Homemade Ranch Dressing

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To say ranch dressing is my favorite dressing of all time is an understatement. I absolutely love it. I go through a ton of it, haha. I put it on my salads, dip fresh veggies in it, put it on my baked potatoes, and dip pizza and wings in it, among other things. This homemade ranch dressing recipe is awesome and incredibly easy to make.

I always got excited when my mom when shopping and brought home that famous bottle of Hidden Valley ranch. And when I began shopping for myself, it was nice to buy those delicious bottles of the ranch. Of course, once in a while, I would get deflated when I accidentally bought a bottle of “Lite” dressing, haha. That is a huge no-no for me.

Making fresh homemade ranch dressing is fun and simple to do. It goes with so many things. If you like fresh ingredients, mayo, buttermilk, and sour cream, you will love this. The taste is very much “homemade” which I absolutely dig. If I can do it, you can do it. Let’s get started!

Step 1: Gather the ranch dressing ingredients

In order to make homemade ranch dressing from scratch you will need several ingredients:

• Sour cream – Sour cream is readily available here in the United States and doesn’t cost a whole lot. It helps create a very creamy dressing and adds a bit of zing to it. You can also make this homemade sour cream substitute if you don’t want to buy it.
• Mayonnaise – The mayo gives a bit of body to the ranch and flavor. If you don’t like mayo, then don’t add the full amount.
• Buttermilk – While you can use normal whole milk, I prefer to use buttermilk. Again it adds flavor and helps to create the perfect consistency. I have a homemade buttermilk substitute you can use as well if you like.
• Fresh herbs – My favorite fresh herbs for homemade ranch dressing are fresh parsley, dill, and green onion or chives. Of course, you can certainly use dry versions of those.
• Spices – The spices I like to use are garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. The amp of the flavor and are easy to adjust according to individual tastes.
• Apple cider vinegar – This ingredient is common in dressing, it adds a bit of zing, as well as has various health benefits.
• Lemon juice – The lemon juice adds flavor and helps to thin the dressing out a little bit. As well as adding a bit of acidity to the finished ranch dressing.

Tools/Equipment

• Medium bowl
• Whisk
• Spatula
• Knife
• Cutting board

Step 2: How to make homemade ranch dressing

Time to make ranch dressing from scratch. Begin by chopping your fresh herbs, the parsley, dill, green onion, and or chives. It is a good idea to rinse and dry them first.

Add the sour cream, mayo, and buttermilk to a medium bowl and give it a good mix with a fork, whisk, or spatula.

You can use homemade sour cream and homemade buttermilk too if you want. Normal whole milk can be used instead of buttermilk. But the buttermilk adds more flavor. I personally prefer to use buttermilk.

And honestly, this ranch dressing could be done if you wanted, with just those three ingredients, however, all the extra herbs and spices are what really make it shine.

Step 3: Add those fresh herbs and also the spices

Now add in your fresh chopped herbs. Although you can use dried versions of these ingredients, I love using fresh.

Add the fresh parsley, fresh dill, and fresh green onion. Chives are very common to use as well instead of green onion.

Give it a good mix until well combined.

Time for the spices. Whisk or mix in the garlic powder, onion powder, and apple cider. Give it a taste, then add in some salt and pepper.

Squeeze a bit of lemon juice in as well and mix that in. Give it another taste and add any additional spices and ingredients according to your taste.

TIP: If you really wanted to, you could just throw all of these ingredients in a food processor or blender and just blend them up.

Step 4: Serve up that ranch!

And there you go, homemade ranch dressing. There are several ingredients, fill free to leave some out, add more of one and less of another, etc. But I would start with the basic equal parts sour cream, mayo, and buttermilk.

Serve on salads, baked potatoes, dip fresh veggies in it, whatever you want to use the ranch for. Maybe you like dipping your chicken wings in it?

Enjoy!

How long does homemade ranch dressing last?

Store the ranch dressing in a container like a mason jar with a lid, or another air-tight container. Keep it in the fridge where it will last about 2 weeks.

Here are other recipes you may like:

Simple Salad

Ambrosia Salad

Air Fryer Smashed Potatoes

Air Fryer Mozzarella Sticks

Easy Cheese Ball

Do you like the recipe? Please give it a rating and comment down below, I really appreciate it. Save the Pin to Pinterest! If you make it tag me on Instagram @inthekitchenwithmatt. Also, sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss out on any of my new posts and recipes.

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