light creamy italian dressing
by Katie Webster
February 12, 2015 (updated 11/7/18) Jump To Recipe
Light recipe for creamy Italian dressing with fat-free Greek yogurt, buttermilk and only 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. Only 59 calories per serving!
I have had a strange week you guys. And by strange I mean crappy. I can’t really talk about it right now, I might start crying, but I will say this: in the last seven days, there was an episode of vomiting in the back of my car filled with five little girls and five fluffy tutus, an interminable 45 minutes at the pediatric dentist, and six hours of manning a bake sale table. And the worst has to do with my dear friend. It has been tough. I look strikingly similar to the famous mug shot of Nick Nolte. I feel worse.
So to be honest, talking about salad dressing seems at once a bit trite and also like a lovely escape. I promise to wash my hair, put on some lip gloss and tell you more about my friend soon but in the meantime, let’s talk about Creamy Italian Dressing and let me take my mind to the comfort and safety of my kitchen.
Ahh creamy dressing. The comfort food of salad dressing. That’s what I need right now. I am all for it. Creamy Italian salad dressing, in moderation, can be the difference between getting your vegetable servings in, and not getting your vegetable servings in, especially for saladphobes. That’s not me. I could eat salad any day, but sometimes, a girl just wants comfort food.
So salad dressing can be the answer. Especially when you would rather eat an entire liberty maple gingersnap chocolate bar to wash away your worries. (Who, me?) If that’s what it takes to embrace a bowl of raw vegetables, I say drizzle away. Especially if it’s homemade Italian dressing and on the lighter side.
This creamy Italian dressing is ultra thick because it has Greek yogurt and buttermilk in it. But both are fat-free, so they don’t have too many calories. I added in two tablespoons of full fat mayonnaise to make it taste good and to hit that elusive sweet spot of satiety. From there it was a matter of finding that perfect and classic balance of a touch of sour, sweet, herbs, and garlic.
light creamy italian dressing
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 tablespoons 1x
- Category: Salads
- Method: Mixed
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Light recipe for creamy Italian dressing with fat-free Greek yogurt, buttermilk, and only 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. Only 59 calories per serving!
Ingredients
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
- 1/2 cup fat free Greek Yogurt
- 3 tablespoons fat-free buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon agave or white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning dried herb blend
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried dill weed
Instructions
- Mince garlic, sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt, and mash with the side of a chef’s knife until it forms a smooth paste.
- Scrape garlic and salt mixture into a medium bowl. Add the remaining ½ teaspoon salt, yogurt, buttermilk, mayonnaise, vinegar, agave or sugar, Italian seasoning, pepper, and dill and whisk until completely smooth.
- Use immediately or store in a jar in the refrigerator up to 5 days.
Notes
Feel free to use fresh herbs instead of the dried herbs. The dried herbs give this a classic taste, but I love the fresh taste of chopped chives, dill, and parsley in this too. Use roughly double fresh herbs for dry.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 59
- Sugar: 2.6 g
- Sodium: 200 mg
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated Fat: 0.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 3.6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 3 g
More Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes:
Greek Yogurt Horseradish Ranch Dressing
Greek Yogurt Blue Cheese Dressing
I’ve made this several times and it’s always a crowd pleaser!
★★★★★
Thank you Amy!! That’s so great to hear you’ve discovered this one! Thanks for rating today! I appreciate it!
Oh girl, we must be twins! Lol on a rough day, real rough my boyfriend always calls me Nick Nolte… I’m a scary replica of the famous mug shot Anyways, delicious dressing! I did add a squeeze of lemon, fresh parm and doubled the amount of red wine vinegar and it was simply perfect thanks for the share!
This was so delish over our Italian hoagie salad!
★★★★★
I typically make vinaigrettes, but my hubby likes creamy dressings. I made your Italian version thinking we’d both enjoy it, and we did! It’s terrific!
★★★★★
Made this tonight and it was delicious on our salad. Nice to have an Italian dressing that is different from the usual oil and vinegar, but is still relatively healthy. Thanks!
Argh, sorry to hear about the tough week, Katie- That backseat doesn’t sound too pleasant- Here’s to a better one!
I’ve stopped buying store bought dressing and this looks delicious!
Oh, Katie..I’m sorry to hear that this past week was so tough for you..hope you’re feeling better. On days when I just feel crappy, I don’t even brush my teeth or wash my face (i’m dead serious..so don’t get too close to me). However, I’ve found that simply splashing some cold water on my face and drawing my nonexistent eyebrows does wonders! Hang in there, friend! Will be thinking of you..
As for this creamy dressing..I’m def not a saladphobe but the weather here is quite gloomy this morning, and a thicker creamier dressing sounds much more appealing than my typical vinaigrettes.
Oh this looks amazing. I get tired of just oil and vinegar dressing, this will definitely be whipped up this week!
It is always good to mix it up when it comes to salad. 🙂
Ugh – sorry to hear about your weekend – despite the weather, hoping you are on an upward trend this week 🙂 Totally digging this dressing – I get into dressing ruts and always looking for new inspiration.
Thank you so much my friend. We got some encouraging news from my friend on Friday afternoon, so there is light at the end of the tunnel, though the stomach bug struck again last night. Ugh.
Homemade salad dressing is so much better than store bought! I absolutely love your photographs, Katie. I had to laugh at the Nolte reference, but I hope that your week has gotten better.
Thanks so much Elizabeth. You are very kind. Ha ha, the Nick Nolte thing, I wish I was pulling that out of thin air, but I really did.
I am completely all over this…it looks amazing. Definitely the comfort food of the salad world!
Hugs to you, my friend. Hoping your week is looking up. xoxo
Thank you Faith. Yes, things did turn around for sure. I will have to write a whole post about it.
I’m always on the hunt for low calorie salad dressings. This sounds delicious.
Thanks Kristi. Thanks so much for stopping over for a visit. I just had this dressing again for lunch yesterday. It you’d never know it was low-cal. That’s the best part.