Best & Worst Salad Dressings For You

By Krista Johnson Nutritionist

Choosing salad over a sandwich or burger always makes for a healthier lunch, right? Thanks to hefty portion sizes, extravagant toppings, and certain brand name salad dressings that pack up to 200 calories and 20 grams of fat per serving, this may not always be the case. We tracked down nutrition information for the leading store -bought brands of ranch, thousand island, Caesar, and Italian/ vinaigrette salad dressings, and ranked them each, leading up to the one that has the most fat and calories.

Further, most people tend to ignore their salad dressing's reported serving size, which is usually only two tablespoons. If the only way you can enjoy a salad is by drenching it in a cup of dressing, then you may not be getting the healthiest lunch you can.

While you should remain wary of storebrand salad dressings with high fat and calorie contents, nutritionists remind salad-lovers not to shy away from fat altogether, and warn that low-calorie or lowfat dressings may not always be a healthier option than their full-fat counterparts.

Nutritionist Keri Glassman cautions that what "light" dressings save on calories and fat they often more than make up for in sodium and sugar. We also ranked these same varieties of dressings according to which ones had the least fat and calories. While these may appear to be healthy alternatives, the sodium level is worth paying attention to. Glassman further

asserts that "light" and "fat free" dressings are often the most common places to find high fructose corn syrup which she deems a "diet no-no."

Further, low-fat salad dressings prevent the body's ability to absorb the carotenoid antioxidants in salad greens and tomatoes, thus greatly diminishing a major health benefit of eating salad. A Purdue University study found that certain healthy fats -- like those in olive oil -- were necessary to absorb the full benefits of the other vegetables in the salad.

There are so many salad dressings to choose from. Sure, you know what kind you want on your salad. Some days you’re in the mood for a creamy Caesar. Other days you want herbed vinaigrette. But even once you’ve narrowed it down to the type of dressing you’re craving, there are so many brands and types that it can get tough to choose.

Not all brands make their dressings the same — some brands’ products are healthier than others. And when you’re cooking yourself up a nutritious and crisp salad, you don’t want to pour something without any nutritional value over the top. Not when you have an equally delicious option that could be better for you!

It takes some serious poring over numbers and labels to get to the bottom of which ones are really the healthiest. We did all that label-roving for you and narrowed it down for each of the 11 most popular types of salad dressing. On one

list, you’ll find which options are the healthiest.

The Healthiest Store-Bought Salad Dressings Gallery

On the other, you’ll find the unhealthiest options.

Since there are so many brands out there, ranging from generic to specialty, we selected the most popularly sold storebought salad dressing brands. These included Annie’s, Ken’s, Kraft, Newman’s Own, Wish-Bone, Hidden Valley, Bolthouse Farms, and Marie’s. From there, we checked the nutrition labels for each type of dressing to find the healthiest and unhealthiest version of each.

To judge the healthfulness of each dressing, we checked the calorie count, fat content, sodium content, and added sugar. Find out which brands sell the healthiest salad dressings and which sell the unhealthiest salad dressings for all your favorite flavors.

Balsamic Vinaigrette Ken’s Balsamic Vinaigrette

This Balsamic Vinaigrette isn’t going to derail your diet — it’s 100 calories per serving with 3 grams of sugar. Not too much of a difference from the other dressings we found, but of the most popular brands, this was the most caloric and contained the most sodium.

Blue Cheese: Marie’s Super Blue Cheese

Anything called “Super Blue Cheese” is going to be a little extra. But this dressing is a lot extra. In a 2- tablespoon serving, there are 160 calories, 17 grams of fat, and 220 milligrams of sodium.

Caesar: Wish-Bone Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing

We surveyed the nutrition facts of over 20 varieties of creamy, thick Caesar dressing — but this one was the heaviest. Wish- Bone Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing has 180 calories and 290 milligrams of sodium. Each serving also includes close to 30 percent of your recommended daily value of fats, with 18 grams. It’s easy to over-pour, so if you’re watching your dietary fat intake, keep that in mind

French: Ken’s Lite Country French

Even though this dressing is marketed as “Lite,” it might not be your most nutritious option. The total fat content is 6 grams, but to make up for the (slight) difference in fats, there are 11 grams of sugar per serving! That’s around a third of your recommended daily limit of added sugars. In fact, sugar is the very first ingredient on the label. It’s supposed to be dressing, not syrup!

Greek: Ken’s Simply Vinaigrette Greek

This dressing won the unhealthiest ranking for Greek vinaigrettes because of its sodium content. A serving of Ken’s Simply Vinaigrette Greek has 320 milligrams of sodium and 130 calories. But sodium isn’t all bad — salt can actually be really good for you!

Green Goddess: Kraft Green Goddess Dressing

While most Green Goddess dressings are

filled to the brim with avocados, fresh herbs, and other nutritious ingredients, Kraft’s Green Goddess Dressing is filled with corn syrup and sour cream. The vitamin and mineral profile is bleak; you might want to add nutrients from other sources if you use this brand

Honey Mustard: Newman’s Own Honey Dijon Mustard Dressing

Honey mustard is usually a lowcalorie, low-fat option for dressing your salads. Newman’s Own Honey Dijon Mustard Dressing, however, contains 140 calories and 13 grams of fat per serving, more than any other honey mustard dressing we could find. It also has 6 grams of sugar — some from honey, but some from other added refined sugars as well.

Italian: Ken’s Italian

While many of the other Italian dressings we found were water-based and low in calories, Ken’s Italian dressing contains more oil than water — meaning it has more calories and more fat per pour. Of course, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. But keep in mind, each serving also contains more than a third of your daily value of sodium.

Ranch: Ken’s Peppercorn Ranch

Now, ranch dressing isn’t exactly a light food. But this ver-

sion was heavier than all the rest, even Hidden Valley’s decadent, diet-unfriendly dressings. A serving contains 180 calories and 20 grams of fat.

Thousand Island: Marie’s Thousand Island

Marie’s Thousand Island dressing could become thousand-calorie if you’re not careful. Each serving contains 150 calories and 15 grams of fat.

Raspberry Vinaigrette: Ken’s Fat Free Raspberry Pecan

This vinaigrette may be fat-free, but it has a whopping 11 grams of sugar! Why even try adding “pecan” to raspberry vinaigrette if you’re going to make it fat-free? The best part about tree nuts like pecans is their healthy fats — though some nuts are healthier than others.

Balsamic: Marie’s Balsamic Vinaigrette

Some balsamic dressings are super sweet and oily. But with Marie’s classicstyle Balsamic Vinaigrette, you’re pouring only 2 grams of sugar and 45 calories on your salad — without any of the additives that many “light” or “low-fat” versions include!

Blue Cheese: Bolthouse Farms Chunky Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing

overly processed or complicated. Annie’s crafted a full-fat dressing that gets its healthy fats from olive oil, not milk fat — and doesn’t skimp on flavor. While there were some Greek yogurtbased versions of Caesar dressing in the running, Annie’s won out because it’s only 110 calories per serving, and sometimes, full-fat dressing is just healthier.

French: Annie’s Organic French Dressing

Green Goddess: Bolthouse Farms Avocado Green Goddess Yogurt Dressing

Salad dressing made

with avocado and Greek yogurt? Can’t get any more nutritious than that. You’ll truly feel like a goddess after eating this creamy, delicious dressing filled with chives, spices, and other bold flavors.

Honey Mustard: Annie’s Lite Honey MustardVinaigrette

If you’re going to go for a creamy dressing, you might as well get some protein out of it. Luckily, Bolthouse Farms has a Chunky Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing that’s loaded with it. The product has 2 grams of protein for every 2 tablespoons and just 35 calories.

Caesar: Annie’s Organic Caesar Dressing

Perhaps one of the most underrated dressings out there, French dressing can be dreamy and creamy. Annie’s is great at keeping creamy dressings simple and nutritious. Every 2 tablespoons of this French dressing has 110 calories, 11 grams of fat, and just nine ingredients.

Greek: Kraft Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

Annie’s uses less oil and minimal ingredients in their lighter take on honey mustard. With just 40 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving, you’ll want to pour this all over your salad.

Italian: Bolthouse Farms Italian Vinaigrette

Caesar dressing was meant to be decadent— but that doesn’t mean it has to be

Kraft’s Greek Vinaigrette Dressing isn’t even a light dressing—those are often filled with sugars and other additives to replace the fats that are removed. This dressing, though, is still just 50 calories and 5 grams of fat, with just 1 gram of sugar per serving.

This smooth, olive oil-based vinaigrette isjust 35 calories and 1.5 grams of fat perserving. While other Italian dressings can

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come loaded with sugars and sodium, this one is relatively low in both!

Ranch: Bolthouse Farms Organic Avocado Ranch

Raspberry Vinaigrette: Bolthouse Farms Organic Raspberry Balsamic

Many people choose raspberry vinaigrette because it sounds like a lighter, fruity option. However, what people don’t realize is that these fruity vinaigrettes often come loaded with added sugars and oil. The Bolthouse Farms version, however, is just 35 calories per serving and keeps the sugars at an impressive 3 grams. While sugar is good for you in many cases, there are some things you need to know about when to check for sugars on the label.

Everyone loves avocados. And if you don’t want to go through all the work of picking a perfectly ripe fruit and using it exactly when it’s ready, you can keep this bottled dressing in your fridge for whenever a craving strikes. The tang of ranch goes with almost any vegetable, and this creamy condiment is way more nutritious than your usual dressing!

Thousand Island: Annie’s Organic Thousand Island Dressing

Thousand Island doesn’t have to mean thousand-ingredient. Annie’s keeps it simple with this sweet yet tangy dressing, somehow staying below 100 calories per serving with just 8 grams of fat.