Oil-Free Italian Salad Dressing (Perfect for Summer)

Looking for an oil-free salad dressing? Then you’ve come to the right place.

This Italian dressing recipe is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and oil-free. That said, you can add a light, neutral flavor oil if you prefer a vinaigrette (we opted for grapeseed oil, but avocado or olive oil will work too).

Not just for summer salads, this yummy Italian dressing is great on wraps, pasta salad, or even roasted veggies. Heck, you can drizzle it on a piece of avocado toast. No wrong answers!

Oil-Free Italian Dressing Health Benefits

Not only is this an oil-free dressing recipe, it’s also free of all sweeteners. Just whole foods, vinegar (or fresh lemon juice), sea salt, and thyme.

Each ingredient is packed with powerful health benefits:

Tomato: Rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Promotes bone, heart, and skin health. Promotes weight loss and fights fatigue.
Onions: Packed with nutrients. Helps control blood pressure, may improve bone density and heart health.
Garlic: Contains vitamins B6 and C, plus manganese. Strengthens immune system, lowers blood pressure, and promotes weight loss.
Thyme: Contains vitamins C and A. Also contains iron, copper and manganese. Natural diuretic, boosts immunity, improves blood circulation.

If you do opt to keep this as a no oil recipe, the end result will be fat-free as well. It may end up being one of your favorite condiments!

Health Benefits

Antioxidant
Aids Weight Loss
Supports Immune System

Ingredients

tomato	22 oz	624 g	4 tomatoes
garlic	0.25 oz	7 g	2 cloves
white onion	2 oz	57 g	1/2 medium onion
red wine vinegar	1.5 oz	43 g	3 tablespoons
fresh thyme	2 tsp		about 6 sprigs
salt	2 tsp		or to taste

Directions

If You Have a Juicer

Remove core tops of tomato, juice with garlic and white onion.

Pick thyme from the stems and finely chop.

Mix remaining ingredients together, season with salt.

If You Don't Have a Juicer

Remove core tops of tomato, blend with garlic and white onion (or use a food processor).

Strain the blended produce into a bowl (or use a cheese cloth).

Pick thyme from the stems and finely chop.

Mix remaining ingredients together, season with salt.

Pro Tips

Add grapeseed oil (or any light, neutral flavored oil) to serve as a vinaigrette.
Serve on its own for an oil-free version.
Prefer creamy dressings? Add a dollop of yogurt!
Not a fan of red wine vinegar? Try subbing balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice.
Substitute a few teaspoons of garlic powder or onion powder if you’re out of garlic or onions.
If you don’t have fresh thyme, you can use dried thyme, dried oregano, or even Italian seasoning.
If you like black pepper, be sure to add that during the final step as well!

Equipment note: We used the Goodnature Hummingbird cold press juicer to make the juice for this recipe. We highly recommend this juicer for culinary purposes, as it creates the best tasting, most nutritious juice possible, and can produce it in large batches.

The information shared in this post is a combination of my personal experience, research, and knowledge as a certified holistic health coach, and is intended for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice.

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Comments

Daniela

What would the shelf life be with vinegar and oil added?

Oct 17, 2021

Robin Frey

Hi Daniela, For commercial applications, you would have to follow the health department's rules (which is usually up to 7days shelf life). If you are making this for home, you might get a few more days out of it, just taste it first before you use it 😄

Oct 18, 2021

Samantha

Does this have to be refrigerated or can it be left out at room temperature?

Dec 20, 2020

Robin Frey

Hi Samantha, Because it contains juice from vegetables, it needs to be refrigerated.

Dec 21, 2020

Charlie Wettlaufer

Love this!

Sep 3, 2020

Amber

Made this yesterday, it was sooo good on my salad. Thanks!

Sep 1, 2020

Ismail Berrada

Can you make bulk and freeze the sauce?

Aug 25, 2020

Ari Sexner

Hello, Yes, it freezes well, however, the flavor will mellow slightly when being thawed from frozen, so I would adjust with the acidic component if needed after thawed, Also if you are selling it retail to the public it would need some additional verbiage on the bottle, possibly even a frozen and/or thawed date.

Aug 25, 2020

Oil-Free Italian Dressing Health Benefits

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