You can substitute lemon juice for the acid that vinegar normally provides. All conventional or traditional salad dressing starts with oil and vinegar, including ranch, Caesar, and mayonnaise.

You can make a nice creamy dressing with blended soft tofu, but again you begin with oil and acid.

Here’s one version

And another

Have you tried any of the Asian type dressings, sesame-ginger or toasted sesame?

Maybe a Poppyseed dressing?

You might like some of those varieties, it’s a taste test you must invest in. ;-)

I really like Kraft Toasted Sesame with fresh pea pods.

You could also look up Google some alternative salad dressing recipes.
I know you can use plain yogurt to make some that might be appealing to you.

One thing I really like is to dip cabbage wedges in Miracle Whip, a lazy persons cole slaw. haha

How silly of me – using lemon never occurred to me. Lemon is a sour taste I can definitely get down with! Sesame sounds appealing, too – I wonder if sesame oil with lemon would be good?

Thanks for the suggestions, ladies.

Try it. Sesame oil has a strong flavor so I would use it as a flavoring and not a main ingredient. You can also toast sesame seeds and sprinkle on top of greens.

Almost anything goes in salad these days; I often add ground flax seed, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, a little oat bran, almost any kind of crumbled nut, and even strawberries (nice with freshly picked spinach.)

I like to just use salsa for a dressing. less calories too!
Also, chopped salads with egg and maybe a little fetta don’t really need much more than salt and pepper.

I love carrot-ginger dressing!

The rice vinegar has a sweeter, less gaggy taste compared to those made from red or white wine.

Have you tried a peanut dressing? Here is one recipe. While it includes a small amount of vinegar, it can’t be tasted. There are other recipes for it that don’t include vinegar.

I know you said you don’t like creamy things, but have you tried tzatziki dressing? It’s really good, and it’s not like ranch or Caesar.

Oooh, Peanut dressing!

@Pied_Pfeffer and @Coloma ; There is a product called PB2 that is peanut butter with most of the fat squeezed out of it. It would be a great substitue in that recipe!

You might like Green Goddess dressing:

1 cup good mayonnaise
1 cup chopped scallions, white and green parts (6 to 7 scallions)
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream

Place the mayonnaise, scallions, basil, lemon juice, garlic, anchovy paste, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the sour cream and process just until blended. (If not using immediately, refrigerate the dressing until ready to serve.)

Ina Garten

All my life I’ve never been a salad dressing person and I got bored about 15yrs ago with just plain lemon juice. Now what I do is experiment with different citrus squeezed into some olive oil, maybe sesame oil dropped in, other times chili oil and whatever herbs or spices I get curious about. So far, so good.

@marinelife

OMG! That recipe is great!

I was so bummed out when they discontinued the bottled variety years ago.

I hate it when a product you really like becomes obsolete! :-(

It is really easy, since you’re already prepared to dirty the blender, to make home-made mayo. It’s an oil and vinegar vinaigrette with a raw egg or yolk added and emulsified.

One version

I used to know a man (Canadian, as a matter of fact) who spritzed lemon juice on all of his salads, every time I ever saw him eat one. As much as I like lemon juice, I haven’t tried it yet.

Some of my family is pretty picky about their salad dressing and a friend gave me the following recipe….even the picky one are satisfied with it! :~) It doesn’t come out creamy despite the yogurt.

Calamata/Feta Dressing
¼ cup evoo
¼ cup plain yogurt ½ cup crumbled feta
1 small clove garlic, chopped
1–1 & ½ Tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp dried dill
½ tsp oregano, dried or fresh
1 & ½ tsp salt and pepper mixed, or to taste
1 cup pitted kalamata olives, more or less according to taste

Use a blender to combine evoo, yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, dill, oregano and salt mixture and them fold in the olives.

Might sound “yuck” but it is actually lovely.

http://www.honeyassociation.com/dressing.htm

Try a Fresh Pineapple-Ginger Dressing:

1-cup fresh pinapple juice
1-teaspoon fresh ginger juice
1-Tablespoon sesame oil

Combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well.
Serve over salad or fruit. Yummy

I’m getting so many good ideas here!

We’re crazy about honey-mustard dressing in our house. I usually use about even parts of honey, mayo, and a good stoneground mustard.

I honestly appreciate all your suggestions, you wonderful Jellies, you! I might’ve added that I’m so picky that I also don’t eat mayo or mustard, but there are lots of suggestions up there that don’t include either. I’m glad @aprilsimnel is benefitting from this thread as well :)

I was just at the grocery store and was looking at some of the Asian-inspired dressings as well as the flavoured olive oils. There’s a huge selection, I’ll have to give it some thought :)

lemon juice, olive oil, a clove of crushed garlic (or more, depending on how you like it), salt and pepper. What more could you want? If you’re not that much into garlic, leave them whole.

It’s great on a salad that has a few orange slices in it. Maybe some nuts and avocado.

Perfect!

You might like the salad and the dressing in this one for Pineapple Ginger dressing. The pineapple completely balances with the white Balsamic vinegar, but if you prefer, you could use lemon juice or sour orange juice instead.

Or this Tangy Lime Ginger dressing.

Or this Aloha Pineapple Ginger dressing.

Or this Pesto Vinaigrette Dressing

Or this Tomato, Avocado and Pumpkin Seed Dressing

Or this Tangy Tomato Salad Dressing (you can use lemon juice instead of vinegar)

Or this Tahini Dressing (has a slightly bitter, nutty flavor)

Or this El Torito’s Caesar Dressing with Pepitos (I know you said you didn’t like creamy dressings, but this one, because of the unusual ingredient combinations, has a very unique flavor. It’s one of my favorites)

And here’s one for a beet salad with a Creamy Orange Walnut Dressing (but it uses yogurt so it has a different flavor and texture than your typical creamy mayo or buttermilk style dressing, plus the orange juice and walnut oil give it a very unique taste too).

Or this Russian Dressing (which has a nice tomatoey flavor. You can use more lemon juice and leave out the vinegar)

Or this Japanese Carrot Ginger Dressing (this recipe uses rice vinegar which is more subltle and a bit sweeter than regular vinegar, plus the addition of the ginger, carrots and miso, make this not taste like a traditional vinegar based dressing at all, but you could also replace it with lemon juice or sour orange juice if you like)

Or this Ginger Sesame Miso Dressing

Or this Tamarind Dressing on spinach salad.

Or this Lemon Soy Sauce with Herbs Dressing

Or this Basil, Mint and Orange Vinaigrette (just use lemon juice instead of the vinegar)

Or this Orange Tahini Dressing

Or this Sweet and Spicy Peanut Dressing

Or this Coconut Milk and Lime Salad Dressing (again, this is a creamy-style dressing, but the coconut milk gives it a lovely sweet taste that is completely different from mayo or buttermilk. This one has a tropical flair to it)

Hopefully there will be something on this list that you will like. : )

For the pre-bottled varieties, would French or Russian work for you? Not as creamy as Ranch.

@Kardamom just…AWESOME!

Oh, wow, @Kardamom! I’ll have to set aside a block of time to check all that out :)

I tried a bit of Newman’s Own dressing today that was sesame with something else. I forget what, but since that brand tends not to put creepy things I can’t pronounce in it, I recommend it.

This should be our recipe of the day thread.

Yes, yes it can.

Omg this turned out to be a gold mine. GQ!
I also have to try all these good ones. I love making homemade salad dressings.
And the farm stands are open! Whohooo!