7 Healthiest Salad Dressings for Weight Loss
Smart Tips for Choosing a Healthy Salad Dressing
Salads make a healthy foundation for any diet, but it’s all too easy to block their nutritional punch by drizzling on the wrong salad dressing and other toppings. At the same time, to keep you in love with lettuce and other leafy greens, you want choices that tantalize your taste buds, says Judy Caplan, RD, author of GoBeFull: Eight Keys to Healthy Living and a dietitian in private practice in Vienna, Virginia.
Although it’s always the best option to whip up healthy salad dressings at home from vinegar, herbs, and a healthy oil, it is also easy enough to find a healthy, tasty store-bought kind — if you read the nutritional facts label carefully. Caplan generally recommends buying healthy salad dressings with fewer than 45 calories per tablespoon (tbsp), and measuring your portions carefully, though she'll go above that limit if it's for the right healthy fat. She says it is equally important to watch out for fat and added sugars on the label — fewer than 5 grams (g) of sugar per serving is best, with less always being better.
Of course, the body needs fat to function, and there are several fats used in the best salad dressings that provide amazing health benefits, including:
Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFAs) These are found in olive, canola, and peanut oil, as well as in avocados and most nuts.
Polyunsaturated Fats (PUFAs) These are found in other plant-based oils, like safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean, sesame, and cottonseed oils. omega-3 fats are polyunsaturated fats that are necessary for proper cell function.
When planning a healthy diet, it’s important to avoid bad fats, such as trans-fat and saturated fat. Instead choose the MUFAs and PUFAs. Check the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list when selecting your healthy salad dressings to make sure they contain good fats, but keep in mind the calorie counts. All fats are high in calories. Adjust your diet choices to use good fats instead of other foods — not as an addition to your daily menu.
In addition to watching the calories in your salad dressing, be sure to keep an eye on the calories in the salad itself. Fill the bottom of the bowl with leafy green vegetables and then use portion and calorie-control (and self-control!) with your salad add-ons, such as fruits, nuts, seeds, bacon bits, and other higher-calorie toppings or deli-salads.
Sometimes people eat 1,000 calories in salad, thinking they are doing their body good — when the excess calories will add on pounds if over the daily calorie allotment. It can be particularly challenging at a restaurant, where a salad may have as many calories and as much fat as a burger.
For a healthy shopping shortcut, pick up one of these seven store-bought dressings.
Wish-Bone Light Italian Has Healthy Fat for Heart Health and Taste
Dobbins likes this healthy salad dressing, which is based on a blend of olive and soybean oils, because of its inclusion of healthy fat for both heart health and taste. “In general, the healthiest choices are oil and vinegar or a light vinaigrette,” Dobbins says. Still, she cautions that it is important to watch your portions because this dressing has a relatively high sodium-per-serving level.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 35
Fat 2.5g (0g saturated fat)
Sodium 340mg
Sugar 2g
Kraft Fat-Free Catalina Has Half the Calories
At 50 calories, this product has about half the calories of the full-fat variety, yet retains most of the taste. “With Catalina, you can’t usually tell the difference between lite and fat-free,” Dobbins says, adding that manufacturers know consumers want these products to be flavorful so they have adjusted the recipes accordingly. Catalina dressings in general do have a bit more sugar than other dressings, so don’t forget to pour with some caution.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 50
Fat 0g (0g saturated fat)
Sodium 350mg
Sugar 7g
Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette Is All Natural and Heart Healthy
This is a full-fat healthy salad dressing and has the calories to prove it, but the fat comes from heart-healthy canola oil and the ingredient list is all natural. "We all need to get some oils,” Caplan says. “You need fat to process vitamin A and vitamin D, which are essential vitamins.” At 100 calories per serving, this dressing is almost too caloric for Caplan, so she advises cutting it with a little vinegar, or even water as long as the flavor still satisfies you, or simply have it in 1-tbsp servings.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 100
Fat 10g (1g saturated fat)
Sodium 55mg
Sugar 1g
Newman's Own Low-Fat Sesame Ginger Dressing Offers a Tasty Break
A dressing featuring healthy sesame oil, ginger, and other Asian-style spices will provide you with a tasty break to mix up your healthy salad dressing routine. This one could also be used to flavor steamed veggies or marinate fish — excellent sources of nutrition on any diet.
If you eat salads frequently, have several dressings available to keep your taste buds from becoming bored. “I have the belief that you should love what you eat," Caplan says. "It’s really important.” Trying new flavors can keep you on the diet straight-and-narrow.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 35
Fat 1.5g (0g saturated fat)
Sodium 300mg
Sugar 4g
Hidden Valley Original Ranch Light Has Half the Calories
Creamy dressings are generally seen as diet no-no’s, thanks to the calories and fat content. So if ranch is a beloved all-purpose dip in your household, buy yourself and your family a few calories by switching to this healthy salad dressing, which has about half the calories of the original.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 80
Fat 7g (1g saturated fat)
Sodium 260mg
Sugar 2g
Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese Has Lower Calories and Compelling Flavor
Traditional blue cheese dressing belongs on a “Most Wanted” poster, both for its compelling flavor (good) and its high fat and calories (not so good). Happily, the diet version is competitive with other dressing types in its nutrition profile, with slightly less than half the calories of the full-fat version — which has 160 calories.
The beauty of blue cheese dressings (even diet ones) is that their flavor is very strong, so you might be able to get away with even less dressing than the serving size without feeling deprived. Still, shop carefully and be sure to compare nutritional profiles of different brands before you select a blue cheese dressing.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 70
Fat 7g (1.5g saturated fat)
Sodium 290mg
Sugar 1g
Newman's Own Light Caesar Has Great Taste and Lower Calories
Caesar salads, with their croutons, cheese, and fatty dressing, are notorious diet traps. Fortunately, a light Caesar dressing should provide you with the flavor you crave without any lasting guilt. “Any time you pick a lower-fat product, you’re decreasing calories,” Dobbins says. And that’s a good thing.
Just be sure that they don’t replace the fat with lots of sugar or other unhealthy ingredients. Just because it’s low in fat doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you. So when you crave a flavor, simply opt for the light version and enjoy.
Serving size 2 tbsp
Calories 70
Fat 6g (1g saturated fat)
Sodium 380mg
Sugar 2g
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