One of the most challenging things when avoiding oil in your diet is finding a good salad dressing without oil. In this post, you'll find the most popular vegan, oil-free dressing brands, homemade salad dressing recipes without oil and also ideas for how to flavor a salad without a dressing!
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Popular store-bought oil-free salad dressing brands
After surveying super active Facebook groups full of those who following a whole food, plant-based, oil-free lifestyle to find out their favorite brands of oil-free salad dressing, here's the list. Check it out!
California Balsamic Flavored Vinegars
- Oil-free, fat-free, no added sugars
- Wildly popular in the plant-based community thanks to Chef AJ, but their products are pricey.
- I LOVE the basil white balsamic flavor they have
Well Your World Salad Dressings
- Flavors: Sweet Mustard, Sweet Heat, Italian, Balsamic, Desert Catalina
- No added oil, no added salt, sweetened with whole fruit, gluten-free, nut-free, vegan
Trader Joe's Fat Free Balsamic Vinaigrette
- This dressing has great consistency and flavor. Excellent for making pasta salad without olive oil!
- Find this dressing at your local Trader Joe's
Maple Farms
- Fat Free Vegan Flavors:
- Cranberry Balsamic
- Fat Free Greek
- Fat Free Lime Basil
- Fat Free Poppyseed
- Fat Free Raspberry Vinaigrette
- Fat Free Vidalia Onion
- Fat Free Wasabi Dijon
- Fat Free Honey Dijon (dairy-free, not vegan, contains honey)
- Find these dressings at Walmart and Whole Foods, as well as Amazon
Ken's Fat Free Raspberry Pecan
- One of my favorites!
Sprouts Organic Roasted Garlic Fat Free Dressing
- Find this dressing at your local Sprouts grocery store.
Bragg's Organic Oil-Free Vinaigrette
- Made with Bragg's Organic Apple Cider Vinegar.
- Find this dressing at Whole Foods or Amazon.
Let Thy Food Boulder Ranch Superfood Dressing
- oil-free (cashew based), sugar-free, vegan, whole food
Simple Truth Plant-based Cauliflower Dip
- Flavors: Spinach, Tzatziki, Buffalo, Cilantro Jalapeno
- All whole foods, plant-based, oil-free (cashew/almond base)
- Find these at Kroger, Ralph's, Fred Meyer.
Homemade oil-free dressing recipes
2-Ingredient Maple Dijon Oil-free Salad Dressing
Ready in just 2 minutes, with only 2 ingredients, you'll love this simple and delicious oil-free salad dressing. Perfect for any green salad and even for dressing up potatoes.
Check out the recipe!
4-Ingredient Honey Mustard Salad Dressing (oil-free)
Just 4 ingredients, this oil-free honey mustard dressing transforms your greens or pasta salad from dull to delicious. Shake everything up in a mason jar and you're done in under 4 minutes!
Check out the recipe!
Sweet Soy Ginger Asian Dressing (oil-free)
This sweet soy ginger dressing is delicious as a poke bowl sauce, as a dipping sauce for veggie sushi, as an oil-free Asian salad dressing, noodles or rice bowls. Soy sauce (soy-free options given, too), rice vinegar and sweetener combine with ginger, wasabi and toasted sesame seeds to make this flavorful dressing.
Check out the recipe!
Maple Lime Balsamic Oil-free Salad Dressing
Ready in under 5 minutes, you'll love this sweet and tangy oil-free, vegan salad dressing. Toss it with a green salad, drizzle it over watermelon or strawberries. It's also delicious as a dressing for burrito bowls!
Check out the recipe!
Homemade Oil-free Hummus
Cheaper than store-bought and just as delicious! This simple, fluffy homemade oil-free hummus recipe is perfect as a dip with pita chips, veggie sticks or as a spread. Thin it out with water or vinegar for a quick and easy salad dressing!
Check out the recipe!
4-Ingredient Peanut Dipping Sauce for Spring Rolls
Thin this out with water as needed for a peanut dressing. Spicy and rich, this simple peanut dipping sauce for spring rolls and noodle bowls is just what you need. You'll need just four ingredients and four minutes to whip up this simple vegan peanut sauce. No stovetop, no cooking, no fish sauce.
Check out the recipe!
Apple Dijon for Kale Crunch Salad Chick-Fil-A Copycat
Crunchy and light, this copycat Chick-Fil-A kale crunch salad with curly kale, cabbage and roasted almonds is super fast and easy to make. A versatile side dish with a light apple dijon dressing, it is vegan, plant-based and oil-free, too.
Check out the recipe!
Dinosaur Kale Salad with Creamy Lemon Garlic Dressing (oil-free)
This dinosaur kale salad is softened with the creamy lemon garlic dressing and topped with vegan pecan parmesan and dried cranberries. It's a stunning vegan kale salad recipe you'll keep coming back to again and again.
Check out the recipe!
Ideas for how to flavor your salad without oil
You don't always need a "dressing" for salad. Check out these simple ways to flavor your salad without using oil or store-bought salad dressings. These are all oil-free ideas!
Lemon juice
- Squeeze fresh or bottled lemon juice (with or without salt and pepper) onto your salad
Oil-free hummus, thinned out with water or vinegar
- Use store bought oil-free hummus, like Cedar's or Engine 2
- Or, make your own oil-free hummus (it freezes well, so make a double batch!)
Flavored Vinegars
- Your grocery store may carry many different types of vinegars, some flavored. Try that first.
- California Balsamic is wildly popular in the plant-based community thanks to Chef AJ, but their products are pricey.
Fruit
- Add fruit to your salad and the juice from the fruit will help moisten and flavor your salad.
- Watermelon (my fav!), strawberries, blueberries, orange segments, mango, apples, peaches, plums are all good options
Lime juice
- Squeeze fresh or bottled lime juice (with or without salt and pepper) onto your salad
Orange juice
Salsa
Pickle juice + hot sauce
- This was an interesting one! I haven't tried but could see how it might be yummy, if you like dill!
What are you favorite ways to dress a salad without using oil? Tell us in the comments below! Your idea may help someone else.
J says
Hi, I just found your site, recipes today and thank you for providing the recipes for salad dressings without oil and also substitutes for cashews. What is also great is I already have rhe majority of the ingredients on hand! Again, thank you!