Want to lose weight? Well, eat salad! Most of us think that having a huge bowl of salad on a daily basis will help them to lose weight. Yes, it can help. A bowl of greens is very low in calories and will provide you with all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Plus it’s hard to overeat.

BUT what you choose to dress your salad with can be a killer. It can turn a really healthy meal into a calorie bomb.

I’m talking about store-bought salad dressings, which are loaded with fat, sugar, salt, and additives. Each tablespoon has about 70 – 100 calories. Those are sneaky calories and they are probably ruining your diet, without you realizing it.

But you must be thinking, well my salad will be tasteless then. Hey, make your own healthy version instead. It’s so easy, it’s tasty, it’s cheap and you can control what goes into it. Here are 4 of my favourite low fat light salad dressings.

For a lighter salad dressing, always opt for vinaigrette-based dressing.

Spicy Lime Vinaigrette Dressing

Ingredients

1. 3 tbsps. Fresh Lime Juice – 12Cals
2. 3 tbsps. Rice Wine Vinegar – 15Cals
3. 1 tbsp. Soy Sauce – 9Cals.
4. ½ tbsp. Sesame Oil – 60Cals
5. ½ tbsp. Olive Oil – 60Cals
6. ½ tbsp. Maple Syrup – 26Cals
7. 1 Garlic Clove, minced – 5Cals
8. ½ tsp. Dried Chilli Flakes – 5Cals

Steps:

1. Mix in all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined.

Each tablespoon has about 23Cals. Drizzle a couple of tablespoons onto your salad and serve.

Ranch Dip

Do you know that one tablespoon of ranch dressing has about 73 calories? The recipe usually calls for mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk. For a healthy twist, we want to replace the “cream” with silken tofu instead. Don’t worry, you’ll barely taste the tofu.

This recipe has under 10 calories per tablespoon. It’s still thick, creamy and packed with herbs and spices.

What you’ll need are:

Ingredients

1. 1 cup Silken Tofu – 93Cals
2. 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice – 3Cals
3. ¼ tsp. Garlic Powder – 4Cals
4. ¼ tsp. Dried Chives - 2Cals
5. ¼ tsp. Mixed Herbs - 2Cals
6. ¼ tsp. Cayenne Pepper - 2Cals
7. Pinch of Salt & Pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Blend the silken tofu in a blender until smooth.
2. Then mix in all the ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined.

If tofu is just not your thing, you can replace it with yoghurt.

Yoghurt Mint Dressing

Who loves tzaziki a.k.a. Greek Cucumber Yoghurt. I LOVE it and it’s so healthy. Here’s a really simple recipe you can follow. What I’ve used are:

Ingredients

1. ½ cup Yoghurt – 75Cals
2. ¼ cup Mint Leaves, finely chopped – 4Cals
3. ½ cup Cucumber, finely grated – 16Cals
4. 2 tsps. Lemon Juice – 2Cals
5. 1 Garlic Clove, minced – 5Cals
6. Pinch of Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Steps

1. Simply mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. You can choose to chill in the fridge before serving.

Each ¼ cup serving only has 28Cals.

It’s refreshing, creamy and zingy. I like to have it with some chopped up vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots or celeries. Or you can even serve it with bread and some grilled meat.

Tomato vinaigrette

If you love tomato, try this final recipe, tomato vinaigrette. What you’ll need are

Ingredients

1. ½ can Diced Tomato – 50Cals
2. ¼ cup Shallot, finely chopped – 29Cals
3. 1 Garlic Clove, minced – 5Cals
4. 1 ½ tbsps. Apple Cider Vinegar – 5Cals
5. 2 tbsps. Olive Oil - 238
6. Pinch of Salt pepper to taste
7. Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Steps

1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients, whisk until well blended and serve.

Each tablespoon has about 21Cals.

This simple yet extremely flavorful tomato vinaigrette is not only great with salad, but it’s also delicious served as a sauce with roasted vegetables, grilled meats or seafood, or used as a dip.

The next time you enjoy a bowl of salad, just be aware of the dressing. Ask to serve it on the side and enjoy in small quantity.