Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing
This easy ranch dressing is the best you'll ever try and the best part is you can use it as a base dressing for more flavors. Blue cheese ranch, jalapeno ranch, dill ranch etc.
Equipment
- 1 medium bowl
- 1 whisk
- 1 small jar with lid
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk or regular milk, soured
- ½ cup mayonnaise not salad dressing
- 1 clove fresh garlic minced
- 1-2 Tbsp vinegar white
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅛ tsp pepper feel free to eyeball it for fresh ground 3 turns or so
- ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 T worcestershire *omit if making vegetarian dressing
- 2 dashes hot sauce Optional
- 2 Tbsp Fresh herbs of your choice (dill, parsley, chives) Freeze dried herbs work well (Lighthouse Brand is one that I find near me).
- Optional flavorings such as Jalapenos, blue cheese etc.
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk with a whisk.
- if you do not have buttermilk, add 1 Tbsp vinegar to 1/2 cup milk and let it sit for a few minutes, then use as buttermilk.
- Add the minced garlic, seasonings and herbs of your choice stir.
- Add in the vinegar, stir or whisk to combine.
- Pour the dressing into a jar and chill in the refrigerator until you need it.
Notes
I use this ranch as a base for many other Ranch style dressings.
Before adding the herbs (but after all seasonings), choose the herb you want to highlight and just use that one herb.
I often make Dill Ranch by just using dill and not the parsley or chives.
If you like a spicy ranch, then I would suggest Jalapeno ranch. When I make this one I scorch the jalapeno peppers over the flame on my gas cooktop. When they are black and soft I put them in a ziplock bag for about 15 minutes to sweat, then wipe off the black skin and chop the peppers into a fine dice (removing seeds if you don't want super spicy dressing), then add the diced peppers to your ranch base.
The dressing will last up to a week in the refrigerator and doubles easily if you find you go through it fast (which is what happens in my house).