Low Calorie Balsamic Salad Dressing

low calorie balsamic dressing

This is one of my favorite salad dressings, with half the sugar and half the oil I normally use.  Feel free to add more sweetener and more oil to your liking.  We are really trying to eat lighter food this summer.  A salad can be a great low calorie meal until it is ruined by an onslaught of fatty salad dressing.  This can also be used as a glaze, poured over cooked veggies, meat or pasta.

Low Calorie Balsamic Salad Dressing

  • 1 Tablespoon dijon mustard (I use Grey Poupon)
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 Tablespoons maple syrup*
  • 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)

Place ingredients in a small 8 ounce mason jar.  Shake vigorously, then serve.  Makes seven ounces total.  Store in the refrigerator up to two weeks, shake before serving.  *Honey, agave or corn syrup can be used instead of maple syrup.  I normally use double the maple syrup and double the olive oil when preparing this dressing, but for now we are looking for a low calorie salad dressing.

Here is the caloric breakdown for this batch of salad dressing: dijon mustard – 15 calories, balsamic vinegar – 120 calories, maple syrup – 100 calories, olive oil – 240 calories – total 475 calories for the entire batch.  It makes 7 ounces, or roughly 14 Tablespoons dressing.   So one Tablespoon of dressing has about 34 calories.  It is pretty strong, so a little goes a long ways.  If you are not used to the flavor of straight balsamic vinegar, add more oil and maple syrup to make a milder salad dressing.

… And in case you are curious, the garden salad in the background is made up of 3 cups mixed greens (60 calories), 1 cup raw spinach (7 calories), 2 ounces heirloom tomatoes (15 calories), 2 ounces red peppers (20 calories), 2 ounces cucumbers (10 calories).  Total, 112 calories.  That’s a good thing – let’s not ruin this lunch with a high calorie salad dressing.  I normally add three egg whites (45 calories) or a little bit of low fat lunch meat to make it more filling.  Happy dieting.  Some really good desserts to come.  Looking at this photo makes me crave butter and sugar!!