5 irresistible recipes for low calorie salad dressings

Here are 5 irresistible recipes for low-calorie salad dressings! It’s easy to turn a boring salad into a delicious meal!

Salad is healthy, we all know that. A colorful salad has few calories, provides lots of nutrients and tastes mega delicious.

Those who want to lose weight therefore like to pack a lot of salad on their plate.

But did you know that salads can also be real calorie bombs? They can even make our weight loss plans fail.

The salad dressings are to blame.

Because such a dressing can make even the healthiest salad unhealthy and very high in fat. Salad dressings with lots of mayo, sugar or oil can even exceed the calorie content of a normal candy bar!

Today we tell you Low calorie salad dressingswith which this can no longer happen to you! These recipes for light dressings are for those who are watching their figure and want a little variety in the salad bowl.

Delicious: Quinoa salad with sweet potatoes

What is the difference between store-bought dressing and make your own salad dressing?

Well, but why is it actually worth having a Dressing to make yourself? There are several good reasons for this.

Have you ever looked at the Ingredients of ready dressings considered? In addition to sugar and flavor enhancers, it also contains a lot of preservatives, which ensure that the dressing lasts forever.

For taste, there’s a big helping of salt and fat on top. And that makes your salad really unhealthy and high in calories.

You’re miles away from a low-calorie salad dressing when you buy a dressing.

Yes, you could just buy a light dressing. This is also available now. But here, too, you should look at the label. Products in the light version contain less fat, but very often sugar or a sugar substitute.

Many of these substitutes are suspected of promoting appetite and causing cravings. In other words, exactly what no one really needs.

There even a healthy High Protein Salad Bowl suddenly become a sugar trap.

You can recognize very high-calorie dressings on the one hand by the calorie information on the label and on the other hand by the sugar content. Sugar is a very cheap flavor enhancer. But sugar really has no place in salads.

Vegetable oils are also not spared in store-bought dressings. The fat in the oils is a natural flavor carrier. This is often used to spice up products that are boring in terms of taste.

Vegetable oils are indeed healthy and rich in unsaturated fatty acids. But it also depends on the quantity. After all, oils contain lots of calories. Low-calorie salad dressings really look different.

Yet it could be so delicious if you made your own salad dressing.

Low-calorie dressings are ready mixed in no time. And they taste really delicious.

You don’t have to be afraid now that it will be mega elaborate. Low calorie salad dressings are quite simple and quickly ready.

In the mood for something fruity? Try this DIY pomegranate dressing!

The best is to make salad dressings yourself

If you prepare your own dressing, you know what ends up in the salad bowl. You have control over the amount and the ingredients. Another advantage is that you always have variety at the table with the DIY variant. Who wants to eat the same dressing for 14 days? That gets boring!

If you want to make a low calorie dressing, there are a few great basic ingredients that will do the trick.

Great ingredients for low calorie salad dressings

• Low fat yogurts
• For creamy dressings: Greek yogurt in the low-fat version.
• All kinds of vinegar
• Lemon instead of vinegar
• Mustard
• Fruit puree or fruits like lemon, orange, lime, melon, apricots
• high-quality vegetable oils (in small quantities!)
• Buttermilk
• fresh herbs – chopped or pureed
• Herb salt, chili salt
• Spices
• Vegetables like bell bell pepper, cucumber
• Garlic, onion
• Organic honey
• Vegetable broth

You can use these ingredients creatively as you like. And thus prepare a different low-calorie dressing every time.

Already tried? Vegan chickpea salad!

Low calorie salad dressings always have a Low fat base. These can be yogurt or buttermilk, among others. Oils (in small quantities!) are flavor carriers.

It’s especially delicious when you combine salty and sour ingredients with a little sweetness. For this you can use either fruit, fruit puree or honey.

What we want to say: It pays for you to be willing to experiment. Because just by swapping out a small ingredient, low-calorie salad dressings taste completely different. That way, your salad will never be boring again.

Do you already know our Summer salad recipes? Or ideas for Salad in glass? Or are you rather the Chickpea salad type? How about Quinoa salad? Here a homemade dressing goes wonderfully with it!

The basic recipe for dressings

No matter whether it is a low-calorie salad dressing or a classic one. The structure of the basic recipe is always similar.

A dressing consists of

• 1 part vinegar
• 2 parts oil
• Sweetness to balance the acidity
• Spices

If you understand this building block principle, then you can always make your own dressing.

Oil is added to the dressing at the end

If you’re making a watery dressing, the oil always comes last to the recipe. You can whip it with a high-powered blender to combine it with the other ingredients.

This step is not mandatory. However, it has advantages in terms of taste when the oil and vinegar do not separate. If you want, you can even whisk the herbs with vinegar and oil. Or you can sprinkle them fresh on the salad just before eating.

How you do it is up to you.

Which low-calorie dressing goes with which salad?

Not every dressing is suitable for every salad. For example, a bitter leaf salad deserves a different dressing than a potato salad. Dressings can be sour, fruity, tart or taste like herbs, garlic and many other things.

Let’s take a bitter salad – like radicchio, sugarloaf or chicory. They go quite wonderfully with mild and sweet dressings like salad dressings with orange juice. Dressings with yogurt and other dairy products soften the bitter taste.

If you have a neutral salad in front of you – such as lamb’s lettuce, lettuce, iceberg lettuce or another leaf salad, then the salad dressing can be more intense. It is the dressing that brings flavor to the salad bowl. With strong, spicy, hot you are right here.

However, as we all know, tastes are always different. So you should try out what suits you best. If you have some time, you should also look at these 9 dressing variations for lamb’s lettuce drop by.

5 quick and low calorie salad dressings

As a first inspiration, here are 5 delicious dressings with few calories. You can refine them according to your mood.

Good to know:

• Instead of fresh herbs, you can also use frozen ones. Some herbs also taste very good dried.
• The yogurt dressing is also perfect for a Oven potato recipe suitable and makes a good spread on breads.
• If you want to save even more calories, replace the cream with milk.
• The lowest calorie salad dressing is vegetable broth. You can use 2-3 tablespoons of it per salad bowl and season with a little lemon.

I love the yogurt dressing with herbs. It fits over any salad. Of course, you can also choose other herbs. But it’s best to use fresh ones from the garden.

Did you know that you can grow lettuce from a stalk!

That’s how fast you can make a lentil salad!

Low-calorie salad dressings like these are very thin. They lack the creamy ingredient like yogurt or buttermilk. Still, the dressing is very flavorful. Use just a little of it!

The buttermilk dressing gives your salad dishes a little spiciness. But you can also leave out the chili. Try for yourself what you like best.

The orange juice in this dressing provides a slightly fruity taste. Especially for hot days I like to use it. It fits great on the salad and tastes refreshing.

The basil dressing goes great over caprese. You will love the low-calorie salad dressing!

Do you already know these edible wild herbs?

When to put the dressing on the salad?

That depends very much on what kind of salad you want to eat. There are types of lettuce that are better left to infuse even overnight until they have developed their full flavor.

These include green bean, beans or potatoes.

Leaf salads are dressed fresh. The salt in the dressing removes the water from the lettuce. This is also the reason why lettuces and lettuces wilt quickly if left to stand. If you take the salad to work or college, store the dressing separately in a small jar or tightly sealed container.

What is the shelf life of a homemade dressing?

Of course, it’s always best to prepare only small amounts. That way you can always be sure that your low-calorie dressing won’t go bad.

You can also store dressings. Just put them in the refrigerator. Preferably in a jar with a tight screw cap. Yogurt dressings in particular dry out quickly otherwise.

Our conclusion

It always tastes best when you make it yourself! Low-calorie salad dressings are super tasty, very quickly mixed yourself and bring a lot of variety to the plate. Be careful not to use too much dressing. Because even a low-calorie dressing can become a calorie bomb in large quantities.

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