Most people automatically turn to salads when trying to eat healthy. You might be surprised to learn that many salads have way too many calories. This comes from dressings & toppings like avocado, cheese, nuts, eggs, bacon & other meats, etc.

Salads can be healthy and delicious without all the excess calories. Learning how to make a zesty salad dressing with no added oil is a good way to avoid having unwanted calories.

I have learned to make my own salad dressings using a blender or food processor when taking my culinary course with Rouxbe. Also, I have recently discovered a few dressings in the grocery store that do not have added oil. Oil is highly processed and has a high caloric density.

We don’t need it.

There are five categories to consider when creating your oil free salad dressing: whole food fats, acids, salts, sugars, and spices. All you have to do is choose something from each category or a few of the categories. Then throw it in a high speed blender with some water as needed.

Whole Food Fats: nut or seed butter, whole nuts or seed, tofu, olives

Acids: fresh citrus juice, mustard, sauerkraut, vinegar, wine, tomato

Salts: Braggs, capers, miso, olives, pickles, sea salts, seaweeds (dulce, nori), Tamari

Sugars: dried fruit or fruit pastes, diced fresh fruit, fresh fruit juice, agave, honey, maple syrup, beet juice, carrot juice, or other sweet vegetable juice

Spices: condiments, garlic, ginger, fresh or dried herbs, hot peppers, nutritional yeast, fresh or dried spices

Using these guidelines you can make all sorts of oil free salad dressings in your own kitchen. You can even take a little bottle in your bag when eating out so you can avoid oily restaurant dressings.

One of my favorite dressings to make is Strawberry Walnut. I’d love to hear if you have found a combination that you love. You can check out some of my other oil free salad dressings here. Your heart will thank you for it!