Homemade ranch dressing takes five minutes and keeps for ten days in the fridge. The base is equal parts buttermilk, sour cream, and mayonnaise, sharpened with lemon juice and a clove of garlic, finished with fresh chives, parsley, and dill. It tastes unmistakably like ranch and noticeably better than the bottled version, which is the only relevant comparison most people are making.
The fresh herbs are what make the difference. Bottled ranch uses dried herbs that have been sitting in a packet and processed into a powder. Fresh chives, parsley, and dill in a blender with the dairy base produce a dressing that’s genuinely green-flecked and herb-forward rather than a white sauce with vague herb flavor in the background.
The method
Everything into a small food processor or blender: the peeled garlic clove, half a cup each of buttermilk, sour cream, and mayonnaise, a tablespoon of lemon juice, a tablespoon each of snipped chives, parsley, and dill, and salt and pepper to taste. Blend until smooth. Taste. Adjust with more lemon if it needs brightness, more salt if it needs punch.
An immersion blender works in a tall jar if you don’t want to wash a full blender. The garlic needs to be processed rather than just stirred in; a raw garlic clove left in pieces distributes unevenly and creates hot spots in the dressing rather than a uniform background garlic flavor throughout.
The buttermilk is what gives ranch its specific tang and slight thickness. Sour cream adds more body and a creamier texture. The mayonnaise brings fat and emulsification that keeps the dressing cohesive. All three are doing distinct work and substituting one changes the character of the dressing significantly. If you can’t find buttermilk, add a tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to half a cup of whole milk, stir, and let it sit for five minutes; it won’t be identical but it approximates the acidity.
The herbs
Chives, parsley, and dill, a tablespoon of each. The dill is the herb that makes this specifically ranch rather than a generic herb dressing; remove the dill and you have a different sauce that’s good but not ranch. The chives add a mild onion note. The parsley adds freshness and color. Together they produce a dressing that looks herbed and tastes herbed rather than looking white and tasting of dried powder.
Snipped means cut with scissors rather than chopped with a knife, which is faster and produces cleaner pieces that blend more smoothly. If you only have dried herbs, use a teaspoon of each rather than a tablespoon, and note that the flavor will be flatter. Fresh is worth seeking out for this particular recipe because the herbs are central rather than background.
Storing and using
Refrigerated in an airtight container for up to ten days. The dressing thickens slightly as it chills; stir before using and add a splash of buttermilk if you want it thinner. It usually tastes better after a few hours once the garlic has mellowed and the herbs have had time to fully infuse the dairy base.
Ranch dressing is American food in the most specifically regional sense: invented in the 1950s at a California dude ranch, now the most consumed salad dressing in the United States by volume. I find it interesting as a condiment because it’s genuinely versatile in a way that Italian dressing or balsamic vinaigrette isn’t; it works on salad, as a dip for raw vegetables and pizza, as a sauce for chicken, as a spread on sandwiches. The from-scratch version is cleaner and brighter than bottled in a way that makes sense of all those uses. Makes one and a half cups. Nutrition per tablespoon: 45 calories, 5g fat, 1g carbohydrates, 1g protein.
Make it thicker or thinner
The ratio of mayonnaise to sour cream to buttermilk controls the texture. More buttermilk makes it thinner and pourable, good for salads. More sour cream or mayonnaise makes it thicker and more dip-like, good for vegetables and pizza. The flavor stays roughly the same across these adjustments. Start with the base recipe and adjust based on what you’re using it for.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
Description
Homemade ranch dressing made with buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, fresh garlic, lemon juice, and three fresh herbs. Blends in five minutes, keeps for 10 days.
Ingredients
Instructions
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Add the garlic, buttermilk, sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice, chives, parsley, dill, salt, and pepper to a small food processor or blender.
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Blend until smooth. Taste and adjust with more lemon juice, salt, or pepper as needed.
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Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate. Store for up to 10 days. Stir before each use..
Nutrition Facts
Servings 24
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 45kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 5g8%
- Saturated Fat 1g5%
- Trans Fat 1g
- Cholesterol 5mg2%
- Sodium 37mg2%
- Potassium 16mg1%
- Total Carbohydrate 1g1%
- Dietary Fiber 1g4%
- Sugars 1g
- Protein 1g2%
- Vitamin A 62 IU
- Vitamin C 1 mg
- Calcium 12 mg
- Iron 1 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
Servings are 24 (1.5 cups total at 1 tablespoon per serving). Dressing thickens as it chills; stir before serving and thin with a splash of buttermilk if needed. Tastes better after a few hours.
