WALDEN FARMS BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

This dressing is another one from Walden Farms that unfortunately is not zero calories/zero fat. At first all the dressing from Walden Farm appeared to be zero/zero but now I’m finding more and more that are not. This one, however, is Sugar Free. I would categorize as normal in many ways and does have a little more taste than most of the rest of the WF dressings. The smell is weak and to me, does not even have the smell of balsamic vinegar although it is listed in the ingredients.

The nutrition facts on the label show that this dressing is not too bad for you. It has no saturated fat or trans fat and only 4g of fat overall. It also has no carbs, cholesterol or sugar but it does contain 40 calories per serving and 35 of these calories coming from fat. But I still can’t figure out why Walden Farms can’t seem to make a dressing with much taste. The only one that does (that I have tried) is the Creamy Bacon Dressing and unfortunately the taste is has is not good. This Balsamic dressing is not offensive and definitely not overpowering but you still have to work to find much taste at all. It does have the characteristic look and color of other balsamic vinaigrettes but little of the taste. It is not good but also it is not bad – just “blah”.

Taste Rating = 3 bottles
Overall Rating = 3 bottles
Style Category = Vinaigrette
Fat Category = low
Calorie Category = low
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

SouthBeach Living Ranch Dressing

I haven’t taken a poll but it appears there are more “light” Ranch dressings than just about any other kind of dressing. This one is from South Beach but made by Kraft but surprisingly fares worse than the Kraft Light Ranch in some ways. This dressing fits into the South Beach Diet in Phases 2 and 3.

This dressing shares the same calorie amounts as the Kraft but in a couple of other categories it is worse. It has more fat (7g vs. 4.5), fat calories (60 vs. 40), and Sat Fat (1g vs .5) but does fare better on total carbs (2g vs. 7), and also in sodium content (300mg vs. 370). Granted, these differences are not too much for either one, but the biggest question is “what about the taste”? In that I would give the nod to the Kraft Light over the South Beach Ranch. Neither one of them has an overpowering or unpleasant taste and they are very similar in many ways but I just think the Kraft Light has a bit more taste. I guess this can be attributed to the higher sodium content which appears to be the way manufacturers choose to add taste. The South Beach version is not bad just a little too bland to stand out from the others. It pretty much tastes like mayonnaise with a hint of something else it but the list of ingredients doesn’t give it away because there is very little out of the ordinary in it. I found with this dressing I tended to use even more than usual hoping to get some taste.


Taste Rating = 4
Overall Rating = 5
Style Category = Ranch
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = medium calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

PUBLIX FAT-FREE THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

In case you are not familiar with Publix – it is a chain of supermarkets in the southeastern United States with stores in GA, FL, SC, TN, and AL. I did not plan to discuss regional or store-brands but I just happened to have a bottle of this dressing and since I never want to throw anything out I decided to try this for a few days just to see how it stacks up. In a nutshell, this is not a bad dressing, in fact, it is pretty fair. I won’t go much farther than that. My first impression was from the smell and it smells like all other Thousand Island dressings – like pickle relish. This gave me hope at the very beginning and I was only slightly disappointed. I used this dressing for a week or so at lunch and didn’t come away feeling nauseated by the dressing.

It is very thick and coats your salad well and you can probably get by with the recommended serving size (2Tbsp) and it is on the low side in calories (40) and fat-free so it gets a nod from me with just that.
This is not an overpowering dressing by any stretch of the imagination and while eating it often seems hard to taste. Rather than a strong taste this has a pretty bland or indistinct taste. I would describe the taste as being simple rather than complex which is what I prefer. When I finish my salad I would find myself asking “now what was it I just used?” Although I will not look forward to buying this in the future I won’t mind using it until it is all gone.


Taste Rating = 4 bottles
Overall Rating = 5 bottles
Style Category = 1000 Island
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Lite Honey Mustard

The advertising statement for this dressing claims - “Finally…a lite dressing full of flavor with all the zing of our original Honey Mustard. One of our favorites!” I cannot really disagree with this statement since I haven’t tried their original Honey Mustard but I would not say it has much “zing”. The smell is not very strong and the taste is similar. It has a good flavor that is not overpowering but a little on the sweet side rather than sharp or spicy.

This dressing has more fat, carbs and sugars compared to many other “light” dressing and this is reflected in the starting ingredient, high fructose sugar. That is followed by water, cider vinegar, vegetable oil (contains soy or canola oil), dry buttermilk, Dijon mustard (back mustard seeds, vinegar, white wine, salt spices), honey, salt, mustard (mustard seeds, vinegar, salt, spices), mustard powder, lemon juice concentrate, mustard seed, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), caramel color, dry onion and dry garlic. This does indicate that mustard is definitely in this dressing since it is mentioned several times in the list of ingredients but the taste is not as sharp as you would think.

As I mentioned earlier, this dressing is not as “lite” as some others. The total fat is 5g (7%) with 0.5 g of saturated fat (4%) and total carbs = 9g (3%) and 9g of sugar. Also the sodium content is high with 300mg (13%). Apart from this the dressing is pleasant, sweet but not overpowering. If it had fewer fat and calories I would not object to using this dressing frequently. I compares fairly well again the Newman’s Own Light Honey Mustard dressing but is not as tangy or strong-tasting.

Taste Rating = 7
Overall Rating = 6
Style Category = Honey Mustard
Fat Category = low
Calorie Category = med calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Fat Free Greek

“Greek” dressing? That’s a new one to me so I knew immediately I had to try it. First. I looked around on the internet to see what Greek salad dressing was made from. The concensus appears to be that it is made from olive oil and lemon juice. Additional ingredients most often appear to be oregano and black pepper. However, none of these seem to be contained in this dressing unless they are contained in the list called “spices”. Olive oil is not listed but the normal cider vinegar is as well as high fructose corn syrup. In other words, there are no surprises in the list of ingredients.

Armed with this knowledge I tried the dressing. “Tangy” is how I would describe it. It does cause one to pucker after tasting it. This dressing doesn’t hide its taste but puts it out there so that you know that it is there and you don’t really get used to the taste. It stays with you until you reach the end of your salad and even then you keep tasting it. It also has some ingredient or spice that you feel in your lips when you are finished. Your lips tingle a little bit for a few minutes after eating.

It is hard to categorize this dressing as good or bad. It is not entirely pleasant but also I would not describe it as bad. It does have a vinegary taste with a tang. Since this is the first Greek dressing I have tried (are there any more commercial ones out there?) I can’t compare this to other dressing. It is not a “shrinking violet” in taste but bold. I’m going to have to use it more to get a better idea of it but I would not really say I look forward to trying it more.

Taste Rating = 6
Overall Rating = 6
Style Category = Greek
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch

Using the word “light” seems almost stretching the point with this dressing – in more ways than one. It is thick and creamy. In fact it is thicker than most other full Ranch dressings. It also seems to contain almost as much fat calories (70) and even calories (80) and sodium as other full dressings. Even with all of that going against it (in my opinion) I have to say I like this dressing. It does say “50% less fat and 33% fewer calories than regular dressing”. I probably need to add to my to-do list to check this out. Does it mean against their (Kraft) regular dressing or against the one on the market with the highest fat and calories?

It reminds me a lot of mayonnaise with a little of something else added to give it taste. I guess this is where the cheese comes in to play. If you study the list of ingredients you find that it contains Parmesan, Romano cheese and then further down it lists cheddar cheese. The taste is not very strong and it is not objectionable. In fact, after putting it on my finger to taste it I feel like I would like to just eat more of it by itself. Most dressings would be too much without being offset by the taste of other food with them but this one is not overpowering but also not too weak. It really doesn’t have the tangy taste that I usually look for in a dressing but I find it has pleasant taste that I could eat over and over again – except for the fat calories I might be inclined to do so.



Taste Rating = 7
Overall Rating = 6
Style Category = Ranch
Fat Category = high
Calorie Category = high
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = high

WALDEN FARMS CAESAR DRESSING

This is another offering by Walden Farms in their line-up of zero calories, zero sugar, and zero fat dressings. It has the distinctive smell that we automatically associate with Caesar dressings. This dressing is in the same line as the previous ones from Walden Farms that I have reviewed and but fairs a little better in the taste category than the others. It is hard to explain but the taste seems to hit farther back on the tongue rather than in the front. It is almost like an after-taste that you taste while eating. It is similar to the taste of some kind of hot spice that they just give you a hint of without actually giving it to you.

The ingredients are mostly the same as their other products and contain “Purified Triple Filtered Water”, white vinegar, cellulose gel, salt, buttermilk powder, anchovies, cheese flavor, lactic acid, onion, natural flavors, natural spices, xanthan gum, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, food color and sucralose. The only surprises here are the buttermilk power, anchovies and cheese flavor. It may be the anchovies that give Caesar dressings their distinctive smell.

Just like the other Walden Farms dressings, this has zero of everything including fat, calories, sugars, carbs and also nutritional values. The sodium content of this is medium and not unexpected. When you are finished eating this dressing your lips still have a tingle in them caused by the small amount of heat supplied in this dressing. This is not unpleasant and helps to remind you that you have eaten something. This sets it apart from the other Walden Farms dressings I have tried. This is a better product and has enough taste to make it worth your while trying.

Taste Rating = 4 bottles
Overall Rating = 3
Style Category = Caesar
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = no calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

Walden Farms Jersey Sweet Onion Dressing

This is another offering by Walden Farms in their line-up of zero calories, zero sugar, and zero fat dressings. It has a different smell that reminds me of the smell of Ranch dressing. This dressing has the most taste of any Walden Farms dressings that I have tried so far. It still is not strong but this taste does stay with you a little longer than others. I don’t know what “Jersey Sweet” means. I tried Googling it but didn’t come up with anything so I guess it is just a name that they came up with. However, this dressing does have a little bit of sweet taste and I kept tasting it for several hours after eating it and it was not in an especially pleasant way.

The ingredients are mostly the same as their other products and contain “Purified Triple Filtered Water”, white vinegar, cellulose gel, salt, chopped onion, onion powder, natural flavors, natural spices, mustard flour, titanium dioxide, sucralose, lactic acid, propylene glycol alginate, xanthan gum, and sodium benzoate. The only difference between this dressing and the other is, not surprisingly, the chopped onion.

Just like the other Walden Farms dressings, this has zero of everything including fat, calories, sugars, carbs and also nutritional values. The sodium content of this is medium and not unexpected. This does have more taste than some of their other dressings and the taste is a little different than some of the more traditional dressings (like Ranch, Thousand Island, French, etc) and for that reason alone might warrant a try.


Taste Rating = 4 bottles
Overall Rating = 5
Style Category = Other
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = no calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

WALDEN FARMS THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING

Most of my life my dressing of choice has been Thousand Island dressing. That was until I started trying to lose weight and could not find any good low-calorie dressings. Needless to say I couldn’t wait to try the Calorie Free/Fat Free/Sugar Free offering from Walden Farms and once again I was disappointed by this one. The smell of it hinted of tomatoes but not really in a pleasant way because it also smelled of vinegar. Just like the Honey Dijon Vinaigrette the taste was very weak but the flavor of this one was not really good either. When I finished with my salad each day I found I had not enjoyed my salad at all. Even though the flavor was weak I didn’t really like it either. After eating it I felt that I had wasted a good salad by using this dressing on it.

The main ingredient of this dressing, like the Honey Vinaigrette dressing I tried previously was water. Once again it is listed as “Purified Triple Filtered Water” (as if this makes a difference!). Next in the list is white vinegar, tomato paste, cellulose gel, natural flavor, natural spices, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, pickle relish, lemon juice, xanthan gum, propylene glycol, alginate, sodium benzoate, food color, sucralose. This is very similar to the Honey Vinaigrette except for the tomato paste and pickle relish (probably not too surprising).

This is another dressing that I won’t be in any hurry to use again because of the vinegary taste of this offering. I guess I have to keep trying to find a good low-calorie Thousand Island dressing.

Taste Rating = 2 bottles.
Overall Rating = 2 bottles
Style Category = 1000 Island
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = no calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

KRAFT LIGHT RANCH

The advertising slogan for this dressing is “has the taste of regular dressing!” and for once I think I’d agree. This dressing has the smell of mayonnaise with a hint of something else, possibly eggs and garlic. It is very thick and pours slowly. Don’t expect it to drip down to the lower part of your salad because it is too thick for this – you must mix it up yourself to get the salad to the bottom. I see this as a good trait of this dressing. The flavor is pleasant with no strong after-taste and is strong enough to make a difference in your salad enjoyment.

Like other so-called “light” dressing this is compared to Kraft’s regular offering and states that it has “50% less fat and 33% fewer calories than regular dressing.” This may be true but it still has 4.5 g of fat and 70 calories per serving. I have trouble with the serving size which always (I think) 2 tblsp. I don’t think I could ever just use 2 tablespoons of dressing. It always takes more than that but this is used by all dressings that I have seen. This dressing is one of the first I’ve reviewed that contains cholesterol (10 mg/3%). I guess this is due to the egg yolks in the dressing. The list of ingredients shows no surprises. It consists of water, corn syrup, soybean oil, vinegar, egg yolks, modified food starch, salt sugar and contains less than 2% of garlic juice, monosodium glutamate, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate and calcium disodium edta as preservatives, artificial color, polysorbate 60, spice ( I wonder what kind?), dried parsley, lemon juice concentrate, lactic acid (I thought that built up in your muscles during exercise?), natural flavor contains milk. This is another dressing that contains a high amount of sodium (370 mg or 15%). The label indicates that there is no nutritional value in this dressing but it does contain fats and sugars.

This dressing is a good offering in the Ranch type of dressing and if the calories, fat, and sodium content are agreeable to you then you should try this dressing. It is better than most that I have tried - especially better than the “light ranch” offerings in restaurants where the dressing just appears to be a thin, watered down version of their regular ranch dressing.


Taste Rating = 6
Overall Rating = 5
Style Category = Ranch
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = medium calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med high

KRAFT FREE ZESTY ITALIAN FAT FREE DRESSING

This offering from Kraft distinguishes itself by the fact that it is not just a low-fat dressing but completely fat free while retaining the flavor of a regular Italian dressing. It has the typical thinness of an oil-based dressing with the different bits of light, dark, and red particles floating in it. The smell is vinegary (as could be expected) and the taste is strong enough to cause a little pucker on the first bite. But this dressing has another factor that makes it a reason to choose it and that is because it is low calorie along with being fat free. It only has 16 calories per serving which is the normal 2 tablespoons.

The list of ingredients contains mostly the expected ones such as water, vinegar as the largest percentage but then adds high fructose corn syrup which is not always present. After these comes salt and then less than 2% of the following ingredients; dried garlic, soybean oil (this is new also), garlic, modified food starch, xanthan gum, dried onions, dried red peppers, spice , yellow 5, yellow 6 (what are these?), potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives. It offers very little in the way of nutrition, however, but it does have a couple of drawbacks; first, it contains 2gs of sugar (which is not terrible) but second, it contains a whopping 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the daily recommended value. This alone lowers the overall rating one point on my scale, but may make little difference if sodium is not a problem for you.

This dressing is a good choice if your preference leans toward an Italian style dressing. It has a lot going for it – mainly the fact that it is fat free and low calorie. It has a full-bodied taste and typical texture and appearance. The only drawback I find is the large amount of sodium in it and a small after-taste which is not especially pleasant but not too bad either.

Taste Rating = 5
Overall Rating = 4
Style Category = Italian
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = high

Wishbone Balsamic Breeze Vinaigrette Spritzer

I just had to see for myself whether or not the “Spritzer” dressings were a rip-off or not. The ads and statistics seemed pretty good: “only 1 calorie per spray” (or 10 calories per salad). You would think that if they allow 10 sprays per salad that it would be enough dressing and this would qualify in the “very good” category as far as calories go. The fat, total carbs, and sodium were very good in (1 g, 1g, 130 mg respectively but the bottle seemed awful small for the money but they did also advertise that this small bottle would “Dress more salads than a 16 oz. bottle”. I waited until someone else in my office bought a bottle and then I decided to try it.

Of course it was obvious that the dressing would have to be thin and without chunks in order for it to pass through a spray nozzle. I began by using the recommended 10 sprays. (Caution: it comes out pretty hard and can splash out of your salad onto whatever is on the table with it.). Then I smelled it and it smelled OK and typical of a balsamic-based vinaigrette. I then took a bite and couldn’t taste much of anything. I took a few more bites and found the same thing. My salad seemed dry so I did 10 more spritzes. That was a little better and I could finally taste it. I then ate the top layer of my salad. The taste was good but after I got past the top layer I needed more spritzes to keep my salad from being dry. So I gave it 10 more spritzes and mixed my salad all together. That allowed me to eat most of my salad but by the time I reached the bottom I wanted to add more dressing.

The taste of the dressing was good and I suspect it is just their regular balsamic dressing put in a spray bottle. I like the balsamic taste and often use it in cooking and this had a good taste by itself and, not surprisingly, it was the largest ingredient after water. I have no complaints about the taste except it is a little weak but I just think the packaging is misleading. I don’t think anyone could get by with just 10 sprays of this dressing. My guess it this is probably about 2 teaspoons of dressing. If you could stick with this amount then it would only add about 10 calories to your dressing however, I don’t think anyone could stick to this on a salad larger than a cup.

Taste Rating = 6 bottles
Overall Rating = 5 bottles
Style Category = Vinaigrette
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = low

Kraft Free Roka Blue Cheese Flavored Dressing

Personally I have not tried too many Blue Cheese dressing until now. Most of the time they have too many calories and too much fat so I have stayed away from them even though I love Blue Cheese. After trying this one I think I need to sample some of the other brands, not because this one is bad but just the opposite. This one is not really low on calories or carbs but it is not too bad.

Note, this one is called “Blue Cheese Flavored” and I guess that they do this because the tasted must not be caused by the tiny amount of blue cheese in the dressing. It is very near the bottom on the list of ingredients. Still, I think it is a pretty good imitation of blue cheese.

This dressing has the traditional smell of other blue cheese dressings and the taste compares favorably to non-fat free dressings. It is not too tangy but has a bit of a “salty” taste if you taste it away from any other food. I would like this more if it were lower in sodium because it is high with 350 mg and carbs (11g) but if nothing else I am now going to be looking for more blue cheese dressings to compare it to.

Taste Rating = 6 bottles
Overall Rating = 5 bottles
Style Category = Blue Cheese
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = med calorie
Nutritional Category = little except Vitamin E (8%)
Sodium Category = med-high

Wishbone Light Asian with Sesame & Ginger Vinaigrette

This dressing from Wishbone is billed as “Delicately Sweet & Tangy” and I think this one does resemble the moniker. When you first taste this dressing you automatically think “Chinese food” which is most likely because of the combination of ginger and soy sauce which is linked to Chinese dishes. This dressing does contain both of them. My first impression notices the “tangy” more than the “sweet” but if you concentrate you do notice the sweet taste but it is not too obvious. The “tangy” is not overpowering but a pleasant and unique taste and the smell is similar. The appearance is a little different as well; medium brown with light colored particle suspended in it. Many of the particles appear to be sesame seeds.


The calories in this dressing are a little higher than some (70) as is fat calories (45) but is in line with other “light” dressings. Carbs and sugars are in the med range at 6g and 5g respectively. serving size in order to be able to taste the dressing. The ingredient list is pretty much on par with the other but does include a few differences. In addition to the soy sauce and ginger it does contain vinegar from rice wine (distilled), sesame oil and orange juice concentrate.

This dressing is definitely a change-of-pace in a dressing. I don’t see it as being an “every day” type of dressing but only an occasional choice. Since it does have a “Chinese food” taste and since I only want that every now-and-then I wouldn’t want it too soon after eating Chinese food and if you don’t’ like that taste then you probably won’t like this dressing either. I found it to be a refreshing taste after some of the blander tasting dressings.

Taste Rating = 7 bottles
Overall Rating = 6 bottles
Style Category = Vinaigrette
Fat Category = med fat
Calorie Category = med calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

NEWMAN’S OWN LIGHT HONEY MUSTARD

In my book this is the “gold standard” by which all other salad dressings are judged. This has been my favorite dressing since the first time I tasted it around 2 years ago. I have eaten it, on the average, of three times a week since then and I’m still not tired of it. I, for one, am amazed by this. I can’t imagine eating anything else that frequently and not being ready to gag if I had to eat it again.

The smell is not very strong upon sniffing the open bottle. It is slightly reminiscent of Dijon mustard although that is not one of the ingredients in it but it does list “Creole mustard” as one. The taste, however, is very strong for a “light” dressing. The first taste every time causes me to pucker just a little bit because of the tartness of it. The taste does not get weaker but stays just a strong throughout the salad but you kind of get used to this tartness. This dressing is fairly thick and has small bits of something dark in it that I can’t identify by reading the ingredients on the label. It looks something like small brown seeds. It could be mustard seeds but the label states that it only contains “ground mustard seed”.

The statistics on the label compares it to regular honey mustard dressing. It states that it has “60% Less Fat and 45% Fewer Calories than Regular Honey Mustard Dressing”. It is not extremely low-fat (4 grams vs. 11 grams) and not extremely low calorie (70 calories vs. 126 calories) or sugar-free (5 grams). The list of ingredients does not contain many surprises; water, Creole mustard (ground mustard seed, distilled vinegar, salt), cider vinegar, sugar, vegetable oil (soybean oil and/or canola oil), maltodextrin, hone, contains 2% or less of : salt, buttermilk solids (milk), spice, xanthan gum, lemon juice concentrate, dried onion, dried garlic. It also has an expiration date on the bottle and I guess this helps to insure freshness but I wouldn’t think it would spoil or get weaker while sealed in the bottle.

As I stated earlier – this is my favorite dressing and until I find a lower-calorie offering with as much taste I’m going to stick with this. As a bonus their web site tell us that “Newman's Own, Inc. makes no gift to charity, but Paul Newman, who receives all the profits and royalties from Newman's Own, Inc., distributes all of that personally to the charities of his choice. Since the inception of the company, it is our understanding that the total amount of those gifts to charity has been approximately $200 million.”

Rating = 9

Style Category = Honey Mustard
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = high

WALDEN FARMS HONEY DIJON VINAIGRETTE DRESSING

Zero calories, zero fat, zero sugar…. Sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it? How bad could it be? With no bad stuff in it I thought it would be possible to just drink it like water and pour as much on your salad as you liked. Anyone conscious of their weight or health would have to pay attention to this dressing. With much anticipation I tried this Honey Dijon Vinaigrette from Walden Farms.

I smelled the open bottle first. The smell was reminiscent of eggs and mayonnaise (notice I said “reminiscent” since neither is contained in this dressing). My first taste was from sticking my finger in the bottle and putting it to my lips. Not too bad I thought; very weak but not offensive. I tried it on a tossed salad and when I got through eating I thought – what was the use of that? This is pretty much the conclusion I came to – why bother? The dressing is creamy, but it is watery and thin. You get finished eating it and can’t remember what you were eating. There is almost no taste at all. There is no after-taste and that is good but that’s about the best you can say about it. I keep going back to try it again by tasting the dressing alone and get the same impression- there is a hint (just a hint) of Dijon mustard but that is all. It is so weak the taste is overwhelmed by a bland lettuce like iceberg. It keeps your salad from being dry but that is about all.


The list of ingredients should clue you in to the taste of this dressing: “Purified Triple Filtered Water” is the main ingredient followed by apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, Dijon mustard, cellulose gel, onion, garlic, beta carotene, xanthan gum, propylene glycol alginate, sodium benzoate, food color and sucralose. Not too much to object to here. Don’t expect to get many vitamins or minerals from the dressing either because there are none supplied in this product. Their Web site is not informative; it is mainly a shopping site where you can order salad dressing and other of their products. It took me a few clicks to actually find any information about the dressings other than a couple of videos from a television show in Houston. When I clicked on “More Information” I was just taken to another page that produced the same PR rhetoric that is displayed on the bottle and no new data.

I used this dressing on my salads for several lunches. I applaud Walden Farms for producing dressings that contain no calories, fat, or sugars and I don’t want to be too hard on them. They sell several other dressings and I can only hope that their taste is bolder than this one. I am anxious to try the different flavors but for now I’m not in any hurry to use the Honey Dijon Vinaigrette again.

Taste Rating = 3 bottles
Overall Rating = 3 bottles
Style Category = Honey Mustard
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = no calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med

Kraft Free Catalina Dressing

Not being a great fan of Catalina dressings, I was reluctant to try this dressing but there are obviously some people who like this dressing because they keep making it. Personally I don’t know anyone who does love this style of dressing. When I first smelled this dressing I immediately thought of ketchup because it had the look and smell of tomatoes. This pretty much describes the taste as well. It does taste of tomato sauce but with a little sweetness to it and this gave the dressing a little more depth of taste. It was not unpleasant to eat but like many others it was little more than tolerable for me.

The list of ingredients for this dressing is pretty much what you would expect with tomato puree (water, tomato paste) being the leading ingredient. This is followed by high fructose corn syrup, vinegar, corn syrup, water, salt, and less than 2% of modified food starch, soybean oil, potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA (preservatives), dried onions, phosphoric acid, dried garlic, guargum, xanthan gum, yellow 6, vitamin 3 acetate, red 40, blue 1. This is fat-free and cholesterol-free which is desirable but it is not carb-free because it contains 11g (4%) with 7g of sugar and 350 mg of sodium which causes it to rated high in my list of dressings. The calorie rating is in the low range with 50 calories per serving.

As I stated earlier, this is an offering in the Catalina line with typical tomato smell and taste. It does contain Vitamin E (from the tomatoes) but no other vitamins. Since my preferred taste in dressings is not oriented toward Catalina dressings it is hard for me to rate this one. I would like to hear from someone else’s experience with this and other Catalina dressings.

Taste Rating = 3 bottles
Overall Rating = 3
Style Category = Catalina
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low
Nutritional Category = low
Sodium Category = high

Wishbone Light Honey Dijon

This dressing from Wishbone used to be called “Just 2 Good” but it is not. This dressing has more of a sweet taste than others based on Dijon mustard. This taste is more like a honey mustard dressing because there is no “zip” to it. The taste is not bad just kind of weak. It seemed that I had to use more to be able to taste the dressing or it would be overpowered by even a weak salad.

The calories in this dressing are not too bad (50) and fat calories = 20 but as I mentioned above I tended to add more than the proper serving size in order to be able to taste the dressing. The ingredient list is pretty much on par with the other however in the list of leading ingredients are high fructose corn syrup, sugar and honey. These are 3 of the top 6 ingredients and lead to the 6g of sugars and 8g total carbs.

This dressing is a good choice if you like a sweet tasting honey Dijon dressing. It is not as sweet as a Catalina type dressing but more than usual for a Dijon dressing. The sodium of not too bad (250 mg/10%) and if you can stick to the serving size it is fairly good on calories.

Taste Rating = 5 bottles
Overall Rating = 5 bottles
Style Category = Honey Mustard
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med low

Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Northern Italian with Basil and Romano

Normally I am not an Italian dressing lover – even a full-calorie version, however this one is a pretty good one. The smell is not extremely strong but the flavor is full-bodied and smells like basil and oil. It is somewhat thin like all Italian dressings are but this one is full of suspended particles included light-colored ones (probably the Romano cheese, dark ones (probably the basil), and some larger chunks (which appear to be red peppers). There are enough of these to make me feel like the dressing really includes them although I cannot pick out the distinctive tastes.



Once again, this product calls itself “Lite” by comparing it to its regular dressing. It claims it has “60% Less Fat 60% Fewer Calories” and advertises that it has “still only 1g carbs per serving”. I don’t know why it used the word “still” unless it has recently changed the ingredients. It also compares itself to its regular version stating this has 5g of Fats vs. 15g and calories of 50 vs. 130 so I guess this proves it is a light version.

It contains a list of ingredients that is much more extensive that the ones I have reviewed so far. The list is water, distilled vinegar, vegetable oil (soybean and/or canola), Romano cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), salt, and that it contains 2% or less of high fructose corn syrup, dried garlic, dried red bell pepper, dried onion, basic, spices, lemon juice concentrate, xanthan gum, annatto and turmeric, beta carotene, potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives. It is the first one I have reviewed that indicates it has any real nutrimental value when it states that it has 2% of daily value of vitamin A, 4% of vitamin C, and 2% of calcium. Stay away from this dressing if your diet required you to be careful of the sodium levels because it has 330 mg which is 14 % of the daily value.

The label calls this product a marinade as well as a dressing and I cannot attest to this but I frequently use Italian dressings as part of my home-made marinades. This appears to be thicker than some other Italian dressing and in my book this is a good trait and makes this a good choice for a light Italian dressing.

Taste Rating = 5
Overall Rating = 4
Style Category = Italian
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = medium calorie
Nutritional Category = low
Sodium Category = med high

Wishbone Light Italian Dressing

Do you know anyone who prefers Italian dressings? I don’t know anyone like that and it sure isn’t me. I usually only choose it when there is no other choice for light dressings. The reason for this is that they all seem the same to me. This one is no different. There is nothing wrong with it but then there is nothing especially good about it either.

This dressing has the typical look and texture of Italian dressings with a fairly watery consistency with particles suspended in it. These particles are garlic, onion, and red peppers and give it a little bit of tangy flavor that you can taste for a little while after you finish eating your salad. This is a good thing because at least when you are finished you can remember you ate something.

This dressing is good in total fat (2g) , total carbs (4g), calories (35) but is fairly high in sodium. So, if your taste runs toward Italian dressings, this one is certainly worth a try. It does compare favorably to full calorie Italian dressings so that is good. Don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed.

Taste Rating = 5 bottles
Overall Rating = 5 bottles
Style Category = Italian
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = med high

Girard’s Fat Free Red Wine Vinaigrette

I’ll say right from the start that I’m not a fan of dressings that smell or taste like vinegar and this one does both. It comes in different shaped bottle and the color reminds me of strawberry syrup but unfortunately it does not taste like it. I have not tried many other red wine vinaigrettes but I anticipate that they will all taste similarly but I really can’t imagine that anyone really likes this flavor. I use red wine vinegar a good deal in cooking but I have not tried adding it to a salad but this dressing smells like the bottle I use in cooking and I guess would taste similar to it.


This dressing does have a few things going for it in addition to the fat-free status; it has only 20 calories per serving as well as 0 calories from fat. The total carbs are not terrible at 5g and sugars 5g but it is high in sodium at 590 mg. I guess there are some people who enjoy this type of dressing but I am not one of them and I will not be in a hurry to use this one again. The remainder of my dressing will probably be relegated to being used in cooking.

Taste Rating = 1 bottles
Overall Rating = 2 bottles
Style Category = Vinaigrette
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = high

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