10 Keto Salad Dressing Recipes

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that switches the body into fat-burning mode. But if you Googled “keto salad dressing” and made your way to this article, then you’re already keto savvy.

The keto diet helps eliminate harmful refined sugars from your body, controls for natural sugars, and spurs safe and quick weight loss. If you’re embarking on a keto diet, then you’ll want to be wary of commercially available salad dressings, which are often loaded with unnecessary sugars. 

We’re also making your keto diet easier with this list of the top 10 keto salad dressings, so can whip up homemade dressings and dips out of healthy, whole ingredients.

The Secret Sugars in Store-Bought Salad Dressings

Store-bought and pre-prepared salad dressings are full of hidden sugars, sometimes rivaling the sugar content of syrups and candies. Even a salad of fresh lettuce, veggies, fruits, nuts, and seeds could still be detrimental to your health if you top it off with sugar-laden salad dressing. 

But how could you go wrong with toppings like balsamic vinegar dressings? Because these dressings are often not the traditionally aged authentic specimen from Italy! Instead, manufactured balsamic vinegars are derived from white wine vinegar, artificially colored, and full of cornstarch for thickening. They also tend to contain unhealthy sugar and sodium contents that may stress your blood sugar and blood pressure levels.

The secret ingredients are counterintuitively even more dire for so-called fat-free dressings. To make them technically fat free while still being commercially appealing, fat-free dressings are often packed full of sugar. Ken’s Foods Fat-Free Raspberry Vinaigrette‘s nutrition facts label reveals 10 grams of sugar per serving and 115 milligrams of sodium. With no fiber and no vitamin content, these dressings deliver all the problem ingredients but none of the benefits you’d get from a healthy cold-pressed avocado oil, extra-virgin olive oil, or simple vinegar mixture.

When dining out, restaurant salads may be flavored up with unhealthy vegetable oils, or come with candied nuts, dried fruits, or croutons, all of which could derail your efforts to avoid sugar and kick you rudely out of ketosis. 

It may be time to stop looking for pre-made salad dressings that won’t impact your blood sugar levels and just make your own at home. Ready for some keto-friendly recipes for classic salad flavors? Let’s go!

Keto Salad Dressings: Key Ingredients and Top 10 Recipes

Before you get started mixing these salad potions in your kitchen, you may want to think about the key ingredients that make for a healthy dressing or keto sauce. Healthy oils include olive, avocado, and coconut oils (or its flavorless concentrate MCT oil). A good balsamic or apple cider vinegar is another excellent base, and healthy fats like sour cream or Greek yogurt work wonderfully for creamier dressings. 

The total time for each of these recipes if you have the ingredients on hand is almost no time at all—fortunately prep time for keto salad dressing recipes takes no longer than washing and compiling the salad greens themselves. Just measure, pour, stir, then drizzle! 

Without further ado, here are our top 10 keto recipes for salad dressings.

1. Keto Ranch Dressing

This simple and classic recipe from Keto Summit combines keto mayo, onion powder, and coconut cream with fresh parsley, chives, and dill to give you that familiar ranch flavor. With some garlic cloves and a dash of salt and pepper, this dressing delivers healthy fats without compromising your net carbs. 

For those who want a dairy-free option for keto ranch, check out this Vegan Paleo Ranch Dressing recipe from Healy Eats Real. Try either one of them on our Keto Boneless Chicken Wings and see if you don’t like them better than store-bought.

2. Creamy Jalapeño-Cilantro Dressing

This spicy recipe from Urvashi at Two Sleevers combines the warm burn of jalapeño with the fresh kick of cilantro in a flavorful creamy mixture based in sour cream or Greek yogurt (dealer’s choice). Get healthy fats with plenty of zesty flavor, and add some real pizzazz to any salad or keto taco dish that needs a little extra spice.

3. Keto Butter Salad Dressing

This keto-friendly and delightfully rich Butter Salad Dressing from The Nourished Caveman combines keto (or almond) butter with keto collagen, MCT oil, and sugar-free monk fruit sweetener mixed with water, lemon juice, sea salt, powdered turmeric, and ginger. 

4. Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil Salad Dressing

Thanks to Lisa at Low Carb Yum we have this combo of olive oil and balsamic vinegar with black pepper, Dijon mustard, minced garlic (or garlic powder if you don’t have cloves on hand), and salt. Combine together (shake don’t stir!), and you’ve got a fast and flavorful mixture that you can store in the fridge for quick access—you don’t have to keep making it from scratch every time!

5. Green Goddess Dressing

Another winning paleo concoction from Hannah at Healy Eats Real, with avocado, mayonnaise, anchovy fillet, fresh parsley and chives, lemon juice, clove garlic, and nutritional yeast. With a pinch of salt and pepper, this richly green and creamy dressing has all the nutritional and taste value of added nutritional yeast. If it’s too thick at first, add a little bit of avocado oil to smooth it out.

6. Basil Lime Vinaigrette and Marinade

The unique flavor of basil lime from Zenbelly combines fresh basil leaves, white balsamic vinegar, lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, shallots, and salt and pepper. Super fresh and zingy, this summertime medley of tastes is perfect for a picnic or a bright Sunday afternoon brunch.

7. Blue Cheese Vinaigrette Dressing

Another delectable recipe from Lisa at Low Carb Yum combines blue cheese into a mix of balsamic vinegar and olive and avocado oil. It’s keto friendly, cheesy, and one more way to enjoy this high-fat, healthy diet. Though it will separate when stored, it takes nothing more than another good shake to get this salad dressing back in order.

8. Paleo Italian Dressing

This Italian dressing recipe from Cook Eat Paleo brings together the tannins and resveratrol of red wine with fresh herbs like oregano, salt, and black pepper, plus clove garlic in a base of organic extra virgin olive oil. This is a vegan-friendly and gluten-free recipe, easy to make and perfect for salads, marinades, or side sauces.

9. Keto 5-Minute Caesar Dressing

The speed of this recipe from ruled.me is right in the title: 5 minutes for the perfect Caesar salad dressing. With anchovy paste, chopped garlic, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and regular or keto mayo, this low-carb sauce doubles as a veggie dip. Just crumble on some Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

10. Raspberry Salad Dressing

This paleo raspberry salad dressing from Rachael at Meatified is practically a keto concentrate. With coconut butter, coconut oil, lime juice, and raspberries, this is one of the simplest and purely keto recipes on this list. Use it to quickly dress up anything from an average salad to a tray of asparagus or Brussels sprouts. If you want a little sweetness to offset a tart batch of raspberries, you can add a natural sugar alternative like stevia or erythritol in a pinch.

Keto Salads and More

It shouldn’t be a tall order for keto dieters to get a low-carb salad. These keto-friendly salad dressings are simple enough to make your keto lifestyle a little bit easier, so you don’t need to meal plan just for a dressing. With a few key ingredients in your kitchen, you can mix up a tasty dressing, dip, or sauce in as little as 5 minutes, and then get busy enjoying your food rather than preparing it.