Salads are healthy and very versatile (think about the various veggies, fruits and protein you can add to a salad!) But adding too much of a heavy dressing that has a high fat content and is filled with carbs, sugars and additives can quickly decrease a salad’s healthy factor.
What to Look For
When it comes to salad dressings, there are two basic types: creamy and vinaigrette. While creamy dressings have a base of sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk or heavy cream, vinaigrettes have a base of oil and vinegar. And the healthier, more nutritional version is oil-and-vinegar based dressings. Dressings made with canola or olive oil are heart-healthy choices that provide healthier monounsaturated fat, and canola oil offers good-for-you omega-3 fatty acids.
WebMD offers a list of dozens of bottled salad dressings that meet “light” criteria of 8 grams or less of fat per serving, along with a sodium content (look for dressings with 300 mg or less) and calorie count.
Serving Size
The calories in salad dressings can quickly add up, almost without you noticing. The average creamy dressing (ranch, thousand island, honey mustard) contains about 140 calories and 14 grams of fat per two tablespoons serving. Have you ever measured out exactly two tablespoons of a dressing, and kept it at that? Most likely not. You could easily be pouring from the bottle twice that amount, which could add about 350 calories to your salad.
To keep your serving size reasonable: place a small amount of an oil-based dressing in a bowl and toss the salad well to evenly coat for flavor, rather than pouring it straight on top. If you’re eating out and order dressing on the side, use the small spoon to measure about three spoonfuls over your salad, which equals about 1 ½ tablespoons of dressing. Or simply, dip your fork sparingly into your dressing on the side, then take a bite of greens.
Are Fat-Free Dressings Really Healthy?
Although it might seem the easy answer to a healthier salad dressing would be a reduced-fat version, this isn’t the case. In general, reduced-fat versions contain more sugar, or artificial flavors and sweeteners, than regular dressings. While Kraft ranch dressing has two grams of carbs per serving, the fat-free version contains 11 grams, resulting in more sugar per tablespoon of dressing.
Many people assume fat-free dressing is the healthiest option. But according to research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a small amount of fat in dressing is needed to enhance absorption of nutrients and plant compounds like beta-carotene, which protects against heart disease, that’s found in raw veggies. And other research shows that some fat in a meal leaves you feeling fuller.
In fact, regularly eating oil and vinegar dressings has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of heart disease. But fat-free salad dressings tend to reduce or eliminate the healthy heart-protective substance normally found in oil and vinegar dressings, along with mayonnaise and creamy salad dressings.
Organic Dressings to Try
- Annie’s Naturals Organic Dressings
- Seeds of Change
- Newman’s Own Organic Dressings
- Simply Organic Salad Dressing Mixes
Creating Your Own
Have control over the ingredients you add. To make your own healthy salad dressing, you’ll need:
- Olive or Canola Oil
- Vinegar or lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- For flavor—herbs, spices, mustard (mustard helps the dressing stay together)
The ratio of oil to vinegar should be about three to one. Shake all your ingredients together in a jar or whisk in a bowl.
