Salads became a way of life when I started my healthy eating journey. It became apparent what I put in and on my salad had to be healing, low-fat or fat-free, and wholesome.
At first, I didn’t think you could have an oil-free dressing for salad. The words “oil free salad dressing” had to be an oxymoron, right? The good news is I was oh so wrong.
Crafting a quick, easy, oil-free salad dressing can make your salad low to no fat, and your liver will thank you.
Here, you’ll find nine easy and delicious oil-free salad dressings you can whip up tonight. These recipes are simple, satisfying, and packed with flavors that will enhance your greens—expect zesty, creamy, and spicy options that will keep the salad in your life.
PS: these vegan salad dressings are also dairy-free, vinegar-free, and gluten-free. Wins on top of wins.
Reluctant Foodie’s Fave Oil Free Salad Dressing
Easy Fat-Free Orange “Vinaigrette”
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tablespoon raw honey or maple syrup
- ¼ cup water
- ¹⁄8 teaspoonsea salt
- ¹⁄8 teaspooncayenne
Blend all ingredients and YUM! Source Medical Medium.
Scroll for more easy and delicious oil free salad dressing recipes.
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The Art of Crafting A Tasty Oil Free Salad Dressing
Adding a fat-filled salad dressing misses the point of a healthy, nutritious salad entirely. Salads can be an easy way to fill your body with nutrient-dense, clean ingredients, assist with weight loss, and prevent and heal chronic disease. Covering a salad’s nutrition with oil is like cleaning your dishes with an oil-soaked sponge. You don’t get the same effect; the ingredients are no longer as clean and healthy.
The oil-free salad dressing recipes below are packed with healthful ingredients, ensuring your salad remains nutritious without the added fats. You’re making your salad more powerful instead of less. What about flavor? The flavor that can come from oil is still there by using alternatives like seeds and nuts, and I promise you won’t miss the oil one bit.
More than just salads, too! Use these dressings for:
- pasta salad
- salads
- sandwiches
- wraps
- grilled vegetables
- roasted potatoes
- grilled chicken/fish
- tacos/burritos
- as marinade for meat/tofu
And the oil free salad dressing recipes you’ll find below are simple – both to make and to customize. Whatever your favorite flavors are or what kind of salad you’re making, these oil free salad dressing recipes will cover you.
Easy and Delicious Oil Free Salad Dressing Recipes
1. Zesty Lemon “Vinaigrette”
We start here because this one is beyond versatile. I’ve used this one not only as a salad dressing but as a veggie dipping sauce and chicken marinade. Coming from Beautiful Ingredient, the dates are my favorite part of this, adding that perfect amount of sweetness.
Good for:
salads, beans, green beans, grains, sandwiches, marinade
The Recipe:
- 3 Medjool Dates, pitted and soaked for 1 hour in filtered water
- 1 tsp freshly minced garlic
- 4 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Blend all ingredients, including the water dates soaked in, until smooth. 4 servings.
2. Creamy Avocado Cilantro Dressing
From Medical Medium, this creamy oil free salad dressing recipe is oh-so-healthy. Avocado is the star, which is a creamy, healthy fat that is easily digested. A little-known fact is that the avocados will help the other ingredients of your salad assimilate into your body. You won’t be compromising anything with this dressing, you’ll boost your immune system, and you certainly won’t miss the oil.
Good for:
salads, dip, sandwiches
The Recipe:
- 1 large avocado
- 2 cups zucchini, peeled and diced
- 2 medjool dates, pitted
- ¼ cup cilantro leaves
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- optional sea salt and pepper
Blend all ingredients until smooth, then add water if needed. Makes about 1/2 cup.
3. Sweet and Spicy Mango Dressing
Fresh mango is a powerhouse tropical delight that makes dressings sing. This is the perfect dressing to make you feel a little guilty. Could this be so good for me? Yes, it could. And the cayenne pepper gives it a spicy kick that will have you licking your lips.
From Keeping the Peas, you can easily substitute ingredients you don’t have on hand, which will be just as delicious. And mango is a fruit that can help with stress and sleep, so pour it on.
Good for:
salads, fruit dip, steamed veggies, marinade
Recipe:
- 1 cup diced fresh mango
- 1 lime juiced
- 1/3 cup vegetable stock (or water)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/18 tsp cayenne
Blend ingredients in a blender. Add some fresh herbs like mint or basil for extra flavor. Makes 8 servings.
4. Cashew “Cheese” Sauce
This recipe is one of those vegan sauces I can make and use on multiple things within a few days: salads, pasta, chicken dip, and sandwich spread. It’s quick, with no soaking of the cashews prior. And creamy! You will think there is dairy in this recipe, but it’s dairy-free, gluten-free, and does not contain nutritional yeast. This sauce is oil free vegan at at its best.
Good for:
pasta topping, salads, veggie dip, chicken nugget dip, mayo replacement
Recipe:
- 1 cup of raw cashews
- 1/2 cup of water
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 Medjool date
Blend all ingredients in a blender. Makes about 1 cup.
5. Creamy Vegan Almond Dressing
Another oil-free vegan dressing that uses nuts, this time the beloved almond. The Bewitchin Kitchen calls for apple cider vinegar, but I suggest lemon juice to make this vinegar-free. We’re also replacing oil with water and making it vegan using maple syrup.
This dressing is an excellent finish to an oil-free vegan salad made with roasted butternut squash or sweet potatoes. Toss on some pumpkin seeds and roasted brussel sprouts, and you’ve got a warm salad bowl perfect for a healthy and cozy winter evening.
Good for:
warm salads, roasted veggies, wraps, grain bowls
Recipe:
- 1/4 cup raw almonds
- 1/8 cup water
- 1/8 cup lemon juice
- 2 TBSP pure maple syrup
- 1 large garlic glove
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
Blend all ingredients in a blender; use less water if you want it more creamy.
6. French Dressing
This oil free salad dressing takes me back to my childhood and all my Catalina dressing days, except fortunately without the highly processed oil and corn syrup that regularly appears in store-bought dressings.
This tomato-based oil-free dressing is from Medical Medium, and it gets its tang not from nutritional yeast but from Atlantic Dulse – a dried seaweed that is a good iodine supplement and can help remove toxic heavy metals.
It is nut-free and super tasty on a bowl of fresh leafy greens.
Good for:
green salads, veggie dip
Recipe:
- 1 cup diced mango (can use thawed frozen mango)
- ½ cup chopped yellow, red, or orange bell pepper
- 1 garlic clove
- 3 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 3 TBSP tomato paste
- 2 TBSP pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp Atlantic dulse flakes
Blend all the ingredients in a blender, and adjust the flavor by increasing maple syrup or lemon juice if needed.
7. Cashew Dairy Free Ranch Dressing
Who doesn’t love a good ranch dressing? Well, I can tell you I don’t like the trips to the bathroom or the preservatives I get with the traditional kind. From Medical Medium, this ranch dressing is full of love and no dairy. Perfect for a cobb or wedge salad, you can get the flavor without the guilt or gut reaction.
Good for:
salads, veggie dip, sandwiches, wraps
Recipe:
- 1 1⁄2 cups raw, peeled, and diced zucchini
- 3 TBSP raw cashews
- 1 1⁄2 TBSP freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1⁄2 tsp onion powder
- 1⁄2 tsp sea salt (optional)
- 1 TBSP finely chopped dill
- 1 TBSP finely chopped parsley
Blend the zucchini, cashews, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a blender. Stir in dill and parlsey.
8. Vegan Caesar Dressing
This oil free salad dressing is one of those flavorful recipes that will have you wondering what took you so long to ditch the oil. There are a lot of vegan Caesar dressings out there, but this one does not use nutritional yeast, which makes it even more nutritional.
Dijon mustard and vegan Worcestershire sauce give it that tang I love. Thank you, Faithful Plateful, for this yummy version. It goes great with cracked black pepper, just like the o.g.
Good for:
salads, wraps, sandwiches
Recipe:
- 1/2 cup raw cashews (or raw sunflower seeds, or a blend of both)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1 TBSP vegan Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp capers
- 1 small clove raw garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder)
- 1/2 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
Blend all the ingredients in a blender; add more lemon juice if you need more tanginess. Store for up to 3 days.
9. Green Goddess Dressing with Tahini
I first had a Green Goddess dressing at the Whole Foods salad bar. This recipe will make you think you’re there. This recipe is one of those creamy dressings you will go to again and again, and of all the dressings, I’m making it most often because it’s packed full of healthy ingredients.
From The Meditteranean Dish, you can add basic ingredients like jalapenos to give it more spice, which tastes fantastic. You can also substitute the cilantro with your favorite fresh herbs.
Good for:
salads, wraps, grain bowls, sandwiches, veggie dip, veggie burgers
Recipe:
- 1 1/2 cups packed parsley, including leaves and stems
- 1 1/2 cups packed cilantro or basil, including leaves and stems
- 1/2 cup fresh dill or 1 to 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 1 green onion trimmed, both white and green parts
- 2 garlic cloves
- Kosher salt and red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 2 lemons, juiced
- Water, 1/4 – 1 cup
Blend parsley, herbs, onion, and garlic, adding a pinch of salt and red pepper flakes. Add tahini and lemon juice and blend again. Add water to the desired consistency and blend. Makes approximately 1 1/2 cups.
Storage and Equipment
To make oil free salad dressing recipes easily, you will need a good high-speed blender – the bullet or small batch version is best for most dressing recipes and makes cleaning easier. Mason jars with a tight-fitting lid are perfect for storage, and you can store them in the refrigerator for up to a week. Below, you’ll find my favorite dressing-making supplies.
Small Batch Blender
Ninja Personal Blender
Not just for smoothies! Make sauces, dressings, and more. It comes with 2 blender cups, which makes cleaning a breeze.
Dressing Storage
Mason Jars with Airtight Lids
Keep your homemade dressings airtight in these containers with airtight lids, set of 2. Long-lasting and made in the USA
More Oil Free Cooking
See my article Love Cooking Without Oil for more on Oil Free Cooking.
Summary
As you venture into the world of a good oil free salad dressing, you will be surprised at how easy it is to incorporate oil-free recipes everywhere in your diet. From the tangy Lemon Herb Vinaigrette to the velvety Avocado Cilantro Lime Dressing, there is something the whole family will love.
A tasty oil free salad dressing with healing, whole foods will make your food even healthier!
Whether it’s a side salad or warm roasted veggies, you can use these popular recipes more than you think. Spread these dressings on a sandwich like a vegan mayo, drizzle on a grain bowl, or pour it on a fresh salad. These wonderful recipes will have you craving the oil-free version over and over again.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I use instead of oil for salad dressing?
Experiment with different alternatives to oil when making an oil free salad dressing, such as water, avocado, tahini, unsweetened applesauce, flax seeds, nuts, and beans. These options can add flavor and texture without the use of traditional oils.
What can I put on salad instead of dressing?
A great alternative to dressing on your salad is a small amount of fresh lemon, lime, or orange juice, providing additional flavor without the added calories or fat from traditional dressings.
Do all salad dressings have oil?
Not all dressings have oil; many oil free salad dressing recipes can be oil-free and taste great. The healthiest oils for all cooking are pure olive oil or avocado oil.
Can you use water instead of oil in salad dressing?
You can use water instead of oil in salad dressing. Mix water with nuts, seeds, silken tofu, or tahini to replace oil. Replacing oil with water will give you a healthier version of oil free salad dressing.
How long can I keep my homemade dressings?
Store dressings in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
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