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Adding more salads into your meal rotation is a great way to add some variety to what you’re eating, and it also can be a smart move when it comes to creating a healthier diet. However, there is one part of salads that might do more harm than good: dressing.
Many store-bought dressings are high in sodium, fat, and calories, making them the opposite of healthy. It’s easy to avoid these ingredients if you have the time to make a salad dressing from scratch, but if you don’t, there’s another way to keep your salads healthy. Specifically, avoiding certain dressings is a good place to start.
With that in mind, keep reading for the 4 salad dressings you should never buy again.
Ranch Dressing
Ranch is high in calories and fat, making a serving of this dressing closer to a dessert than anything else.
According to Delish, "There are 63.2 calories and 6.7 grams total fat in just one tablespoon [of ranch]. You could eat a chocolate chip cookie for 54.2 calories and 2.4 grams of total fat."
Plus, if you add an extra tablespoon of ranch to your salad, that number will double.
Thousand Island Dressing
Thousand Island dressing is another one you'll want to stay away from--especially if you are trying to be more health-conscious.
"Since this dressing is void of essential vitamins and minerals, there are no real benefits, only a whole lot of saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol, and sugar—all of which put you at risk for health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes," Mashed explains.
Caesar Dressing
At this point, Caesar salad is well-known for being unhealthy, and that is mostly due to its dressing.
According to Food Network, "A traditional Caesar salad has 470 calories, 40 grams of fat (9 grams of which are saturated) and 1070 milligrams of sodium. Even the 'side salad' boasts 362 calories, 26 grams of fat, 7 grams of saturated fat and 913 milligrams of sodium."
So if you want a healthy option, Caesar salad is not the salad for you.
Italian Dressing
Italian dressing is the healthiest on this list, but that does not mean that it is actually "healthy."
Livestrong explains, "Italian dressing offers a healthier option to regular creamy dressings because it's naturally lower in calories and fat." However, "since it's high in sodium and the calories quickly add up, it's still important to watch the amount you eat."
With that in mind, try to keep this dressing in moderation (or make a low sodium version at home).
