Having a salad with your meal, or as a meal, can be a healthy choice, but you need to be careful how you dress it. A salad dressing can make a salad more appetising and encourage or increase your vegie intake, but it can also add lots of extra calories and fat, depending on your choice. Having said this, salad dressings can also enhance the absorption of the fat-soluble nutrients in the ingredients such as vitamins A, D, E and K. That’s one of the reasons why I’m not a fan of “fat-free” salad dressings.

To know you are consuming the healthiest salad dressing possible, I recommend to make your own from scratch. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, it’s fresh! Fresh simple ingredients mean you are going to avoid the preservatives that are found in bottled dressings that have been sitting on the supermarket shelves for months. Home-made salad dressings contain real, wholesome ingredients and no additives or numbers like 330, 332, 407, 440 etc. You also avoid the use of gums, preservatives, thickeners, colours and flavours. This is particularly important for people with food sensitivities and/or intolerance. Finally, making your own dressing is cheaper compared to ready-made dressings, it will taste better and it is easy to do.

When making your healthy, simple homemade dressing a good tip to remember is that it should consist of three parts oil (I prefer a good quality extra-virgin olive oil) mixed with one part acid such as lemon juice or vinegar. The added health benefit of using lemon juice is that it increases the vitamin C content. Other oils that are good to use in dressings are: flaxseed oil, walnut oil, avocado oil or macadamia nut oil. All these oils contain heart-healthy fats, which can assist in lowering cholesterol.

When choosing an acid base for your dressing, I recommend apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar or lemon or lime juice. The added benefits of these types of acids is that they may improve digestion. Finally, to add more flavour to your dressing, you might choose some extras such as sea salt, pepper, garlic, Dijon or seeded mustard and/or fresh or dried herbs. When combining the ingredients, it’s handy to use an empty jar so you can shake vigorously to combine and emulsify all the ingredients. If you don’t have a jar, not to worry, you can always use a whisk.

If you do choose to buy a store-bought salad dressing, I recommend choosing dressings with the shortest list of recognisable ingredients, and preferably an oil-based vinaigrette. Avoid the cream-based dressings at all costs such as a classic Caesar or Ranch dressing. If you are going to consume these types of dressings, uses sparingly and do not drench your salad with them. Next time you reach for your favourite salad dressing, make sure to check the nutrition label before deciding. Alternatively, try making your own dressing at home.

A good salad dressing normally consists of 3 parts oil to 1 part acid. Use cold-pressed vegetable, nut or seed oils as they contain heart-healthy fats that can promote good health and retain natural antioxidants, vitamins and flavours compared to other oils. Dressings also need a little acidity to add flavour and balance as well as improve digestion. All you need to do is combine your ingredients in a screw top jar and shake until emulsified.

My top oils for salad dressings:

  • Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Flaxseed Oil
  • Walnut Oil
  • Macadamia nut Oil
  • Avocado oil

My top acid bases for salad dressings:

  • Balsamic vinegar
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Red or white wine vinegar
  • Lemon/lime/grapefruit juice

The added benefits of these types of acids is that they may improve digestion and if you use citrus fruits, you will have the added vitamin C.

Additional Tasty Extras:

  • Dijon or seeded Mustard
  • Fresh Herbs/dried herbs
  • Sea Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Spices e.g. ginger, garlic, turmeric, cumin

If you seek a creamier style dressing like a Caesar or ranch, then you can add a Natural or Greek yoghurt, or avocado or tahini into your dressing. This will also add a small amount of protein to the dressing with minimal added calories.

When combining the ingredients, it’s handy to use an empty jar so you can shake vigorously to combine and emulsify all the ingredients. If you don’t have a jar, not to worry, you can always use a whisk or a fork.

Caution with commercial dressings

Many commercial salad dressings are made with processed oils that sabotage your healthy intentions in many ways. In fact, many of these oils are actually rancid fats. Manufacturers use high heat and high pressure to create processed and refined oils. This denatures fat molecules in ways that destroy their nutrient value and leads to chronic inflammation in the body. The myriad of chemicals and preservatives found in many bottled dressings are used to camouflage the flavour and smell of these hydrogenated fats and trans fats