Top 10 Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
Making healthy homemade salad dressing is easier than you think. It’s cheaper, healthier, and tastier. Why would you not!? Here are 10 easy recipes to start with when making your own salad dressing at home.
Confession: I’m a half-hearted gardener.
I want the fruits of a great home vegetable garden but don’t want to put in the work. I simply want to plant the seeds, walk away, and have a thriving garden in a few weeks. One can dream, right?
Despite my lack of time and effort, I still managed to grow a little spinach and lettuce this year that I am quite proud of. It’s also worth noting that these plants are SURVIVORS. Despite all odds (i.e. being planted by a 3 & 5 year old, not being regularly watered, and fending off the encroaching weeds), they have grown!
Now that it’s time to harvest my crop, I have been on the hunt for some great salad dressings.
Since I’m probably not the only one excited to eat fresh lettuce and spinach, I thought creating a roundup of homemade salad dressings would be helpful. Truth be told, I’ll probably use this resource the most! Anyway, hope you guys are enjoying the fresh produce that comes with the spring season. Enjoy!
Why Make Homemade Salad Dressing?
Is it really worth all the effort to make salad dressing at home rather than buy it at the store?
Yes!
- They are healthier. Because you are in control of all of the ingredients, homemade salad dressings tend to be much healthier.
- They taste better! You just can’t package up the fresh taste of real ingredients. Once you start making dressings at home, you’ll have a hard time going back! You can customize them to your liking too.
- Homemade salad dressing is cheaper! The markup on bottled salad dressings is CRAZY—most of them you can make for pennies on the dollar.
Most homemade salad dressing recipes can be made using the jar-and-shake method. Just grab a mason jar with a tight-fitting lid, toss in all the ingredients, and give it a good shake until it’s well-blended.
Storage times will vary depending on what ingredients are in the dressing.
10 Healthy Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes
This slightly sweet, slightly tangy balsamic dressing is incredibly easy to make. Keep Honey Balsamic Dressing on hand for quick and healthy salads any day of the week. Works great as a marinade for chicken, too.
Use it on this Strawberry Avocado Salad for a perfect pairing of flavors!
The dressing is just about perfect in my estimation–citrusy, light, yet creamy-tasting. A simple mix of baby spinach, dried cranberries, feta or goat cheese crumbles, and some toasted pecans was complemented well by the Creamy Citrus Dressing.
This light, flavorful Asian Slaw Dressing served on a coleslaw salad is delicious. It’s a healthy side dish that is perfect for the spring and summer months. Use this Asian Slaw Salad recipe for inspiration on what to serve it on.
With only 5 simple ingredients, you can have this tangy, sweet honey dijon salad dressing ready to go! My favorite combo to add this dressing to is red leaf lettuce, apples, Craisins, feta cheese and toasted almonds.
This Balsamic Parmesan Salad Dressing is my default homemade dressing and has been for years. It’s a deeply flavorful yet versatile vinaigrette that our entire family loves.
Vegan BBQ Ranch Dressing is a creamy dreamy dressing worth slathering on everything from salads to tacos & burritos! This healthy salad dressing is vegan, oil-free and gluten-free! It also has a nut-free option to make it allergy friendly.
The Best Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing tastes better than anything store-bought and only takes a few minutes to make.
It’s a little sweet and a little tangy and a beautiful golden color. Serve it on our Autumn Chopped Salad for a delicious salad!
This Greek Salad Dressing is my husband Jack’s attempt to recreate the famous, secret recipe for Greek salad dressing from Christo’s Restaurant in Brockton, Massachusetts. It’s served with our Greek Salad with Meat recipe found here.
5 minutes is all you need to whip up the Creamy Avocado Dressing! Delicious, healthy and perfect on your favorite salad!
Oh YUM! Thanks for sharing my cranberry dressing. All of these look amazing!