I am about to make my first venture on a short vacation here tomorrow and I’m sure I can manage keto just fine while I’m there. Wondering the safest salad dressing to order in a restaurant when olive oil and vinegar on the side aren’t available?
Is it Ceasar, or blue cheese?
I realize any commercial dressing can and might have sugar, but I’m asking for the one least likely to have it
thanks
I think it depends if the restaurant is using dressing from scratch or pre-made bottled dressing. If they use bottled, you can just bust out your meal tracker and find out the macros or use the guesstimation if it’s in house dressing and if they’re willing to give you the ingredients for it.
After looking at a couple of different bottled dressings, they both have about 1g carb per 2 tbsp. Caesar looks like it contains more fat and has more calories than blue cheese dressings.
Whichever you like better, both are relatively fatty. If they are homemade they are most likely ok. One problem is not simply the sugar but the polyunsturated seed oils which are not your best option. Most commercial dressings are made with them and even homemade dressings may be made with canola oil instead of olive oil
A light drizzle of even the most non-keto salad dressing won’t derail you, just put enough on to add some flavor.
Surely every restaurant would have olive oil and vinegar. Just ask for those, bit of mustard added is what I usually ask for.
\v/
Thanks. I’ll be fine with the plant oils this one, short trip and you’re right most likely it’ll be olive oil and vinegar at any rate
A little tip I learned from my WW days, was to ask for dressing on the side and dip your fork in to the dressing to get a little on the tines before each bite. You actually only end up using about half the dressing. I think this is helpful when you are unsure at a restaurant.
I travel a lot with work so often eat out. I’ve bought myself some little plastic containers with secure lids for salad dressing, butter and fancy salt. I can add as much as I like then and I know nobody has snuck any carbs in there. I would never have done this year’s ago but it’s one of the joys of age. Don’t give a damn anymore if anyone sees me 
I used to think that too until I began asking. I’ve only found one or two places that even offer it, and then the oil is questionable. If O/V isn’t available I just get Regular Ranch…Not the low fat version! 
My favorite salad dressing is guacamole. I use 4 or 5 tablespoons on top of my salad. If that doesn’t work for you, buy a few takeout salad dressing packets (like grocery store salad bars have) and keep them in your purse. The restaurant won’t care if you BYOSD.
I go for Caesar or bleu cheese, or ask for olive oil. Way too lazy to pack my own!
I guess I’m an old fart, because I remember as a young kid, the only salad dressing that you could get in a restaurant was oil and vinegar! But that was before the low fat fad. 
@JustPeachy - Sophie, things really have changed, eh? 
While I like creamy stuff like Blue Cheese and Thousand Island, olive oil and vinegar is just perfect on some salads, not to mention a whole host of other foodstuffs.
Make it balsamic vinegar + tomatoes + mozzarella cheese + basil leaves + salt + pepper + olive oil and let the Caprese Summer feeling roll…
I try to avoid all salad dressings from restaurants, other than olive oil and vinegar (and even then, I wonder whether the olive oil is really olive oil). They are likely made with stuff that’s not olive oil.
I don’t always avoid dressings, but I try to avoid them.
Note that I spent many years on a very low fat diet, so I used to eat plain salads or salads with only vinegar. Wouldn’t want that deadly fat getting on my salad!
Now, I’m more concerned about PUFAs than anything else.
I usually go for the Blue Cheese but hate that it will likely be made with PUFA. It goes so well with a wedge or steak too.
I just bought a whiskey flask in the store yesterday. Why? Not for whiskey! I want to put wine vinegar in it to take with me to a restaurant. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I read that Balsamic is FULL of carbs. Loads and loads of carbs. And all the restaurants over here only have balsamic nowadays. So I intend to take my vinegar with me and use their olive oil.
But this is Europe.
In America I think I would just chose either blue cheese or ceasar and worry about it later. - but never from a bottle though - only if they made it themselves. I somehow doubt that sugar is an ingredient in the recipe for either? Store bought has the carbs for preservation. Both blue cheese and caesar are my favourites. If I was gaining weight or very worried about stalling, then I would take my own vinegar again.
