Calorie Counters - Salad dressing

I LOOOOVE ranch dressing, not fat free either :nono: I need to find a low calorie dressing. I don't like Italian and have no idea what the calories are for it. Do you make your own dressing? recipes? calories? Thanks

I like the salsa ranch..but it's still ranch and therefore has alot of calories. Sometimes I mix some lemon juice with some olive oil, but other than that I'll add the dressing calories because i love salad dressing too!

Dawn, here's something ironic:

Everytime I see your forum name I think of Newman's Own salad dressing line (must be the newman in your name ;)) and here you are actually posting about salad dressing!! :)

My absolute all time favorite lower fat and calorie dressing is Trader Joe's Cilantro Dressing. You can find it in the refrigerated section. If you like the flavor of cilantro, I am pretty certain you will love this dressing. AND it is 45 cals per serving. :)

Hey I get all excited when I see Newman's dressing too lol I'm going to do the 1TBSP of ranch tonight for dinner. ugh! I'm still within my calories so.....

Actually I was in the exact same boat as you, hated all the low cal dressings and didn't like Italian at all. Then a friend made me some Balsamic Vinegrette, hold on wait! It really was good and my favorite dressing is ranch. You go get a italian seasoning packet and follow the directions using balsamic vinegar, olive oil and water BUT only use half the oil they call for!!!

It has something like 50 calories per tablespoon and its healthy for you, please please try it, I think you will be surprised at how good that is.

Edzard- do you have any pics with your progress? You're about the same height as me and I want to see pics lol

Oh boy....no lol! I must say I carry my weight well but I guess I could try to post something. I have always been told I don't look my weight so if I do manage to get a picture up keep that in mind! I am actually 189 today, I had gained from 185 to 193 on vacation to Hawaii and now am losing back so I need to update my sig.

I get the same thing... nobody believes that I'm 205 pounds lol This pic was at 211 pounds.
http://i333.photobucket.com/albums/m365/DMNewman/beginningofweightloss.jpg

Hmm how did you do that? If this doesn't work then look in my profile, I just threw a pic in there.

Oh guess I got it, cool

Oooh I love that dress, where did you get it? lol Wow we went from salad dressing to dresses lol You look great and I say its our height that lets us hide our fat lol

ROFL yep we definitely diverted, I got it at target, but it was so hot in Hawaii right then that I had to hold it up the whole time because I was sweating so bad lol.

I looked on Target.com and can't find any in stock GEEZ!!! I'm going to the beach for a week next month and I want that dress!!!

You guys are sooo pretty!!!

I make a lower fat and Lower cal ranch that actually tastes REALLY good. Here's my secret...

Mix some plain lf or ff yogurt with powdered ranch dressing flavor (the kind designed to make veggie/chip dip). Throw in a dash of milk if you want it thinner. You can eat a ton of it and not wreck your diet.

I have gotten to the point where I can't stand regular ranch dressing anymore because I like this so much better!

Try it out! It's a great veggie dip too.

I make my own ranch dressing from the packets of dried mix. Uncle Dan's makes the best. I mix it w/ low fat mayo and lf milk. Its Yummy and tastes the same as the full fat stuff.

I use Maple Grove Fat Free Balsamic Vin...and it only has 5 calories per serving. And I think it taste really good, but im sure not as good as ranch.

Wishbone's Light Ranch has 40 calories and 2 g fat per 2 tablespoons, and doesn't have the nasty fake flavor of the fat free varieties.

That was a great tip about the plain yougrt and the hidden valley mix. I have been just using plain non fat yougrt with cayanne pepper and red pepper flakes and a few other spices in it. I have been eating CLEAN and have to keep extra salts out and I get tired off the vinagers and lemon juice things I also use cottage cheese alot. I have to keep my protien high so it helps to use these as dressings as BONUS protiens.I usually eat about 1200 to 1300 cals aday.

I recently discovered Ken's spray on honey mustard vinegarette @ 1 calorie per spray. It is delicious and guilt free ;)

I LOVE just straight red wine or rice wine vinegar. It's good for you too.

I make my own Balsamic vinaigrette that is so yummy. I use 2 TBS. of a pretty good quality balsamic (not the cheapest in the store), 2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil, 1 tsp honey, sprinkling of garlic powder (or 1/8 tsp minced fresh garlic), fresh ground pepper, and a tiny amount of salt. Whisk together and enjoy.

I make my own ranch dressing from the packets of dried mix. Uncle Dan's makes the best. I mix it w/ low fat mayo and lf milk. Its Yummy and tastes the same as the full fat stuff.

Do you have some sort of measurements to go by? I mean, how many packets of dry mix, about how much low mayo, and about how much low fat milk? I use nonfat milk (dry milk mixed with water).... it's not bad at all!

I love full fat ranch, too, as well as a few other regular salad dressings. Usually I just dip my fork in the dressing rather then adding it to the salad. If I do actually add it to the salad (usually because there is cheese on top and it falls to the bottom otherwise), I either measure out an exact TB or just put a little on top.

I also really love a TB of olive oil and a little salt and/or dill (under 100 calories). YUM!

Do you have some sort of measurements to go by? I mean, how many packets of dry mix, about how much low mayo, and about how much low fat milk? I use nonfat milk (dry milk mixed with water).... it's not bad at all!

It's one cup of milk and one cup of mayo. I don't care for fat free mayo so I use low fat which is 35 calories for a tablespoon.

I have a couple of base recipes I use, then flavor according to the salad I'm eating.

Dressing 1 is a mustard-based vinaigrette...2 tsp coarse mustard, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp chopped shallot or 1 tsp chopped garlic, and about 1/3 cup chicken broth. I'll flavor with herbs, spices, etc, or vary the vinegars. Sometimes I add a little splenda for a "honey mustard" type feel, or use a tarragon or other flavored vinegar.

Dressing 2 is a fat-free sour cream based cream dressing - 1/4 cup fat free sour cream and 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (more or less depending on how thick you like your dressing). I flavor it up with any combination of spices, including ranch dressing mix, chipotle or regular chili powder, ground cumin, cayenne, salt, pepper, etc. One of our favorites on a taco salad is to add chili powder, chipotle chili powder, cumin, pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lime juice. So great! Chipotle or chili ranch dressing is another favorite...chili powders and some ranch dressing mix. I also have a wonderful garlic dressing mix that I use sometimes...picked it up at an art and wine festival.

Thank you for the ideas. I went to Aldi yesterday and found fit & active ranch dressing. Its 35 cals per TBSP which is a lot better then 70 cals per tbsp. I'm going to give it a try today.

yay i love this thread i am in the same boat, i love my ranch and the ideas on here are great! thanks!

I love all the Spritzers and they have a ranch flavored one now, too. The Ken's sprays, as someone above mentioned, are also very good.

I tried LowFat ranch recently and really liked it (Hidden Valley, I think). So I thought, maybe FatFree wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be, so I bought a huge bottle of it. Ugh. It WAS as bad as I remembered! :D I hate to waste food, but I think I will be getting rid of it because I just cannot handle the taste.

For the packets of ranch dressing that you mix yourself, is there a lot of sodium in those?

Trader Joe's carries Lowfat Parmesan Ranch Dressing. It's only 15 calories per tablespoon and is delicious!

Oh, I do the dip the fork in the dressing trick too. That really does help...

My absolute favorite dressing recipe is a Honey Mustard version ...

I mix FF or LF mayo, mustard, a little vinegar, black pepper, and Splenda. Tastes creamy and not at all fake.