Wonderfully tangy, barely sweetened with raw honey, this easy tomato salad dressing is perfect drizzled over fresh greens, mixed into pasta salad, or used as a marinade for steak or chicken! Nothing mixes together more quickly than a homemade vinaigrette!
Need a super quick and easy dressing for your fresh summer salads?
This Tomato Salad Dressing is just the thing! Tangy tomato flavor with a hint of sweetness mixes up quickly with just a few pantry ingredients.
Why should you make your own salad dressings instead of buying from the grocery store?
For one, you save money. Pre-made salad dressings are convenient, but that convenience costs extra.
Another reason to make your own is the health factor. Since you control what goes into your salad dressing, you don’t have to worry about unwanted and unhealthy ingredients — like inflammatory oils, preservatives, artificial flavors and colorings!
Store-bought dressings also typically add refined sugars for sweetness. These refined sugars can cause inflammation in the body (and here’s 5 more reasons to ditch refined sugar).
It goes without saying, we use natural, whole food sweeteners instead.
Sweetening Tomato Salad Dressing Naturally
This super easy tomato salad dressing reminds me a bit of Catalina dressing. It’s wonderfully tangy, but that tanginess needs just a bit of sweet for balance.
What can you use instead of regular sugar? How about honey?
Raw, local honey is a wonderfully healthy, whole food sweetener. Add as little or as much as you like.
Is This Tomato Salad Dressing Trim Healthy Mama Friendly?
While honey is not encouraged during the weight loss phase of the THM plan, a little bit now and then typically is not problematic for most people. A small amount of this dressing on occasion should be fine.
However, if you find yourself wanting this dressing on a regular basis (totally understandable), you’ll want a non-glycemic sweetening option.
You can easily swap the honey for pure stevia extract or a stevia and sugar alcohol blend. I find 1/16th teaspoon of pure stevia extract just the right amount of sweetness. This is 2 “doonks” – the little measuring spoons from THM.
This dressing is made with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil, so it falls into the THM:S category. Additionally, because of the tomato in it, this dressing is not suitable for Deep S meals.
Enjoy With More Than Just Lettuce!
While you’ll certainly enjoy this easy vinaigrette on a salad, don’t limit yourself to just a large bowl of leafy greens. Here are a few ideas to help you get creative with your tomato salad dressing.
- Pasta salad side dish – make it quickly with cooked pasta, thinly sliced red onions, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, and mozzarella cheese. Toss with the dressing, fresh herbs, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Marinate chicken before cooking.
- Marinate steak before grilling.
- Pour over a beef roast and slow cook.
- Try this instead of oil and balsamic vinegar on a Caprese salad (fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes, and fresh basil).
- Make sloppy joes.
- Try using some tomato dressing as part of a homemade barbecue sauce.
I’ve even added a dash of a dressing like this into sauces and stews. Sometimes, when a dish seems to be lacking something, you need either a bit of acid or sweetness to bring the flavors together. This has both!
Tangy & Sweet Tomato Dressing
Wonderfully tangy, barely sweetened with raw honey, this easy tomato salad dressing is perfect drizzled over fresh greens, mixed into pasta salad, or used as a marinade for steak or chicken! Nothing mixes together more quickly than a homemade vinaigrette! Enjoy! Makes about 3 cups.
Ingredients
-
1/2
cup
pure water -
1/2
cup
apple cider vinegar -
1-1/2
cups
extra virgin olive oil -
4
tablespoons
tomato paste -
2
tablespoons
raw honey
or to taste -
1
teaspoon
ground black pepper -
2-1/2
teaspoons
sea salt -
1
teaspoon
prepared mustard
Instructions
-
Blend all ingredients thoroughly in high-powered blender such as the Vitamix.
-
Pour into glass jar or dressing container.
-
Refrigerate.
Recipe Notes
Trim Healthy Mama tips:
While honey is not encouraged during the weight loss phase of the THM plan, a little bit now and then typically is not problematic for most people. A small amount of this dressing on occasion should be fine.
However, if you find yourself wanting this dressing on a regular basis (totally understandable), you’ll want a non-glycemic sweetening option.
You can easily swap the honey for pure stevia extract or a stevia and sugar alcohol blend. I find 1/16th teaspoon of pure stevia extract just the right amount of sweetness. This is 2 “doonks” – the little measuring spoons from THM.
This dressing is made with a good amount of extra virgin olive oil, so it falls into the THM:S category. Additionally, because of the tomato in it, this dressing is not suitable for Deep S meals.
Calories from Fat 81
Homemade salad dressings bring so much flavor and nutrition to your meals!
Do you need more healthy, real food salad dressing ideas? Check these out and let us know what you think!
- Creamy Salad Dressing
- Sunflower Seed Dressing
- Probiotic Lemon-Garlic Salad Dressing Vinaigrette
- Creamy & Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing
- THM Probiotic Cucumber Ranch Dressing
- 28 Fermented and Probiotic Salad Dressings
Will you try this tomato vinaigrette?
This post was originally published and written by Wardee Harmon on 9/7/07. It was updated and republished on 6/15/20.
