Healthy Homemade Salad Dressing Ideas
ByLookie what’s growing in my garden! Those cute little lettuce leaves will soon be cute big lettuce leaves. I can’t wait!
I was very excited to see that Tammy is hosting a special recipe swap featuring lettuce recipes. Also, Allyson is hosting A Slew of Summer Salads carnival as a way to learn more main dish salad ideas. Between the two, none of us shall ever be lacking a salad recipe again!!
I don’t actually have an exciting salad recipe for you. I’m not terribly creative like that. My salad recipes almost always look something like:
- Wash and tear up a bunch of lettuce or spinach and put it in a bowl.
- Add whatever other raw veggies you have.
- If you’re feeling especially crazy, throw in some dried cranberries or raisins.
- If you want your salad to be your main dish, add some chicken, cheese and hard boiled egg.
- Grab a fork.
This is why I’m so excited about the above carnivals. However, I do have a fun idea for a salad dressing that I discovered one day when I was dinking around in the kitchen. Are you ready? It’s a novel idea.
Orange juice. The juice from an orange. Fresh squeezed orange juicy goodness.
It’s refreshingly simple. And yummy. And it contains no high fructose corn syrup or MSG.
Now that I’ve shared that enlightening salad tid-bit…I’m very excited to share another healthy salad dressing idea!
Rhonda sent me a wonderful Ranch Dressing Mix recipe!! I used to use Simply Organic brand because I trust it more than other brands. But now, thanks to Rhonda, I can make a super healthy (and much, much less expensive) Ranch Dressing any time I need to!
Ranch Dressing Mix
5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoon parsley flakes
4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Mix together and store in an air tight container.
For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower mayo) and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream. (I use buttermilk.)
For dip: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.
Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.
The jar on the right is the mix, which costs pennies compared to a packaged mix! The jar on the left is the ranch dressing all made up and ready to go on our salad.
You HAVE to try this dressing! It tastes so…so real. And fresh. And pure. It’s delicious, simple and healthy! And…obviously…you eat it on lettuce and other veggies…so that gives you wonderful, healthy…healthiness. (And of course, great servings of more fruits and veggies!)
Rhonda even suggested using this ranch dressing mix in my Ranch Potato Wedges recipe. It works GREAT!
I shall never buy another ranch dressing packet again. Rhonda…you rock!
And try squeezing an orange onto your salad sometime! See what you think! (Ever tried it before?)
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I recently added a packet of ranch mix to mashed potatoes (along with cheese and bacon) and Hubs asked me to marry him all over again. :>) I figured I’d experiment next time with seasoning to avoid the weird stuff – thanks Ronda for taking the guesswork out of it!
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Aha! I have an empty Sam’s sized ranch mix jar sitting in my cabinet waiting… patiently waiting for me to fill it with dry ranch mix.
And now I can!
It’s a good day. ;-)
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Such a healthy alternative to ranch dressing packets! (Now, if only I liked ranch dressing! Can you come up with something healthy in the thousand island department?) :-)
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Carol Reply:
April 2nd, 2010 at 11:42 am
1/4 cup ketchup to 1 cup mayonnaise.
Add chopped oinion and chopped pickles or relish.
Add whatever seasonings you like.
I add onion powder and chili powder
(husband likes it a bit spicy).
Great thousand island!
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Thank you so much for posting this. I have some thyroid issues and I am currently avoiding ALL sweeteners and any kind of preservative. I’m having a hard time finding salad dressing recipes that don’t include any type of sweetener.
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I can’t wait to try this! I make Ranch dressing using the HV package, because my husband didn’t like the SO brand. This is so much healthier – thank you Rhonda and Laura – you made my day!
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I am ashamed to say that I have been feeding most of our lettuce to the chickens. Isn’t eating free range eggs kind of like eating salad?
Your recipes sound so good, I’m sorry my lettuce is already bolting. :)
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Looks and sounds yummy!
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What great ideas! Since our salads consist of lettuce and tomatoes and not much else, I’ll need to check these other sites out.
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Thanks for the recipes!
Do you know how long the prepared dressing and dip will keep in the fridge?
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that’s fantastic! I use Ranch dip on pretzels and crackers :) This will work wonderfully :)
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How long does the ranch dressing last in the fridge once it is made up?
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THANKS! I tried a recipe from Recipezarr and it was NOT good… had dill in it and was GROSS!!! LOL! I am so going to mix this up right now and try it out! We were in love with Hidden Valley, but cut it out because of MSG… I think I may write to them…. LOL!
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Well, I am more of a vinagerette kinda girl…but my kids love ranch! I never let them have it because of all the yucky stuff in the store bought! They will be so happy when I make this:)
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YUM-MEEEE! Def. gonna try out that ranch dressing!
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Thanks for the Ranch recipe! My husband and kids absolutely love Ranch dressing – on everything!
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I just made a ranch similar only used organic plain yogurt instead of mayo/buttermilk. Came out great as my guys just started to like dipping their veggies. Can you mix the dried ingredients and keep them to make a quick dressing when you need it?
Thanks!
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Thank you so much. I just tried a home made ranch dressing that no one liked. It had a bit of a bite to it. this one looks much easier and less likely to be rejected.
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How long can the dressing be stored in the fridge? And is there a way to make it without mayo??? I’m kinda grossed out by mayo not to mention it is very fattening. I suppose I could use the fat-free or lite kind. But would rather avoid it.
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This is great timing as I was just gagging last night on the jar of dressing we purchased. What ever possessed me, I will never know. Thanks for the tip, Laura!
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Does this taste similar to Hidden Valley? My kids are so picky and that’s their favorite! Just curious! Thx!
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To answer the “How long will it last question”…
I would imagine that the dressing will last in the fridge for a at least a month. :)
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Thanks for the herb mix. I always throw some herbs together and have yet to get that Ranch flavor! Here are a couple easy recipes for non-ranch dressings you may enjoy too. It has been years since we bought dressing in a store…so cheap and easy to make at home.
HONEY MUSTARD DRESSING
- honey (brown rice syrup works too!)
- lemon juice
- olive oil (cold-pressed)
- mustard (pre-made health food store variety or mustard powder; yellow or stone ground)
I never measure and everyone likes a different amount of sweetness so try some combos out here…
- 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 to 1/3 cup lemon juice, a big ole glob of honey, a squirt of mustard.
- Now whisk in a small bowl and taste.
- Add whatever you need to please your palette!
AVOCADO DRESSING
- ripe avocado fork-mashed
- half organic lemon squeezed into green mash
- dash sea salt
- splash organic cold-pressed olive oil
Blessings.
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I make this stuff, too! I especially like to mix it with mayo and put it on pasta for pasta salad. YUM! Add a bit of fresh tomato and crumbled bacon and you’ve got yourself a summer dish!
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That looks delicious. I think I’m going to try this!
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My favorite homemade dressing is the Lemon Garlic Dressing found in Dining on a Dime (what a GREAT resource). I absolutely LOVE lemon though; it’s so versatile. Thanks for the tips! I love your site.
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What a great recipe! I can’t wait to try it. Thanks!!
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Thank you!!! I am very careful about what we eat, but still I am buying the Kraft Ranch dressing. I cannot wait to try this! THANKS!
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Thanks for sharing! I love Ranch dressing, and have been wondering where to find a recipe so I can stop buying the packets. :)
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I made the ranch dressing recipe and we love it! Thank you!
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Oh man, why haven’t I made homemade Ranch dressing before? Oh yeah, no simple recipe. I just bought a cute vintage ‘Fresh Dressing’ bottle at a yard sale for 50 cents. I figured it would be a vase with rare appearances for a vinaigrette, but I hadn’t even considered making my own ranch dressing. I will have to do it this weekend, my lettuce crop is growing REALLY well this year.
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We ate this lastnight with veggies, and YUM! they loved it… maybe tooo much onion for me… but I did BLEND up the ing. when I mixed them together! made it more powdery!!!
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So… if you use yogurt, you use 2 c yogurt instead of just 1?
I wonder if Miracle whip would work instead of mayonaise.
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How did you know I needed a ranch dressing recipe this week. I’ve never made my own, but I’m wanting to save money and quit running to the store for a bottle of dressing. Thanks!
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We are in the midst of trying ranch recipes. First two were duds, but this one looks better. I’m excited to see if it works for us!
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I LOVE the ranch dressing you make. I was planning on buying the packets at the store and making it rather than buying the bottles because it tastes better but now that I have that recipe I will just make it myself. Tasty…cheap…easy…healthier…and did I mention…tasty?
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Thanks for the recipe for the ranch dressing mix. We like chicken subs that call for cooking the chicken seasoned with ranch dressing mix in a skillet with green peppers and mushrooms. Serve the chicken on a homemade hoagie that has been broiled with some cheese on it. Yummy. I have been wishing for a recipe for the mix, so I can’t wait to try it.
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Yum, this recipe is a winner for us. We made the dip and my 3.5yo really liked it.
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Thanks so much for this recipe! My family had it tonight for the first time and the kids loved it. Hubby said it was good, but not “ranchy” enough, any suggestions?
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THis sounds yummy!
By “instant” minced onions, do you mean dried minced onions or are they specially labeled as instant?
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I just found this and I am so excited to try it! I have recently been reading up on MSG (monosodium glutamate) and how bad it is and since Ranch Dressing has this ingredient I really wanted to find an alternative. Thank you so much for sharing! :)
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just made this today for our salad tonight-yum! thanks! plus i used a great glass jar ;)
ps, i’m with ya on caramel but not coupon ;)
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Hi Laura! I just made this dressing today (even though I had store bought dressing in the house… I like to play in the kitchen just like you!). My husband and 10-year old son have just taken a sample. Son said it’s better than Newman’s Own Ranch, which we have been buying for years. Husband said it’s very tasty; just pour out the Newman’s and pour this in the bottle instead! Thanks so much! (Oh, and we tried the High Five Chicken Fried Steak Strips, and they were even better than what we get at Babe’s (a North Texas establishment known from far and wide for its chicken-fried steak!). Keep those recipes coming!!
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I just wanted to thank you for this ranch mix. Tried it tonight and it was delicious. Although I had to add some milk to the dressing I made because it was too thick. It might be because we use a soy/flax dressing that is really thick. Anyways, it was great and is what we will use for now on. Thanks so much. By the way, I’m looking forward to any mayo recipes you come up with. :) Blessings- Jennifer
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We’ve had a lot of recalls in our area for the store bought refrigerated dip and even the dry ranch mix. So, I decided to make veggie dip from scratch. This was a hit! Everyone enjoyed it, plus it is extremely economical. I already had sour cream in the fridge, and could buy the seasonings in bulk. Thank you for sharing this! I’ll try it as a dressing next.
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Would this replace the packets from the store in all recipes? My recipe for roast calls for 1 packet ranch dressing, Would this work?
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Laura Reply:
March 31st, 2010 at 7:41 am
Absolutely! One packet is equal to about 2 Tablespoons of the dry homemade mix!
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I mixed up your ranch mix and the whole family loved it!
My kids favorite thing to do with the ranch mix is to sprinkle it over the top of popcorn! Yumm!
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Cute lettuce!!!!! I have some growing also and can’t wait. Thank you for the recipes. I will be sure to use them.
Blessings and Happy Easter! May the Lord bless you and yours!
Linda
Prairie Flower
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My husband LOVES Ranch and I’ve been experimenting at home with mixed results – my first attempt turned out pretty watery (probably due to the fact that my homemade mayo isn’t as thick as store bought). I’ll have to try this with the sour cream idea! Thanks so much!
God bless!
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I absolutely LOVE this ranch dressing!!! I don’t think we’ll ever buy store bought again.
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Awesome ranch recipe! Now that I can make it from my spice cabinet, no more purchasing the packets from the store. Thanks!! And, it makes YUMMY dressing! :) My picky husband even liked it.
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