Favorite Low Calorie Salad Dressing?

[Strawberry]

I'm so excited! I just found LOW CALORIE Olive Garden salad dressing in my Walmart!

The original Olive Garden dressing has 80 cals, 8g fat, 2g carb per 2 tbsp.
The Light Olive Garden dressing has 30 cals, 2g fat, 2g cab per 2 tbsp.
(same amount of carbs! How cool is that!)

I did a side by side comparison and the Light version tastes REALLY similar to the original. I'm really looking forward to pouring this onto a big salad without creating a calorie bomb! I also tried mixing a little of the original with the Light, which was really good.... but the Light is awesome on its own!

I tend to wayyyyyy overuse salad dressings, so I'm always on the lookout for new low calories ones. I personally am willing to have an extra carb to cut back on the calories.

Walmart also has a new line of refrigerated low calorie salad dressings made with yogurt. I tried the Ranch which was pretty good... not as good as full fat, but it gets a passing grade. They have a white balsamic vinegar yogurt dressing and a chipotle ranch yogurt dressing as well that looked good.


Have you all found any really yummy low calorie salad dressings?

[Truffles]

Cardini's light greek vinaigrette pretty good

Or I mix my own in a small tupperware I have (think 1/2 cup size) just click on the lid and shake!!
Lemon juice, dijon mustard, fresh garlic, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper and a pinch of oregano. all for about 10 cal per 2-3 tablespoons.

[Yennie]

WF Raspberry Vinaigrette. 0 everything.
Fabulous on a bed of lettuce with a few chopped pecans & some feta. Yum!!

[soon]

strawberry does the light one have any sugar? I make my own with MCt oil 2 tbsp 6 tbs braggs acv garlic powder, onion powder , Italian dressing herbs ( a mix I have not good seasons ) but u could certainly use good seasons. I only use 2 tbsp on my salad. t/his is the mix I make when I want to put left over veggies in marinade like aspagarus, green beans cucumbers.

[Carly]

I like the walden farms Bacon Ranch= 0 everything.
I lke the wish bone salad spritzers- Balsalmic is 1 calorie a spritz

[KeirasMom]

Bolthouse Farms salsa ranch! OMG, it's great. I use it on salads and as a dip for veggies. I think it's 35 calories per T, but I'm out so I didn't verify with the label. Need to pick more up!

[Truffles]

Most bolthouse yogurt dressings are 35-45 per 2 Tablespoons.
I just found the ranch the other day! Pretty good stuff!

[sunday]

I agree with Dawn that Bolthouse is amazing! I have been using Kimberino's recipe for Buttermilk Ranch homemade and it is literally addicting. I have experimented with adding a bit of chipotle too. Spicy ranch is may fav.
It is 25 cals per tbsp and I have made it even lighter by adding more vinegar.

Kimberino's Buttermilk Ranch

1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1/2 Tsp salt
1 C Light Mayo
1/3 C Buttermilk****
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced very fine
2 Tbsp fresh chives, minced very fine
1 tsp white wine vinegar (I tried another kind of vinegar, but didn't work as well as white wine vinegar).
Fresh ground pepper to taste.

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly with a whisk to make a creamy dressing.

**** I add a little extra buttermilk. I think that only using 1/3 cup makes the dressing too thick.

[soon]

e careful of the spritzers they have corn syrup as long aS u dont mind sygar I am diabetic and foubd they fueled my cravings each person is different

[Shari4]

I found some really good, low calorie dressings at Alco. If you are diabetic or low carb, you probably won't want to use these. They are called the Savory Collection. The main ingredient is water, followed by high fructose corn syrup. I've only used 1 of the 4 I found, Honey Poppyseed. It has no oil & is 25 calories for 2 TBLSP! No wang either. The others are called:

Honey Mustard-------------24 calories, 0 fat, 5 sugars
Blue Cheese----------------15 calories, 1 fat, 2 sugars
California French Style-----30 calories, 1 fat, 6 sugars

A serving size for all is 2 TBLSP. I'll let you know if I like the other 3.

[Strawberry]

strawberry does the light one have any sugar

Yes, the light Olive Garden dressing lists high fructose corn syrup and sugar in the ingredients... not a ton, but enough to give it 2 carbs per 2 tbsp serving, same as the regular.
My brain logic says "well if I am going to eat 2 carbs per 2 tbsp in either dressings, I may as well choose the lower calorie one!" I do add a dollop of the regular dressing, more to bring the overall taste up to be like its all regular, but that way I will have a little bit of fat to help absorb the nutrients as well.

Shari4, let us know how you like the other dressings! Those sound promising!

It is frustrating that the low calorie ones tend to have more sugars than the high calorie ones... but at this point, I'm watching my calories a little closer than my total carbs, even though I'm still keeping pretty low carb overall, which is why I posted over here in JUDDD, where calorie counting is important on the down days. I thought people on this board might be able to relate better to my question.

[tofucheez]

Shari--what's "wang?"

[Strawberry]

Originally Posted by tofucheez

Shari--what's "wang?"

I'm guessing its a typo... I google searched the word and came up with.... ummmm interesting definitions of what it means in slang!

[tofucheez]

Hah! Too funny!

Maybe it's supposed to be "tang"....

[sorenkkg]

Kraft, and my store's own brand, make zesty Italian for 5cal. I sometimes can find walden farms for 0 cal, but I only like the Italian flavour.

[mom23kids]

Kraft light zesty italian has a great flavor and is 25c per 2tbsp. It's pretty strong so i use 1tbsp and save some calories

[piratejenny]

It has no oil & is 25 calories for 2 TBLSP! No wang either.

Well, that's good...I don't want any wang in my salad dressing!!!

I don't buy lo-cal salad dressings because of the sugar issue, and/or because it seems like they're mostly water.

I found a nice change of pace is to use one of the Monin fruit syrups--my favorite is pomegranate, but I'm sure raspberry, strawberry, etc, would be nice, too--with a splash of balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice.

I met someone at a party who squeezed 1/4 or 1/2 a fresh orange onto her salad, and added balsamic vinegar & rosemary. I've tried it a couple times and it's yummy!

[sorenkkg]

I do like fresh lemon, s&p sometimes.

[Shari4]

Originally Posted by tofucheez

Shari--what's "wang?"

Sorry everyone!! That's my Texas/country talk showing! Wang means "off" or not quite right. You know how some of the fat free or sugar free things have an "off" flavor due to the artificial sweeteners or other weird ingredients. Next time, I'll try to use plain English!! LOL!!

I did try the Blue Cheese & I didn't like it as much as the Poppyseed. It was ok; but, I'm going to try the other 2 anyway.

[hot-in-texas]

Heehee Shari, I have friends out here in west Texas that use 'wang,' lol!

I make 1 tsp olive oil, 1/3 teaspoon ACV, a dot of dijon mustard, And put it right on top of my salad on a container, then add a few sprinkles of salt, pepper and garlic, put the lid on it and shake it up. I like it to barely coat everything. Its approx. 35 calories. Not as light as some of the others. But pretty natural.

[adillenal]

I lived on salads for so many years doing LC I don't really like them without fullfat high calorie dressing. For low calorie I can live with Balsamic vinegar but much prefer to skip the salad completely if I can't have regular dresssing.

[Carly]

I have a bunch of the walden farms beside the bacon ranch, but I also make a mexican style dressing which I posted in the Low(ish) Carb DD staple thread (sticky) post #277.

I also use SF rice vinegar and pink himilayan salt with chilli over my salad.

[soon]

Jenny those are some good reminders, Last summer I had a lot of raspberry dressong w/ davinci. When it got cold I made soups instead Have been back to salads and marinating leftover veggies, I love the orange idea!! And I didnt knpw ther was a [pmegranete one gonna have to get that one,

too funny about wang I live in texas and never heard it was hoping it was a new chinese food haha,

[sunday]

"wang & thang" are true Texas/Okie speak, as well as "ruther" and "skidaddle". Some of my mother's side of fam almost sound like they are from another country with their Okie dialect.

[zipp2play]

Salsa is my top fave, then the light zesty italian. As noted above, it has so much flavor, very little is needed.

[piratejenny]

Originally Posted by soon

I love the orange idea!! And I didnt know there was a pomegranete one gonna have to get that one,

Yes, I was so excited when pomegranate came out!
I like some Middle Eastern recipes that call for pom molasses or juice; at least this way I can get some of the flavor without the sugar.
DaVinci, Torani, Monin all have a lot of similar flavors (caramel, vanilla, almond/amaretto, etc), but Monin's the only brand that makes pomegranate, as far as I know.
They also make a blackberry syrup that I like.

[Familyvet]

Lol, "wang"! I'm in Arkansas and I knew exactly what you meant! What do you Yankees call it?? LOL!!

[sunday]

Jen, What does Monin use as sweetener? I am looking for vanilla caramel sans splenda.

[Carly]

Originally Posted by Familyvet

Lol, "wang"! I'm in Arkansas and I knew exactly what you meant! What do you Yankees call it?? LOL!!

Not quite right- sort of off... tastes kinda strange... weird after-taste.
I don't think we have a single word for it here.

[TryingJudd]

Trader Joe's spicy peanut vinaigrette. 35 cals per T but a little goes a long way and so yum...