Whether used for dipping sauce or dripped on salads, ranch dressing is the go-to item for sprucing up a meal. Yet for those who are on a diet (specifically a keto diet), one has to wonder if ranch dressing is going to derail hard work and progress when trying to eat better. Thankfully, we are going to dive in on ranch dressing to see if it is as healthy as we hope it to be.
Nutrients and Ingredients
There are several different ranch dressing options available on the market that provide their unique sets of nutritional data. Thankfully, a majority of the brands available only have a net carb of 3 grams. This means that ranch dressing can absolutely fit into one’s keto diet.
However, it is low-fat ranch dressings that should be avoided if one is on a keto diet.
The reason for this is due to the fact that keto diets require natural fat. In regards to nutrients, ranch dressings contain a great combination of sodium, fat, with small bits of protein. Most of these ingredients have roughly 20 to 15 natural grams of fat.
If one has no interest in consuming big brand ranch dressing, it is possible to create homemade ranch dressing. Homemade ranch dressing, all you need is:
– Substitute buttermilk with sour cream. This increases the fat content and reduces carbs.
– Mix the sour cream, whipped cream (unsweetened), mayo, with parsley. Put these ingredients into a blender and there you go! An excellent keto-friendly ranch dressing.
Is Ranch Dressing Keto Friendly?
Absolutely. As a whole, ranch dressing is without a question a keto-friendly food. However, it is important to decide the best brand for you, yet steer clear of the low-fat products. It is fine to eat natural fat. Just make sure your carb levels remain below fat levels.
Can Ranch Dressing Be Bad for Losing Weight?
As with any diet, Keto requires one to consider their portion sizes. Regardless if it’s keto friendly or not, overeating will negatively impact weight loss and ketosis efforts.
Much like the saying “poison is in the dose you choose to consume”, one can eat too much and it will harm one’s weight loss and ketosis efforts. That’s right, one can even eat too many vegetables and do harm to your diet.
In regards to keto diets, visualize carbs as if they were a budget that you only had so much to spend each day. You only have a limited budget, so you’ll want to spend your carbs wisely.
2 tablespoons of ranch dressing will cost one 150 calories, which is about 20 cups of spinach if one were to eat the same amount of calories.
How Many Carbs Are In Ranch Dressing?
The list of this depends on the brand purchased at a store. Ranch dressing has roughly 2 to 3 grams of net carbs for every 2 tablespoons.
It should be mentioned that certain variations are brands of ranch dressing have higher carbohydrates. However, this often applies to lighter variations, fat-free variations, and specialty flavored ranches, as they have added sugars in them.
Flavored ranch dressing could still be low in carbs, yet it’s important to read the ingredients to know how many carbohydrates the dressing carries. For example: If a ranch dressing is more than 5 or 6 grams of carbohydrates, you might want to skip it because that’s on the high side.
Since you’re trying not to splurge on your carbs for such a small amount of ranch, you might want to find a better, low carb option.
Sugar Levels
Some ranch dressing brands can be sweeter than others, but you can get past this issue by choosing the ones that offer keto-friendly sweeteners. However, one can simply make their own ranch dressing to create their own ranch dressing.
Wishbone Ranch Dressing: Is It Keto Friendly?
In comparison to Kraft and Hidden Valley Ranch, the Wishbone brand saves you at least one gram of carbs per serving. However, it should be noted that the light version contains 4 grams per serving, which is less than Kraft’s version and similar to Hidden Valley Ranch.
While following a keto diet, Wishbone ranch dressing can be utilized as a condiment, as a dip, or on salads. Regular Wishbone ranch dressing is low in carbs at 2 tablespoons per serving. The light version has four carbs per serving, but is lower in calories.
Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing: Is It Keto Friendly?
Hidden Valley ranch dressing can be utilized as a condiment, a dip, or on a salad while following a keto diet. Being low in carbs, Hidden Valley Ranch only has 2 grams of net carbs for every 2 tbsp serving. The light version has 4 carbs per serving, but is lower in calories.
Both Hidden Valley Ranch dressings (regular and light) have low carbs, but the light version has double the carbs.
Trader Joe’s Ranch Dressing: Is It Keto Friendly?
Trader Joe’s Organic Ranch Dressing is capable of being used as a condiment, a dip, or used on salads as one is following a keto diet. This dressing is low in carbs, containing 3 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp serving.
In comparison to other ranch dressings, Trader Joe’s brand contains the most with 3 grams of net carbs for every serving, with Wishbone containing the least with only one gram of carbs.
Kraft Dressing: Is It Keto Friendly
Kraft dressing can be used as a condiment, a vegetable dip, or on salads while one is following a keto diet. Kraft Ranch dressing remains low in carbohydrates, containing 2 grams of carbs per 2 tbsp serving. The fat free Kraft dressing contains 11 grams per serving and the light Kraft dressing contains 7 grams per serving, which is significantly more grams in comparison to the regular Kraft dressing.
Being relative to Hidden Valley Ranch, Kraft’s version has considerably more carbs. Sticking with the original Hidden Valley Ranch option, since every 2 tbsp serving only has seven to eleven grams of carbs in it.