Low Carb Italian Vinaigrette

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This is my home-made low carb Italian vinaigrette dressing. Whenever I have Italian vinaigrette at salad bars, the dressing is sometimes too tangy (too much vinegar), or overly sweetened. So home-made to me is the best! This Italian vinaigrette is pleasantly tangy and balanced (you can’t taste the small bit of zero-calorie sweetener but it made a difference).

Related Recipes:

• Kenny Roger’s Garden Pasta Recipe
• Garden Pasta with Italian Vinaigrette Recipe
• Italian Garden Salad with Baked Egg Recipe

See Also:

• Orange Vinaigrette Recipe
• Parmesan Orange Scallops Salad Recipe

To me, Italian vinaigrette is awesome because I can use it both as a dressing for an Italian-style garden pasta, or on a salad. It is relatively low carb, takes less than 5 minutes to make and keeps well in the fridge. It definitely qualifies for the MVP award as my to-go homemade dressing.

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS

Red wine vinegar is typically used for Italian vinaigrette. I happened to have a bottle for making braised red cabbage. If you don’t have it, you can use apple cider vinegar.

As a low carb substitute for honey, sugar or any syrup sweetener, I use Walden’s zero-calorie pancake syrup. I experimented and discovered this pancake syrup as a sugar substitute for my coffee. Recently I started using this pancake syrup as a sweetener for my salad dressing too. The syrup does not taste artificial in small amounts so it is really great for those mindful of using lower calorie ingredients in your cooking. I made sure to have at least 3 bottles around the house so that I won’t run out. I bought mine from iHerb (this is my affiliate link).

To make the salad dressing just add extra-virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, a small teaspoon of zero-calorie syrup (or honey, sugar, whatever sweetener you have) and dried Italian herbs.

Whisk (I’m using a milk frother) or shake the dressing in a tightly lid bottle to emulsify the ingredients before use.

FOR MAKING GARDEN PASTA

Check here for the full Italian garden pasta recipe.

Add cooked pasta (I am using spiral/fusilli) to a large bowl.

Add assorted vegetables such as cucumber, cherry tomato, carrot, red onion & bell peppers … I am lazy so they are all ingredients that do not require cooking.

Then pour the Italian vinaigrette mixed with a few spoonful of rich chicken stock (or pasta cooking water).

Mix well and a delicious garden pasta is done! The Italian vinaigrette provides a refreshing tangy kick to the pasta.

AS A SALAD DRESSING

Click here for the full Italian garden salad with baked egg recipe. 

Add salad veg (romaine lettuce) and assorted toppings to a large bowl. As this was a salad for one (me), I used a small amount of dressing. Shake the dressing in the bottle (or whisk it) so that the dressing is emulsified.

Then pour Italian vinaigrette dressing over the salad & toss to coat.

This is a light salad for one: a bed of salad dressed in Italian vinaigrette and topped with a halved baked egg english muffin.