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
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!