Green Goddess Dressing: A Must-Try Salad Dressing
Gunjan Sooden
June 16, 2022
health
The latest social media trending Green Goddess dressing is creating quite a buzz among vegans and health-conscious people. As the name suggests, almost all significant ingredients in Green Goddess dressing are green, i.e., spinach, dill, basil, mint, chives, jalapeno, shallots, parsley, tarragon, etc., with mayonnaise and sour cream as the base. You can make the salad dressing vegan by excluding fish and dairy ingredients, making it among the most desirable dressing for various vegan salads. Any green salad to which the dressing gets added can be called a Green Goddess salad. If made to a thick pasty texture, it can be a dip or a sandwich spread. Besides its light, refreshing, and slightly spicy flavour, the Green Goddess dressing offers monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and benefits heart health.
The History of Green Goddess Dressing
People assume that the name Green Goddess dressing comes from the flecks of green herbs and its pale green colour, but that’s not the case. Instead, according to food historians, it is somewhere related to a play.
As per records, ‘The Green Goddess’ was a famous stage play in 1921 by William Archer. It casts an English actor named George Arliss as the lead character, ‘Raja of Rukh’. In 1923 when George had visited the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, the chief executive chef, Philp Roemer, paid tribute to him by naming the salad dressing “Green Goddess Dressing”. This salad dressing has gone from a mayonnaise-centric original recipe into something brighter and lighter. Despite going in and out of style through the years, chefs evolved Green Goddess dressing by adding surprising flavours like avocado and curry powder, reducing or eliminating the mayonnaise, or adding more herbs.
Varieties
You can modify Green Goddess dressing by adding or deleting any specific ingredient and use it differently according to your taste and nutritional needs. For example, using Greek yoghurt instead of sour cream or mayonnaise increases protein. In addition to olive oil, you can add some avocado oil, providing some more good fats. You can make the dressing into a paste of thick consistency, perfect as chutney for tikka, barbeque, etc. You can also eat it alongside nachos, making for a delicious dip.
Nutritional Facts of the Green Goddess Dressing
As per USDA, the nutritional information of the salad dressing for one tablespoon serving is as follows:
- Energy: 64 kcal
- Protein: 0.285 g
- Sodium: 130 mg
- Fat: 6.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 1.1 g
- Sugars: 1 g
- Fibre: 0.015 g
- Cholesterol: 6 mg
- Vitamin K: 14.5 μg
We can infer from the above data that it is quite a healthy salad dressing with low carb content. Most fat comes from polyunsaturated fatty acids (3.48 grams) and monounsaturated fatty acids (1.41 grams). It means that only 1.6 grams come from saturated fatty acids. Moreover, one tablespoon of this dressing provides only about 1.7% of your daily sodium intake. In addition, it offers only 64 kcal, which is considered acceptable concerning its richness. On the other hand, the protein is about 1 g, mainly from the sour cream and mayonnaise base. Also, the quantity of essential micronutrients like calcium, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins, and minerals is negligible.
Potential Benefits of the Green Goddess Dressing
Unlike most store-bought dressings, Green Goddess dressing is healthy as it is homemade and devoid of artificial preservatives, stabilisers, acidity regulators, and artificial colours. In addition, the good fats in this dressing provide many benefits.
Some potential health benefits of Green Goddess dressing are:
- Support Blood Clotting
Research suggests that Green Goddess dressing provides about 12% to 16% of your daily vitamin-k requirements, which helps increase the platelet count in the blood. Platelets are essential for healthy blood clotting. In addition, vitamin K deficiency can cause bleeding and bruising. While not a great source of vitamin K, you can still receive some clotting benefits from Green Goddess dressing.
- Reduce Heart Disease Risk
Green Goddess dressing provides monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, which reduces the risk of stroke. In addition, a study shows that these healthy fats reduce the risk of stroke by reducing the number of bad fats like triglycerides. Therefore, Green Goddess dressing is an excellent addition to cardioprotective diets.
- Lowers Blood Pressure and Triglycerides
An AHA Journal suggests that hypertension is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The monounsaturated fatty acids in the Green Goddess dressing salad can play a crucial role in reducing the risk. Furthermore, the healthy dose of polyunsaturated fatty acids in Green Goddess dressing reduces high triglyceride levels.
Please note that the benefits mentioned above are for the homemade salad dressing, not the commercially made salad dressing, as one can not take the reliability of their nutritional information.
The Problem of Store-Bought Green Goddess Salad Dressing
We all believe that commercially-manufactured products are usually unhealthy with loads of additives that only enhance the appeal and taste and perhaps do nothing good for our health. Unfortunately, this notion is often true. For example, canned or packed Green Goddess dressing is marketed as healthy but comes with many additional ingredients like taste enhancers, stabilisers, anti-caking agents, texture enhancers, and preservatives. These have harmful effects on our health, a study explains. Moreover, a study report suggested that the nutritional information printed on the food labels of the products is quite unreliable.
Simple Green Goddess Recipes
Traditional Green Goddess Dressing Recipe
Here is a simple Green Goddess salad and dressing recipe using commonly available ingredients.
The number of servings: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise or Sour Cream: ½ cup
- Spinach: ½ cup
- Mint Leaves: ¼ cup
- Garlic: 2 large cloves
- Jalapenos: 1 tbsp
- Basil: 1 tbsp
- Shallots or parsley: ½ cup
- Almonds: 6 nos.
- Turmeric Powder: ½ tsp
- Olive Oil: ½ cup
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Lemon Juice: 1 tsp
- Nutritional Yeast: 1 tsp
- Vinegar: 1 tsp
Method of Preparation
- Add all the ingredients to a large-sized blender and blend them to a fine paste. The dressing is ready!
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information is as follows:
- Calories: 120 kcal
- Protein: 1 g
- Fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Sodium: 250 mg
- Fibre: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 14 mg
Greek Green Goddess Dip Recipe
Greek Green Goddess dip is similar to a Green Goddess dressing as most ingredients are the same. You can pair the dip with chips, crackers, or nachos. Here is the recipe for a delicious Greek Green Goddess dip.
The number of servings: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Ingredients
- Greek Yoghurt: ½ cup
- Spinach: ¼ cup
- Fresh Dill: ¼ cup
- Mint Leaves: ¼ cup
- Lemon Juice: 1 tsp
- Pepper powder: ¼ tsp
- Salt: ½ tsp
- Olive Oil: ½ cup
- Assorted green herbs: 1 cup
- Feta Cheese: 1 tbsp
- Avocado: ¼ cup
Method of Preparation
- It is as easy as blending all the ingredients to a fine, thick paste in a large blender.
- Pour the blend into a bowl, add some chilli flakes and oregano, and mix. Your Greek Green Goddess Dip is ready.
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information is as follows:
- Calories: 135 kcal
- Protein: 1.5 g
- Fat: 13 g
- Carbohydrates: 2 g
- Sodium: 248 mg
- Fibre: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 10 mg
Green Goddess Seasoning Recipe
If you want to experience the richness of a Green Goddess dish but have no time or ingredients for the same, you should try making a Green Goddess seasoning for salads. It contains dried ingredients that make it last fresh for a more extended period. The process can take a little longer as you have to dry some ingredients. The best part about it is that you can carry it in a small, handy container to school or work and sprinkle it on your salad to infuse the goodness of a Green Goddess seasoning.
There is no particular serving measurement as it depends on how much seasoning you use.
Ingredients
- Dried minced onion: ¼ cup
- Dried chives: ¼ cup
- Spinach powder: 2 tbsp
- Black pepper powder: ½ tbsp
- Lemon powder: ½ tbsp
- Dried parsley: ¼ cup
- Dried granulated garlic: 2 tbsp
- Lemon oil: 1 tbsp
- Dried green onion: 2 tbsp
- Salt: 1 tsp
Method of Preparation
- Mix all the ingredients nicely on a large dry plate. Let it stand for a while. Then, fill it in a small, handy container.
- If the container has a sprinkler lid, that would be even better.
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information for one tablespoon serving is:
- Calories: 3 kcal
- Total fat: 1.1 g
- Sodium: 300 mg
- Carbohydrates: <3 g
- Protein: 1 g
When Not to Consume?
Vegans and people with fish allergies should remove anchovies from the recipe. For other allergies, an allergy guide might be helpful. If you are sensitive to salt, you should consider a low sodium solution or a smaller serving size. Also, if you are using a prescribed anticoagulant, you should talk to a healthcare professional about what foods, including green goddess dressing, are permitted while taking your medications.
Storage and Food Safety
The dressing should be refrigerated as soon as you prepare it. There are no added preservatives other than salt and natural sugars. It has to be used for under a week to stay on the safer side. If onions are there, the salad dressing must be used for no more than 4-5 days while keeping them in the refrigerator. Store-bought Green Goddess dressings are best for up to 6 months from the manufacture date.
Best ways to store homemade green goddess sauce
Refrigerate for up to 5 days in an airtight container.
Green goddess dressing can be frozen for up to two weeks in a freezer bag or container. When components are defrosted, they may become lumpy, soggy, or have a less fresh taste. If you want to freshen it up, shake or blend it again and add a little extra lemon juice or fresh herbs.
Conclusion
The best thing about Green Goddess salad Dressing is that you can easily prepare it at home. It allows you to customise, innovate and create according to your needs and taste, and also, since you are the one making it, you know what goes into it. There is no mystery of any additional ingredients that you experience in the case of bottled-salad dressing available in the market. Despite being relatively healthy, it lacks enough protein and essential micronutrient content. You can resolve this issue by adding more necessary healthy ingredients, like Greek yoghurt.
Bottled Green Goddess salad dressing is also available in the market, which is relatively unhealthy as they have higher carbohydrates, sugar, and sodium content. They also bear high calories. So it is always recommended by dietitians and health experts to opt for homemade, DIY options wherever and whenever possible.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q. What does the green goddess dressing taste like?
A. It tastes like a relatively-tasty version of a green slurry made for curries or like green chutney that you have with idli or dosa except for the coconut but has a fine blend of green leafy vegetables. Also, the taste depends on the primary ingredients and their quantity in the dressing.
Q. What is the Green Goddess made of?
A. All of the ‘Green Goddess’ recipes are pretty similar, with almost the same ingredients. They contain leafy vegetables like spinach, parsley, shallots, herbs, mint, jalapenos, chives, tarragon, etc. In addition, there are specific quantities of nutritional yeast, olive oil, avocado oil, salt, and vinegar. Finally, anything among mayonnaise, sour cream, and Greek yoghurt becomes the base.
Q. What is in Green Goddess seasoning?
A. Green Goddess seasoning in the market consists of dried minced onion, granulated garlic, sea salt, ground black pepper, dried chives, dried green onion, spinach powder, lemon powder, lemon zest, parsley, safflower oil, dill tips, chervil, tarragon, celery flakes.
Q. Why is it called Green Goddess dressing?
A. Most of its ingredients, like spinach, parsley, mint, chives, shallots, basil, tarragon, and jalapenos, impart a green colour. It was also because of the historical reference in 1923 when George Arliss, the English actor who was the lead character of the play “The Green Goddess” by William Archer, visited the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Its chief-executive chef, Philp Roemer, paid tribute to him by naming the dressing “Green Goddess Dressing”. The name and the salad went very well together.
Q. Does ranch have raw eggs?
A. As ranch dressing is mayonnaise-based, it does contain raw egg. Therefore, it provides a creamy texture to it. Although eggless ranches are available in the market, you can make them at home.
Q. What is Greek salad dressing made of?
A. Greek salad dressing usually contains red wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, Dijon mustard, minced garlic, lemon juice, salt, powdered black pepper, and dried oregano as the critical ingredient.
Q. What does Kraft Green Goddess salad dressing taste like?
A. Kraft Green Goddess salad dressing is a product manufactured and marketed by Kraft Heinz Company. It has a tinge of mint that tastes fresher than the homemade dressing. It is tastier than the ones you make at your home, as it has a taste very similar to the commercial ranch.
Q. Does Kraft Green Goddess dressing have avocado in it?
A. No, Kraft Green Goddess dressing does not contain avocados. Instead, it has water, soybean oil, vinegar, corn syrup, sugar, sour cream, cultured skim milk, salt, starch, xanthan gum, spice, potassium sorbate, mustard flour, onions, phosphoric acid, etc.
Q. Where was Green Goddess dressing invented?
A. The origins of Green Goddess dressing are pretty unclear, but the most popular theory of its origins is said to be at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1923. However, some say it originated on the West Coast as a dressing for vegetables and salads.
Q. Can pregnant ladies eat ranch?
A. Yes, pregnant women can eat ranch. However, it is essential to look for pasteurised vinaigrette because unpasteurised ones can cause salmonella. Also, check if it is only made up of buttermilk and sour cream and does not have any added preservatives.
