Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing 

 One key component to finding success with counting macros is to make real food that actually tastes good too. You should feel excited to eat your meals that are macro-balanced. A great way to elevate your food is by adding sauces that are packed full of flavor. Of course, you can buy store-bought dressings and sauces but the fats and calories can add up fast! With a great homemade sauce, you can drizzle to your heart’s content while still saving those fats for a little extra whipped cream on your nightly shake. And this Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing is *chef’s kiss.* 

When you have this in the fridge, you’ll want to eat a salad every day. So good. 

What You Need to Make Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing: 

Making a dressing from scratch might be intimidating at first, but it’s actually super easy and quick. With just a few ingredients, you’ll have a fresh-tasting dressing you’ll want to put on everything!

Here’s what you need:

• non-fat Greek yogurt
• reduced-fat buttermilk 
• white balsamic vinegar (or sub champagne vinegar or even apple cider)
• fresh basil 
• garlic (or frozen cubes)
• onion powder
• avocado 
• shredded parmesan 
• fresh lemon juice 
• honey
•  salt
• pepper

How to Make Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing: 

For a dressing, there are hardly any instructions at all. Simply blend or food-process all of the ingredients until smooth. And voilà, you’ve got the perfect dressing to use all week long. Just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it. It should keep for 3-7 days in the fridge, but you can also freeze it. Just note that it will thin out when you thaw it (but it’s still good). 

If you’re in need of a good blender, then this one is ESSENTIAL for me. I love it for my nightly shakes, smoothie bowls, and of course, sauces/dressings. 

If I’m not using my blender, then I also really love this big food processor. It’s great for when I want something ‘riced’ instead of pulverized like for my favorite zucchini brownie oats or even for grating cheese. 

What Pairs Well with Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing: 

This Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing originally was tucked into the Jars sections in my cookbook ONE, which is full of great-tasting, macro-friendly one-dish meals. You can get the cookbook here for even more recipes and sauces. 

This dressing would elevate just about any salad, but it goes well with this Cobb Salad on the blog here! 

Is this Dressing GF/DF? 

This dressing is completely gluten-free when it’s made as written, however, it isn’t dairy-free. If you want a yummy dairy-free and gluten-free dressing, I do have some on the blog for you to try! 

Some of my favorites are this Dairy-free Green Sauce and this Dairy-Free Basil Pesto!  They are so easy to whip up and taste great on pretty much anything. Think tacos, salads, bowls, etc. 

Similar Recipes: 

My family always has 1 or 2 sauces in the fridge to use throughout the week. We have quite a few favorites, but here are some we like from the blog…

• Dairy-Free Basil Pesto 
• Creamy Chimichurri 
• Jalapeño-Avocado Dressing 
• Cilantro Tomatillo Ranch
• Macro-friendly Calabrian Chili Mayo 
• Honey Chipotle Creamy Vinaigrette 

And if you want a more full-fat vinaigrette to try, you can’t go wrong with the Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette that I posted in the caption of this reel below. 

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A post shared by Lillie Biesinger (@lillieeatsandtells)

Also, I thought I’d mention that if you don’t want (or you’re just too busy) to make a vinaigrette or dressing for your salad, I also enjoy putting these Baker and Olive Vinegars on my salad. Seriously so good. 

My favorite is Peach or Lemon. You can get 10% off their vinegar here. 

Creamy Lemon-Basil Dressing 

Having a macro-friendly sauce in the fridge makes macro-counting SO much easier. Add a prepped protein in the fridge too, and you’re golden!   

Because if I had to start from scratch with dinner every night, I just wouldn’t do it. That’s why I LOVE having the basics prepped in the fridge ready to go. If you feel the same, then my cookbooks LEAT and Planned are for you. 

LEAT and Planned are designed around a prepped weekly protein and sauce that you can use a bunch of different ways throughout the week. The BEST. Not to mention, they’re all loaded into My Fitness Pal, Lose It, and Macros First for easy tracking. 

Click here to shop my cookbooks. 

Make sure to follow on Instagram for more recipes and meal ideas with a little bit of life thrown in! 

Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.