12 Bottled Salad Dressings With More Sodium Than a Bag of Potato Chips

While it may seem like we're comparing apples to oranges here, it's surprising to see how something as seemingly harmless as bottled salad dressing can share a pitfall with a classic salty snack like potato chips—an excess of sodium. This might not be a concern for everyone, but for those managing heart disease or high blood pressure, it's worth paying attention. Research suggests a high sodium diet is associated with both hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Potato chips top the list of high sodium foods. A single serving bag (1-¼ ounces) has 210 milligrams of sodium, 10% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA). And that doesn't factor in the rest of the meal since most people aren't just eating chips. With an RDA of less than 2,300 milligrams per day, it's clear how sneaky sources like salad dressing can contribute to the total. Bottled salad dressings often contain high levels of sodium to keep them shelf stable and make them more palatable.

Before you swear off salad dressing or potato chips, remember these are just small pieces of a bigger dietary picture. Striking a balance by hydrating and choosing lower-sodium options throughout the day can help offset any extra sodium you take in. If your favorite salad dressing is on the higher end for sodium, you don't need to toss it out—enjoy it in moderation and balance it with lower-sodium choices in other meals.

If you're not partial to any particular salad dressing, here are the ones you may want to avoid. For healthier alternatives, check out these 13 Healthiest Salad Dressings To Buy, According to a Dietitian.

Salad Dressings With The Most Sodium Per Serving

• Wish Bone's Zesty Robusto Italian Dressing
• Ken's Fat-Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing
• Bolthouse Farm's Fire Chili Ranch
• Hidden Valley's Fat-Free Ranch
• Primal Kitchen's Buffalo Ranch
• Panera Bread's Everything Ranch
• Kraft's Zesty Catalina Salad Dressing
• Brianna's Sugar-Free Blush Wine Vinaigrette
• Skinnygirl's Caesar Dressing
• Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese
• Makoto's Ginger Dressing
• Newman's Own Light Caesar Dressing

Wish Bone's Zesty Robusto Italian Dressing

One serving of Wish Bone's Zesty Robusto Salad Dressing adds 15% of your daily sodium to a meal. Over pouring can quickly double these numbers. Try creating your own Italian style dressing by drizzling on a bit of extra virgin olive oil, red or white wine vinegar, and a dash of salt, pepper, and your favorite Italian seasoning blend.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

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Ken's Fat-Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing

Ken's Fat-Free Raspberry Pecan dressing is popular amongst weight management consumers with its low-calorie appeal. While slashing calories is important to some, the fact that this dressing has 290 milligrams of sodium per serving is concerning to others.

You may be better off with Ken's Lite Raspberry Walnut version instead at only 130 milligrams for the same serving size. The trade-off is the addition of 6 grams of fat and 7 grams of sugar—both of which offer nutritional benefits like increased satiety, enhanced vitamin absorption, and blood sugar response.

Bolthouse Farm's Fire Chili Ranch

Bolthouse Farm's is known for their low-calorie salad dressings and their Fire Chili Ranch is no exception. Though many of their dressings are well under the sodium content of a bag of potato chips, this particular flavor surpasses it all the way up to 280 milligrams per 2-tablespoon serving. That's not ideal for a better-for-you dressing option.

Hidden Valley's Fat-Free Ranch

The fat-free version of the beloved Hidden Valley Ranch might seem like the healthier choice with 0 grams of fat compared to the 13 grams in the original, but when it comes to sodium, the original full-fat recipe is actually the better option. Hidden Valley's Fat-Free Ranch contains 320 milligrams of sodium per 2-tablespoon serving—14% of your daily value (DV).

Though the Original Ranch still has more sodium than a bag of potato chips at 260 milligrams, its lower sodium content and fats that promote absorption of fat-soluble vitamins present in salad make it the better choice of the two.

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Primal Kitchen's Buffalo Ranch

What I love most about Primal Kitchen's Buffalo Ranch dressing is the 9 grams of healthy mono-and poly-unsaturated fats from avocado oil. What will make me put this dressing back on the shelf is the 360 milligrams of sodium found in only a 2-tablespoon serving. At 15% of your daily sodium goals, there's no room for portion error.

Panera Bread's Everything Ranch

Many of the dressings at Panera Bread are quite low in sodium, like their Balsamic Vinaigrette which only has 50 milligrams per serving. Unfortunately, you can't say the same for their Everything Ranch which clocks in at five times that number. If you can go without a creamy dressing, the former would be a better choice.

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Kraft's Zesty Catalina Salad Dressing

Zesty Catalina salad dressing lovers use it because it's delicious, not because Kraft makes it out to be a healthier option. While it's really nothing that will ever cause a dent in your nutrition routine, the sodium content is something to be concerned about. At 350 milligrams per 2-tablespoon serving, Kraft's Zesty Catalina salad dressing is almost twice that of a bag of potato chips.

Brianna's Sugar-Free Blush Wine Vinaigrette

Just because Brianna's Sugar-Free Blush Wine Vinaigrette has no added sugar, that doesn't mean it's any better for you than other dressing options. This dressing packs 15% of the daily value (DV) for sodium per serving, and that number quickly adds up if you use more than the recommended amount.

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Skinnygirl's Caesar Dressing

Skinnygirl's Caesar Dressing may have only 10 calories per serving, but it's got a whopping 370 milligrams of sodium. That's far beyond the salt found in your typical bag of potato chips.

You may want to forego this flavor and instead choose their Balsamic Vinaigrette. At 90 milligrams of sodium per serving it's much more reasonable.

Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese

The dressings in the refrigerated section of the grocery store aren't any better than shelf-stable options. Case in point Marie's Lite Chunky Blue Cheese which has 300 milligrams of sodium in a single 2-tablespoon serving. Opt for the full-fat version and you'll almost slice that number in half.

Makoto's Ginger Dressing

Hibachi is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Ginger dressing. There's just nothing like it. Unfortunately, the store bought variety Makoto's Ginger Dressing is the highest sodium offender yet on our list with 390 milligrams per 2-tablespoon serving. The only redeeming quality besides the taste is that it has 6 grams of healthy fats.

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Newman's Own Light Caesar Dressing

We can all agree that light dressings are not always better. This Light Caesar by Newman's Own offers a lower calorie serving with tons more sodium. There's sometimes a tendency to use more than the suggested serving size causing 370 milligrams to only go up from there.