Best Salad for Weight Loss

If you’re looking for the Best Salad for Weight Loss, this vibrant salad should be on your go-to list! This weight loss salad is made with the best vegetables for weight loss (like kale, grated raw beets and carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and yellow squash noodles), and it’s delicious, low-cal, high in fiber and so easy to make!

This colorful weight loss salad is loaded with the best vegetables for weight loss and it’s satisfying enough to serve as a main, but also makes a great starter salad. 

Just eating a weight loss salad isn’t a magic bullet for weight loss, but eating salads on a daily basis may help support weight loss over a period of time. Staying hydrated (with drinks like this Lemon Water, Cucumber Water, Fruit Infused Water, Cranberry Juice Detox and Apple Cider Vinegar Drink), eating high-fiber foods, cutting back on salt and sugar, eating lean protein like fish and chicken, staying active and getting plenty of rest, these are habits that put you and keep you on a path to a healthy lifestyle, and will help you achieve your weight management goals that you can maintain for years to come.

Delicious Weight Loss Salad Recipe

This delicious weight loss salad is packed with raw wholesome vegetables that are low in calories and high in fiber.

• Greens. We use a mix of baby greens for this salad which are  low in calories and high in water content. (1)
• Carrots. Carrots have a high water content (ranging from 86% to 95%) and a decent amount of fiber. (2)
• Purple Cabbage. Purple cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable that is low in calories containing only 28 calories in 1 cup.
• Cauliflower. Cauliflower is a member of the cruciferous vegetable family. It’s low in calories and high in fiber, which may slow digestion and make us feel full longer, which may help us eat fewer calories during the day. (3)
• Yellow Squash. Yellow squash is also low-calorie and rich with fiber, which may help us to feel full without consuming a lot of calories. 
• Cucumber. Cucumber is made up of about 96 percent water. They’re low in calories and high in fiber. They make a smart addition to any weight loss plan.(5)
• Raw Beets. Adding raw beets to salads is a great way to sneak more beets into your diet. Just peel and rinse the raw beets and grate them to add to your green salads. It’s so simple!

How to Make It

We’ve all heard about eating the rainbow, which is nothing more than eating colorful, nutrient-rich foods to nourish our bodies so we feel healthier and have more energy. To make this colorful salad, it will require a little chopping, grating and making vegetable noodles. If you don’t have a spiralizer, then just grate the yellow squash as well.

1. Make dressing. Add the ingredients to a blender and blend, or add them to a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well to blend the ingredients.
2. Prepare ingredients. Rinse the vegetables under cold water. Add to a salad spinner or pat dry on paper towels. Peel the carrots and beets and grate then, chop the cabbage, cauliflower and cucumber and make spiralized noodles out of the yellow squash (or you can just grate it as well).
3. Toss salad. Toss the lettuce, carrot, yellow squash, cabbage, cauliflower and cucumber in a large bowl. Drizzle the vinaigrette around the ingredients and toss again. 
4. Garnish. Top the salad with spoonfuls of grated beet. You can toss salad again if you’d like.
5. Season. Add freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

I love everything about this vinaigrette. It has such an amazing flavor, plus it’s so nutritious! We toss everything in a blender to make this dressing, but if you don’t have a blender, then chop the herbs and add the ingredients to a mason jar, seal the lid and shake well. Refrigerate before serving.

Is Salad Good for Weight Loss?

With a variety of healthy add-ins, salads can be a staple of a balanced diet and help support weight management goals. Salads that are good for weight loss should be made with nutrient-dense foods, rather than foods high in calories, cholesterol, sugar and sodium.

Here are 7 healthy foods to toss in salads for weight loss.

• Use dark greens like Romaine lettuce, kale, arugula, spinach and other leafy greens as they have more nutrients in them than iceberg lettuce.
• Add fresh fruit like blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and apple.
• Add in high fiber foods like lentils, chickpeas, black beans and cannellini beans.
• Add in quinoa and lean protein like salmon (grilled, baked, poached or canned), chicken (grilled, baked or poached), tuna (packed in water) and hardboiled eggs to make a salad more filling.
• Add healthy fats like slices of avocado.
• Toss in lots of fresh herbs, like basil, cilantro, parsley and mint.
• Use salad dressings made with extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil (healthy fats), lemon juice and apple cider vinegar (like this Honey Lime Dressing, Apple Cider Vinegar Dressing, Lemon Mustard Vinaigrette, Healthy Citrus Vinaigrette and Ginger Salad Dressing.

Foods to Avoid Adding to Salads For Weight Loss

Salads can be a good way to add important vitamins, minerals and fiber to your diet. However, not all salads are nutritious or low-cal. It all depends on what you’re tossing in your salad. When making salads for weight loss, avoid adding ingredients that are high in calories, fat and sodium, like cheese, croutons, deli meats, bacon, sugar glazed nuts and seeds, tortilla chips and creamy salad dressings made with mayonnaise, sour cream and dairy (or only add them in moderation).

Looking for More Salad Recipes for Weight Loss? 

If you’re looking for more salad ideas for weight loss, I’ve got you covered. These salads are satisfying and made with some of the best vegetables for weight loss.

• Crunchy Detox Salad
• Superfood Salad
• Beet & Kale Quinoa Salad
• Cranberry Kale Salad
• Broccoli Detox Salad
• My Favorite House Salad
• Healthy Coleslaw 
• Spinach Berry Antioxidant Salad

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Yield: 6 servings

Best Salad for Weight Loss

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

If you're looking for the Best Salad for Weight Loss, this vibrant salad should be on your go-to list! This weight loss salad is made with the best vegetables for weight loss (like kale, grated raw beets and carrots, cabbage, cauliflower and yellow squash noodles), and it's delicious, nutritious and so easy to make!

Ingredients

• 8 cups baby spinach and kale leaves
• 1 cup carrot, grated
• 1 cup cauliflower, chopped
• 2 small yellow squash, grated or spiralized into noodles
• 1 cucumber, chopped or spiralized into noodles
• 1 cup purple cabbage, shredded
• 1 large red beet, peeled and grated

For the Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 heaping teaspoon lemon zest
• Fistful fresh cilantro
• Fistful fresh parsley
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 2 teaspoons pure clover honey
• 1-1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste

Instructions

1. Toss the spinach, kale, carrot, cauliflower, squash noodles, cucumber and cabbage in a large bowl.
2. Toss with Lemon Herb Vinaigrette
3. Top with piles of grated beet.
4. Add freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

For the Cleansing Lemon Herb Vinaigrette

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender.
2. Refrigerate before serving

Note: If you don't have a blender, then chop the herbs and add the ingredients to a mason jar and seal the lid. Shake well. Refrigerate before serving.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 397Total Fat: 28gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 23gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 233mgCarbohydrates: 34gFiber: 6gSugar: 13gProtein: 6g

theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. The nutritional information provided comes from online sources and calculations. See full disclaimer on About page.