gone to the effort of making a beautiful salad with veggies and greens and then drowning it with anti-nutrients (things that have very little nutrition).
Let’s build a new habit of making your own salad dressing along with building gorgeous salads because those fat-free versions in the market just don’t cut it! (OK, there are a few that taste pretty good and they're getting better.)
The good news is that it usually takes no more than 5 minutes to make your own salad dressing and they’re budget-friendly, as well. With these staples, tips and instructions, it’ll be old hat in no time.
5 MINUTES AND BUDGET FRIENDLY
Once you master the basic oil-free salad dressing formulas, you are free to adjust them to your taste. Add a little more or less of this or that and keep tasting.
Then store your dressing in cute containers (see below) and you're ready to rock your salads!
MINDSET WARNING: Keep in mind that you may be so used to the taste of oil or mayonnaise that you’ll find these dressing wanting. Yes, there’s a certain mouthfeel to oil, but I’m betting you find the substitutions of nuts, tofu and beans to your liking.
I’m now so used to salad dressings without oil that any addition just doesn’t taste right. I like mine to have punch, so that helps. You really can adjust your taste buds to eat the healthiest foods.
THE SLOW METHOD: If you just can’t get around making a salad dressing without added processed oil, try lowering the oil each time you make one until you gain a new appreciation for the flavor.
If you'd like to receive my weekly newsletter with helpful articles and recipes, sign up here and receive this FREE OIL-FREE SALAD DRESSING FORMULA.
The OIL-FREE SALAD DRESSING formula
Let's talk about oil-free for a moment. In this case, I'm referring to a dressing without added processed oil, like olive, canola or sesame. As you probably know, nuts, avocado, tahini all have natural fat. Sooo, if you are cutting back on fat, you'll want to stick with beans as a base or go for a vinaigrette dressing, which is clear and not creamy, instead.
Dressings are made up of a base, acid, an optional sweetener, and flavorings or spices. Traditional dressings use oil as a base. For our oil-free versions, we’ll be substituting nuts or nut butter, seeds, cannellini beans or avocado.
These will make your dressing creamy. For a vinaigrette, omit the “creamy” ingredients and stick with the acids such as vinegars or juices. Remember, sweeteners are optional...
PORTIONS: keep in mind that the portions will vary depending on what ingredients you're using. For a dressing with oil, it's typically a 3 to 1 ratio, or for example 3/4 cup oil to 1/4 vinegar. For a creamy dressing, you can start with 3/4 cup creamy base (tofu, beans, avocado, soaked raw cashews) and add 1/4 cup acid (vinegar, lemon, etc).
Experiment and taste as you go and you'll get better at it with experience.
Oil-free salad dressing formulas
Optional Oil Substitution: This will work if you'd like to just substitute it for the oil in any recipe. Mix 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot with 1 cup water over medium heat. Mix until thickened. Cool and use as an oil substitute. This gives the mouth-feel of oil and also helps the dressing stick to leaves.
1. Oil-free creamy salad dressing formula:
Creamy base + acid + flavorings + sweetener + S&P
Creamy Choices:
Tofu, cannellini beans, soaked cashews, soy yogurt, tahini, avocado, nut butters like almond, cashew or peanut.
2. Oil-free vinaigrette dressing formula:
Acid (vinegar or juice) + flavorings + sweetener + S&P
Acid Choices:
Vinegars: apple cider, balsamic, red or white wine, champagne, rice wine, sherry, or flavored like raspberry
Juice: lemon, lime, orange
Flavorings/spices:
- Garlic
- Onion
- Mustard
- Ginger
- Dried or fresh herb: basil, dill, oregano, parsley, etc
- Powdered spices: onion powder, garlic powder, turmeric, curry, etc.
- Miso (dark or light)
- Nutritional yeast
- Hot sauce
- Chipotle (very spicy, but a lovely unique flavor)
- Tamari (like soy sauce)
- Sweeteners:
- Maple syrup, fruit (like apple sauce, peaches or berries), Stevia.
I hope you're up for experimenting. Adjust these to your taste preferences, and you'll be a happy salad eater in no time!
Here's a couple of dressings to get you going:
VINAIGRETTES
Simple Vinaigrette
- Whisk together:
- 3 tablespoons vinegar: balsamic, white wine, champagne, apple cider or red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons mustard: yellow, brown or spicy
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup (or equivalent sugar substitute like Stevia)
- 1 tablespoon tamari (soy sauce)
- 1 clove garlic, crush or minced
- 2 tablespoons water
- Salt & pepper to taste
Sesame Miso Dressing
- Whisk together:
- 2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon miso
- 2 teaspoon tamari (like soy sauce)
- 1 shallot, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Mexican Lime Cilantro Dressing
- Whisk together:
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 tsp chopped jalapeño pepper (optional)
- 2 teaspoons fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
CREAMY DRESSINGS
Creamy Caesar Dressing:
- Whisk together:
- 1/4 cup hummus either homemade or store-bought (or use about 1/3 cup cannellini beans)
- 1/4 fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
- 2 large cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
Ranch Dressing:
- 1 cup soaked raw cashews (or 3/4 cup unsweetened, non-dairymilk + 1 Tbl chia seeds)
- 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh dill weed, or 1 teaspoon dried
- Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
- Place the cashews (or non-dairy milk and chia seeds), water, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a high powered blender and process until smooth and creamy.
- Remove to your container and add the minced basil and dill weed.
- Stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to five days.
See more salads and dressings here in the SALADs & Dressings.
NOTE:
¼ cup of dressing is usually enough for 4 servings of lettuce salad. For heavier vegetable salads, pasta or potato, you’ll need more as these tend to soak up more of the dressing.
See more salads and dressings here in the SALADs & Dressings.
NOTE:
¼ cup of dressing is usually enough for 4 servings of lettuce salad. For heavier vegetable salads, pasta or potato, you’ll need more as these tend to soak up more of the dressing.
Anchor Hocking 10 oz
Glass Cruet with Stopper
- Capacity: 10.25 oz
- Height: 6-1/2"
- Top Diameter: 1-5/8"
- Bottom Diameter: 1-1/2"
- Maximum Diameter: 3-1/2"
Glass Bottles with Lids
8 oz. Glass Bottles
- Opening
- Dishwasher safe
- Styled after retro milk jars and topped with removable metal caps
- Hermetic closures that helps preserve the fresh taste of vinegars, dressing, sauces and beverages.
- Clear glass allows you to instantly identify the contents
Olive oil actually helps with the absorption of the nutrients in greens, so while these are “interesting” ideas, I’m gonna stick with my olive oil & vinegar dressings.
Hey Lora, while I agree with you that fat helps with absorption of nutrients in greens, I follow Dr. Fuhrman’s recommendations which are to limit process oils, such as olive, and use nuts and seeds instead. Very small quantities of olive oil probably won’t hurt, but people often don’t limit themselves. In an an article about nuts and seeds he says that “Eating nuts and seeds with leafy greens can enhance the body’s absorption of fat-soluble nutrients from the greens. Therefore, a nut-based salad dressing (such as one made with raw almonds) is an excellent way to absorb more nutrients from your salads.” In another article, he tackles the question about olive oil, saying in part, “Olive oil is not a whole food—it is a fattening, low-nutrient, processed food, consisting of 100% fat.” And, “…many of the benefits of a salad are lost when the calorie count is increased ten-fold with oil.” I hope this helps and I appreciate your comment.