Healthy salad dressing recipes

It’s no secret that salads make an excellent healthy meal or side dish. With so many great ingredients available and hundreds of exciting combinations to be explored, there are plenty of ways to improve your diet with salads.

While base ingredients like vegetables, pulses, and even fruits make salads super-healthy and nutritious, their dressings often let them down. Many popular store-bought salad dressings contain extra sodium, sugar, and calories that can make your meal not-so-healthy.

Choosing healthy salad dressings

If you’re turning to salads for their nutritional benefits, try to stay away from creamy, indulgent dressings with long lists of ingredients. Preparing your salad dressing at home couldn’t be easier, and you’ll benefit from knowing what you’re putting into your body.

Here are our favourite healthy salad dressing recipes that are quick and straightforward to make at home. You might also like to explore our range of nutritious condiments and sauces to ensure you’re using the very best ingredients in your homemade salad dressing.

Healthy salad dressing recipes

Making salad dressings couldn’t be simpler. Just combine the ingredients in a jar, bowl, or container and remember to re-shake before use if you’re going to store your dressing. Keep your pre-prepared salad dressing in the fridge to ensure it stays fresh. These dressings should last around a week when stored properly, so you can enjoy tasty salads at the drop of a hat!

Honey-mustard salad dressing

• ¼ cup dijon mustard
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper¹

Classic lemon and olive oil

• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Black pepper to taste²

Raspberry vinaigrette

• ¼ cup raspberry vinegar
• ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper to taste³

Creamy mint dressing

This recipe is an excellent example of using Greek yoghurt in salad dressings. You can switch up lots of recipes using Greek yoghurt to recreate your favourite creamy combinations.

• 1 cup Greek yoghurt (low-fat or fat-free if desired)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 clove chopped garlic
• Freshly chopped mint (as much or as little as you like)

Italian dressing

• ¼ cup canola oil
• ¼ cup white wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ tsp each salt & pepper⁴

Ginger sesame

• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• ¼ cup sesame oil
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

Try any of our favourite healthy salad dressing recipes atop your go-to vegetables, pulses, and fruits, or mix it up by adding something new to your salads. Enjoy experimenting with flavours until you discover your dream dish!

Last updated: 25 May 2020

2 https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/cooking-skills/healthy-salad-dressings 3 https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/cooking-skills/healthy-salad-dressings 4 https://thegirlonbloor.com/5-healthy-homemade-salad-dressings/