Low Calorie Salad Dressings - Tried and Tasted

Getting your greens can seem like a tedious mealtime obligation, but by drizzling a delicious dressing over salad or vegetables can turn a boring meal into something special.

Unfortunately, shop brought dressings are often high in fat content, and if you go for an expensive low fat option you may lose out on flavour. So how do you get a tasty, low calorie dressing?

This is where the WLR recipe database comes into its own. With thousands of calorie counted recipes to choose from, full nutritional information shows you exactly how healthy they are. You can search the recipe database by calorie, fat, fibre, protein or carb content. Find your favourite ingredients, or browse through recipe categories for inspiration.

With plenty of creative ideas in our database, our tried and tasted team, wanting to brighten their bland salads with something extra, took on the challenge of making and sampling these six recipes for you (and save a few quid into the bargain!)

Table 1: Low Calorie Salad Dressing Recipes Compared

Recipe	Honey & Mustard Salad Dressing	French Vinaigrette Dressing	Italian Dressing with Reduced Oil
Ranking	1st - The Clear Winner!	2nd	3rd
Appearance	A warm yellowy glow, looks like a dressing should.	Looked like a bought dressing, restaurant style, pleasing appearance.	Not that pleasing to look at - very watery and brown.
Smell	A good strong, sweet, acidic bouquet - very pleasing.	Multitude of comments, ranging from pleasant to acidic.	A strong, herb, acidic aroma.
Taste	Very tangy with a good, sharp kick. Fresh and warming.	A good kick with strong garlic and vinegar flavour - has a zing to it!	Peppery with a zingy kick to it.
Texture/ Consistency	A good texture, sticking to the leaves well.	Very good texture, sticking to leaves well. Did separate very quickly.	Quite oily, yet smooth.
Conclusion	The firm favourite with the team - loved the taste, texture and smell.	The runner-up in the voting a quite a popular choice is you like a classic dressing.	Worth a try if you like your dressings to have a kick with a good, peppery taste.
Serving Size (g)	10ml	5ml	5ml
Calories (kcal) per serving	54.2	39.4	34.5
Fat (g) per serving	5.7	4.3	3.6
Price per serving	£0.04	£0.02	£0.04

Table 2: More Low Calorie Salad Dressing Recipes Compared

Recipe	Blue Cheese Dressing	Special Caesar Dressing	Balsamic Vinegar & Molasses Salad Dressing
Ranking	4th	5th	6th
Appearance	Very different in looks to the others. Creamy, pale in comparison - yet would work well as a dip or sauce.	Pleasing colour, although pale.	Velvety looking; nice, dark, rich colour.
Smell	Some said too cheese, others said not enough. Very strong on the garlic.	Very pungent, sweet, acidic with a strong onion smell.	Quite acidic smell.
Taste	Depends on your liking of blue cheese - some said 'too strong' others needed more cheese.	Quite a mixed bag regarding taste. Sweet and sour, mustard, fruity and peppery.	Sweet and sour, tangy and strong, peppery.
Texture/ Consistency	Most comments said this would be better as a dip or sauce than a dressing.	Intruguingly dark, oily and runny were the main comments.	Smooth texture makes it look like a quality dressing.
Conclusion	If you like the stronger, cheesier dressing then this one would be great as a side.	Not one of the favourites - but still good.	If you like balsamic vinegar, you'll love this one!
Serving Size (g)	18g	5ml	25ml
Calories (kcal) per serving	15.3	39.2	42.8
Fat (g) per serving	0.5	3.6	1.1
Price per serving	£0.04	£0.05	£0.19

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