6 Salad Dressings for Your Clean Eating Journey

It’s a new year, and that means a brand new slate, right? Right. If one of your resolutions is to lead a healthier lifestyle, clean eating is a simple and satisfying way to do just that.

This week, we’re helping you get a little ahead by rounding up six delicious clean salad dressing recipes to help you get started on your new health journey.

What Does “Clean Eating” Mean?

The general premise behind clean eating isn’t necessarily that you’ll be eating more or less of a particular food or food group. Instead, you’ll be choosing the best and healthiest foods in every food group, and eating little of the foods that aren’t very healthy.

Another idea behind clean eating is to always choose organic foods whenever possible. Doing so is truly “clean” eating, as these foods are not exposed to pesticides or herbicides, and are not genetically modified.

If you’re interested in learning more about the clean eating movement and are looking for guidelines, take a moment to read through our Clean Eating Guide for Beginners. Now, let’s get to those recipes!

6 Clean Salad Dressing Recipes

Avocado Lime Dressing

This first recipes comes from Clean Eating Magazine (subscribe through Magazines.com here), and offers an interesting twist on salad dressing. Amy delivers a fairly straightforward recipe for a delicious avocado lime dressing that doesn’t take too long to make.

With ingredients like fresh avocado, lime juice (and zest!), and freshly puréed garlic, there’s no sacrificing taste, and you’ll love the health benefits.

Get the full recipe here.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing

Vinaigrette is one of my favorite dressing options for a couple different reasons. It adds a great-tasting zing to any salad, and it can be flavored, such as in this recipe from Ellen at Confessions of an Overworked Mom.

Ellen’s raspberry vinaigrette is made with fresh, organic raspberries, apple cider vinegar (like this option from Bragg), balsamic vinegar, olive oil (try this option from Premier Research), and a dash of Dijon mustard.

Not only will this dressing be a great-tasting addition to your salad, but the mother culture in the apple cider vinegar provides a healthy immune boost, too!

Get the full recipe here.

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is a crowd-pleasing favorite when it comes to ways to top off a salad. There may be plenty of different choices when it comes to ranch dressing, but unfortunately, many of them are far from healthy (and much less than clean).

Merissa and Julie (her mom) over at Little House Living offer up a great recipe for healthy, homemade ranch dressing. While the recipe calls for mayo, she offers a recipe for that, too! Take your mayo, mix in some organic, whole milk yogurt, honey, apple cider vinegar, garlic, parsley, and dill, and you’ve got a creamy ranch dressing you can enjoy without feeling guilty.

Get the full recipe here.

Honey Mustard Dressing

Honey mustard is another of my absolute most favorite ways to top off a good salad. However, it’s also another dressing that can be pretty unhealthy, depending on the brand you choose.

Tiffany at The Gracious Pantry whips up a great-tasting and totally clean honey mustard dressing that you’re sure to love. It’s easy to make and only uses five ingredients. It does call for yellow mustard, so be sure to choose a healthy brand or make your own! (Livestrong offers a great recipe for that here.)

Get the full recipe here.

Ginger Miso Dressing

I can’t have a list of clean salad dressings without including this fantastic option from Dani at Clean and Delicious. Ginger Miso dressing is the perfect choice to give your favorite salad a little pizzazz. Dani says this dressing is “definitely a great choice if you are looking for something different from your basic vinaigrette.”

It’s simple to make and has great flavor. Simply add the ingredients to a mason jar, put the lid on, and shake everything together for 10 to 15 seconds. That’s it!

Get the full recipe here.

Italian Herb Dressing

Italian dressing seems to be another mainstay when it comes to salad dressings options, and it’s a favorite for many. If you’ve been wondering how to make a clean and healthy version at home, look no further than this recipe from Melissa at My Whole Food Life.

This Italian herb dressing takes about five minutes to whip up and has a great and tangy taste to it.It contains garlic, thyme, oregano and basil—all of which provide health benefits.

Get the full recipe here.

Another option to consider is oil-free salad dressings.

So, there you have it! A great list of salad dressings to get you started on your clean eating journey. If you have other delicious dressing recipes, please let us know by dropping us a line in the comment section.