Check Salad Dressing Labels

The Painful Truth About Salad Calories

When buying salad dressing at the grocery store, look for dressings with less than 3 grams of sugar per 2-tablespoon serving. Proof that reading labels is essential: Two tablespoons of Wishbone Chunky Blue Cheese has 160 calories.

Some restaurant dressing servings have more calories than a double cheeseburger, so always order them on the side.

If you're not sure whether a restaurant dressing is a calorie bomb, opt for extra-virgin olive oil and vinegar and ask for it on the side. Instead of pouring it over the salad yourself, dip your fork into the dressing, then skew a bite of salad. You’ll consume fewer calories overall, and you’ll look adorably dainty doing it.

If you’re craving a creamy salad dressing in a high-cal flavor like ranch, check out Walden Farms salad dressings. Available at supermarkets, these dressings are almost calorie-free and come in indulgent flavors like bacon ranch.

Other tasty picks (all with 8 grams of fat or less per 2 tablespoons): Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Raspberry, Wishbone Red Wine, Hidden Valley Ranch Light, and Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Lowfat Sesame Ginger.