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Healthy homemade salad dressing recipes that are super easy to make — from a basic balsamic vinaigrette to peanut, honey mustard and cilantro lime. All dressings are gluten-free and vegan-friendly.
Regular readers know that I could practically live on salads because I love them so much. They’re such an easy option for healthy eating because you can literally toss a protein and healthy fat over a bed of greens with a ton of veggies or a whole grain and you’ve got yourself a delicious meal. (Check out my tips here –> how to build a meal-sized salad.)
And honestly salads are all about the toppings! Yes, the greens are important, but if you have a ton of flavorful toppings you might not even need a dressing. A drizzle of good balsamic vinegar, a scoop of hummus or even hot sauce will do the trick. Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but I put hot sauce on everything… even salad.
That said, there are definitely times when I’m in the mood for a salad with actual dressing. For times like this I like to whip out one of my homemade salad dressing recipes. The six I’m sharing are my go-tos. I make them all the time, but they’ve never really been featured on the blog because they’re all hidden within different salad recipes. Now they’re all are in one spot for easy reference.
Many store-bought dressings are loaded with processed ingredients, preservatives and sugar so making your own dressing is much healthier. Plus, it’s cheaper! And once you get started making your own you’ll figure out what ratios you like best and it becomes so easy to whip up different variations.
As you’ll notice most of these healthy homemade salad dressings I’m sharing have recurring ingredients — garlic, apple cider vinegar, tamari, maple syrup, sea salt and pepper. So once you have these items in your pantry/fridge you can make a bunch of different dressings!
All of the dressings are made with whole ingredients and yield about 3/4 cup, which is about 12 Tablespoons and 6 servings. Each serving size is 2 Tablespoons. Oh, and if you’re looking for sugar-free options, check out the zesty tahini and the apple cider vinegar dressings.
Each of these recipes are made with minimal ingredients. There are a few ways to mix up homemade salad dressings:
I recommend storing your homemade dressing in a glass container in the refrigerator. I like to use mason jars! One thing to note: homemade dressings made with olive oil tend to harden and separate when stored in the fridge. This is completely normal! Take the dressing out of the fridge about 20 minutes before using so it can come to room temperature and then give it a quick shake to recombine the ingredients.
When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, your homemade dressing will last about two weeks.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 84 calories, 5g fat, 5g carbs, 0g sugar, 2g fiber, 6g protein, 30mg sodium
My go-to apple cider vinegar salad dressing recipe. If EBF has a house dressing, this would be it! Get all the health benefits of apple cider vinegar with this delicious dressing! Use it for this Brussels Sprout Chopped Salad or as a marinade for grilled chicken.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 163 calories, 18g fat, 1g carbs, 0g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 434mg sodium
One of my favorite zesty dressings to use for Mexican themed salads. Try it on my Deconstructed Guacamole Salad or as a marinade for grilled shrimp.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 87 calories, 9g fat, 2g carbs, 1g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 394mg sodium
Everyone needs a go-to balsamic vinegar dressing and this one is absolutely delicious and works on just about any salad imaginable. Try it on my Detox Salad or for a Salad in a Jar.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 103 calories, 9g fat, 5g carbs, 4g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 217mg sodium
One of my favorite salad dressings growing up was honey mustard and I still love it to this day. This version is lighter than regular honey mustard but still just as flavorful! Try it as a dipping sauce for my Baked Paleo Chicken Tenders.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 106 calories, 9g fat, 7g carbs, 6g sugar, 0g fiber, 0g protein, 219mg sodium
The most amazing peanut dressing to use for Asian salads! Try it on my Kale Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing, Kale Sweet Potato Brown Rice Bowls and as a dipping sauce for fresh spring rolls.
Nutrition per 2 Tablespoons: 107 calories, 7g fat, 13g carbs, 6g sugar, 0g fiber, 3g protein, 345mg sodium
Be sure to check out all of my healthy salad dressings as well as my favorite healthy store-bought salad dressings.
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Thank you, thank, thank you! I have just started getting your emails, and I am so glad I did! I have been needing some good some tahini and peanut dressing recipes and I am tired of scrolling through Pinterest to find them. Now I have even more recipes to choose from. Thank you for your time to send out emails!
Yay! I am so glad that you are enjoying my recipes, Danni. Thank you so much for sharing your review + star rating, I really appreciate it.
Im excited to find this web site. I wanted to thank you for your time just for this fantastic read!! I definitely enjoyed every little bit of it and i also have you book marked to check out new stuff in your website.
Of course, I appreciate you being here!
I really need to start making dressing at home.
Hi! I noticed in the nutrition facts for each dressing the sodium count was missing. Do you know how much sodium is in each dressing?
Hey Krista,
So sorry for the delay! The nutritional info has been added to this blog post for each of the dressings. 🙂
Love all your dressings! Does tahini dressing need to be refrigerated? If so, how long will it last in fridge? Thank you kindly.
Hi, Susan. I suggest storing the tahini dressing in an air-tight container in the fridge. It should last for a week or two!