25 Unhealthiest Salad Dressings—Ranked by Sugar Content

The final step in crafting the perfect salad is where many of us get it wrong, because oftentimes it's what you choose to drizzle your salad with that can make or break your bowl. Many store-bought dressings, especially vinaigrettes, french-style dressings, and poppy seed dressings, are riddled with added sugar—some with more sugar than candy.

Instead of tainting your bowl with simple, quick-digesting carbs from added sugars, you want to prioritize whole-food sources of carbohydrates in your salad. Think sweet potato, quinoa, chickpeas, or fresh fruit. These delicious salad mix-ins come with the added benefit of dietary fiber, which, unlike added sugar, helps keep you full and regulate your gut health.

Below, we've rounded up the unhealthiest salad dressings many of us are probably drizzling over our greens on the reg. They're each ranked by sugar, starting in descending order with #1 being the absolute highest sugar option! Ditch these picks and make a quick homemade dressing, or go for these 11 Healthiest Salad Dressings To Buy, According to a Dietitian.

Wishbone Russian Dressing

Wishbone Russian Dressing contains 6 grams of added sugars per serving coming from corn syrup and regular sugar. "This dressing's sugar content is not the only reason why you should say 'nyet' (that's 'no' in Russian). In just a two-tablespoon serving, you'll get 340 milligrams of sodium," says Michelle Rauch, MSc, RDN, a registered dietitian-nutritionist for The Actors Fund. "Consuming a diet high in sodium can lead to an increased risk for high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for stroke and heart and kidney disease," Rauch tells us.

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Marie's Sesame Ginger Vinaigrette

One serving of Marie's Sesame Ginger has more added sugar than a teaspoon of real maple syrup, Rauch tells us. "Sugar is third on the list of ingredients with brown sugar coming in as the eighth. Consuming a diet high in added sugar can put you at risk for type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease," Rauch says.

Panera Fuji Apple Vinaigrette

Panera's Fuji Apple Vinaigrette has 6 grams of added sugar, which is equivalent to 1.5 teaspoons of sugar. "Two tablespoons is enough to drizzle over a salad, but if you like drenching your salads in dressing, the sugar and fat will quickly add up," says Megan Huff, RD, owner of Nutrition by Megan. "It can be helpful to measure out the salad dressing instead of pouring it directly out of the bottle."

Ken's Chef's Reserve Raspberry Walnut

The American Heart Association (AHA) sets limits on added sugar and recommends no more than 25 grams per day for women and a maximum of 36 grams per day for men. Ken's Raspberry Walnut Dressing will bring you a quarter of your daily value.

Brianna's Organic Mango Vinaigrette

Brianna's Organic Mango Vinaigrette is sweetened with mango puree concentrate, cane sugar, and orange juice concentrate. One serving contains 6 grams of added sugar—about the same amount in about 15 chocolate chips, says Sarah Alsing, MS, RD, owner of Delightfully Fueled. While 6 grams isn't as much as some of the other sugary salad dressings on this list, the sugar can add up quickly if you drench your salad in dressing, says Alsing.

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Brianna's Raspberry Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Poppy seeds are packed with healthy fats and they're naturally sugar-free. However, most poppy seed salad dressings are riddled with sugar, and this pick from Brianna's is no exception. You'll get 6 grams of sugar, mostly from cane sugar but also from fruit juice concentrates.

Maple Grove Farms Sesame Ginger Dressing

The first ingredient in Maple Grove Farms Sesame Ginger dressing is sugar—and that means there's more sugar than any other ingredient in this dressing. Skip this sugary Sesame Ginger dressing and make your own no-added-sugar version with apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, and ginger puree.

Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic

Maple Grove Farms Strawberry Balsamic has 6 grams of added sugar in a 2-tablespoon serving size. That's the equivalent of sprinkling a teaspoon and a half of sugar on your salad, says Heidi McIndoo, MS, RD. "Be careful not to go overboard with your pouring, and consider measuring out 2 tablespoons (or less) instead of pouring straight from the bottle onto your greens," McIndoo suggests.

Maple Grove Farms Fat-Free Cranberry Balsamic

Fat-free products are often high in sugar because manufacturers add more of the sweet stuff to help make up for the lack of flavor from removing the fat. Expectedly, this cranberry balsamic serves up more sugar than we'd like in a dressing.

Ken's Poppy Seed Dressing

After soybean oil, sugar is the most abundant ingredient in this poppy seed dressing from Ken's. One serving contains 7 grams of sugar, which comes out to nearly two teaspoons' worth of sugar6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Great Value Creamy Poppyseed Dressing

Walmart's Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing can quickly turn a nutritious salad into a not-so-healthy meal. Sugar is listed as the second ingredient and each 2-tablespoon serving contains 7 grams of added sugar and 150 calories. FYI, "7 grams of added sugar is slightly more than the amount of sugar in a single (standard variety) Oreo cookie," says Rauch.

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Good & Gather Organic French-Style Dressing

French-style dressings are often high in sugar because they're made with ketchup. While this pick from Good & Gather doesn't contain ketchup, it's made with tomato paste and added sugar, so you'll get two teaspoons' worth of sugar in a two-tablespoon serving.

Stonewall Kitchen Maple Balsamic Dressing

The fact that this balsamic is made with a maple syrup base should already clue you into the fact that it's high in added sugar. One serving gives you 8 grams of sugar—which is more than 30% of your daily recommended added sugar limit.

Good & Gather Organic Raspberry Vinaigrette

"This Good & Gather Organic Raspberry Vinaigrette may be free of synthetic colors, artificial flavors, and artificial preservatives, but it definitely is not free of sugar," says Kelsey Sackmann, MS, RD, owner of Kelsey P. RD. "Each serving contains 8 grams of added sugar, which is almost half of our daily added sugar limits and that's if you stick to the two-tablespoon serving size," Sackmann says.

Ken's Asian Sesame

Aside from regular sugar, Ken's Asian Sesame Dressing is made with orange marmalade and orange juice, two fruit products high in sugar. You are getting 8 grams of sugar and a staggering 450 milligrams of sodium, and that's 20% of your daily value in just two tablespoons of dressing!

Maple Grove Farms Fat-Free Honey Dijon Dressing

The Maple Grove Farms Fat-Free Honey Dijon may seem like a healthy dressing choice at first glance. However, with 9 grams of added sugar in just 2 tablespoons, you'll consume roughly a third or fourth of the recommended amount of added sugars per American Heart Association guidelines in the dressing alone, negating some of the benefits of your healthy meal, says Katie Drakeford, MA, RD, CSP, LD, of Drakeford Consulting, LLC. "You'd be better off making your own simple honey Dijon dressing so you have tighter control of how much sugar you're consuming," Drakeford says.

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Ken's Steakhouse Country French with Orange Blossom Honey

Sugar and honey contribute to the added sugars in this Country French dressing, and you'll get 9 grams, to be exact. Not only that, but each serving gives you 2 grams of saturated fat, which comes out to be 10% of your daily value. That's a pretty sizable amount for just two tablespoons of salad dressing.

Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion

The fact that Ken's Sweet Vidalia Onion Salad Dressing has "sweet" in its name is a warning in and of itself. "This dressing contains 9 grams of added sugars if you can keep to the recommended serving size of 2 tablespoons versus dousing your salad in it," Rauch says. "Sugar is listed as the second ingredient on the nutritional facts panel, and one serving has almost the equivalent of added sugar as 14 M&M candies," she says.

Ken's Chef's Reserve French with Smoked Bacon

Along with a long ingredient list riddled with preservatives and flavorings, Ken's bacon-studded dressing packs 9 grams of sugar and 2 grams of saturated fat for a whopping 140 calories. Not to mention, this dressing provides all of the fat and salt in bacon but none of the protein it comes with.

Brianna's Blush Wine Vinaigrette

Sugar is the first ingredient in this dressing, followed by water, red wine vinegar, canola oil, and some flavorings. Skip this sugary vinaigrette from Brianna's and whip up a quick one at home using red wine vinegar, a bit of olive or avocado oil, and spices.

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Ken's Fat-Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing

Raspberries and pecans are nutritious ingredients on their own, but this dressing from Ken's is anything but. All of the calories in this dressing come from sugar. "With 10 grams of added sugar in just 2 tablespoons, Ken's Fat-Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing has more sugar than in a fun-size Snickers bar," McIndoo says.

Stonewall Kitchen Balsamic Fig Dressing

Stonewall Kitchen's Maple Balsamic Dressing contains pure cane sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, and honey, points out Wan Na Chun, MPH, RD, CPT, and owner of One Pot Wellness based in Indianapolis. This blend of four different types of sugar contributes 8 grams of added sugar per two tablespoon serving.

"Consuming large amounts of sugary salad dressings can be detrimental to health, as excess sugar intake is linked to weight gain, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and other chronic health issues," Chun says. "Moderation is key when using highly sweetened dressings to avoid consuming too much added sugar in the diet."

Wishbone Original Western Dressing

When you're at the grocery store, skip Wishbone's Western Dressing as it's high in both added sugars and calories. "This dressing also contains high-fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to increasing risk of conditions like obesity and can contribute to insulin resistance," says Nicole Ibarra, RD, LD. Even Wishbone's seemingly healthier alternative, the Light Western Dressing, isn't a good choice as it serves up the same amount of added sugar (12 grams).

Wishbone Sweet French Dressing

With 12 grams of sugar in each serving, dousing this dressing on your bowl of greens is like eating three mini Snickers candies alongside your salad. If you plan to follow up your meal with dessert, you might as well skip this Sweet French Dressing.

Good & Gather Pomegranate Blush Vinaigrette

Salads are the epitome of a nutritious meal, but they can easily go from a wholesome bowl of lean greens to a straight-up sugar bomb if you dress it with Target's Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Two tablespoons of dressing pack a staggering 14 grams of sugar—the same amount you'll get from eating about 22 M&M candies. Instead, make a simple vinaigrette with red wine vinegar and sprinkle some pomegranate seeds over your salad for fiber and crunch (and zero added sugar).