Creamy and flavourful ranch salad dressing made using mayonnaise, greek yogurt, herbs and spices. This Homemade Ranch dressing is made without buttermilk, sour cream is so flavourful, fresh and herbaceous unlike store bought. Enjoy as dressing for your salads or dips for your vegetables.
Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe
I remember the first time I had ranch, it is at a friends house. She served it as a dip for fried chicken. The sauce tasted so different not like regular mayonnaise, tasted so balanced and fresh.
I asked her the recipe, she said that she used fresh cream, lemon juice, mayonnaise and bunch of herbs. She said it is her version of ranch. At home I recreated the dressing with different ingredients and finally found the perfect well balanced recipe for ranch dressing.
About Homemade Ranch Dressing
First of all, What is Ranch dressing? it is one of the most popular and loved salad dressing all over the world. Traditional recipe is made with a combination of sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk, garlic, onions and herbs.
Ranch dressing was created in the 1950s by Steve Henson. After retirement he and his wife opened the Hidden valley ranch and served this dressing to their customers which later turned into a popular salad dressing brand.
This is a versatile ingredient, you can use them as salad dressing, veggie dips or even spread for burgers and sandwiches.
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Now coming to my version of homemade ranch. I have swapped so many ingredients here and there to land upon this perfect recipe that is well balanced. In my opinion the combination of sour cream and mayonnaise is slightly heavy.
So I used greek yogurt instead which served as a creamy component yet makes it lighter, plus added protein. Since I used greek yogurt, I added lemon juice and milk for adjusting the consistency and taste.
One important tip is to be generous with garlic, herbs. I loved the combination of fresh dill, parsley or coriander leaves and freshly grated garlic. Even though I added garlic powder, I add a little fresh garlic for intense garlic flavour.
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The most important thing about ranch is the consistency. I am not a huge fan of the gloopy texture of the bottled ranch. So I prefer making it at home. I make my ranch slightly pourable consistency, so I can just pour over the vegetables or serve as a dip.
The best part of making ranch at home is you can taste and adjust as per your liking. This has become one of the most favorite dips because it is not overly acidic or sweet like other dressing. It is more fresh, bright and refreshing.
I enjoy it with some fresh vegetables or in this ranch chicken salad.
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise - You can use homemade mayonnaise or store bought mayonnaise for the dressing.
- Greek Yogurt - I used greek yogurt for added protein and lighter dressing. You can swap it for sour cream.
- Garlic - even though there is garlic powder, I prefer added minced garlic for a fresh taste.
- Herbs - freshly chopped herbs is important to make this dressing aromatic and refreshing. I used fresh dill, parsley in this dressing. You can add finely chopped chives.
- Lemon juice - I prefer freshly squeezed lemon juice in this dressing, you can use vinegar as well.
- Spices - garlic powder and onion powder are the only spices used.
- Seasonings - salt, sugar, pepper powder are the seasonings. Always taste and adjust it as per your liking.
Step by Step Pictures
1)Take greek yogurt and mayonnaise in a bowl.
2)Add in garlic powder, onion powder, fresh dill, coriander leaves, lemon juice, salt, pepper, sugar, freshly grated garlic into the mayo mixture.
3)Mix this really well. Now you can see the mixture is really thick.
4)We are going to adjust the consistency using milk. Add milk little at a time and mix well. The dressing should be pourable consistency.
5)You can taste the dressing and adjust sugar, salt and lemon juice.
6)When you dip a spoon into the dressing, it should have a slightly thin coating on the back side.
7)Draw a line, the line should stay intact. This is the right consistency.
8)You can use this Homemade ranch as salad dressing or as a dip for your vegetables.
Expert Tips
- You can use homemade mayo or store bought depending on your preference.
- Instead of greek yogurt, you can use sour cream and buttermilk.
- Finely chopped chives or green onions can be added into the dressing.
- Taste and adjust the salt, lemon, pepper and sugar depending on your taste.
- Depending on the dressing consistency, you can add more or less milk as needed.
Storage and Serving
Homemade ranch can be used as salad dressing or as a dip for your vegetables. You can store this in an air tight jar in fridge upto a week.
FAQ
Q: What can I use instead of greek yogurt?
You can use sour cream and buttermilk instead of greek yogurt.
Q: Can I make ranch without buttermilk?
Yes you can make ranch without buttermilk. Just follow this recipe, I used greek yogurt and milk in place of buttermilk.
Q: How long can I store homemade ranch dressing?
Homemade ranch can be stored in fridge for upto a week in an air tight container.
Q: I don't have fresh dill, Can I use dried dill?
Yes you can use dried dill weeds instead of fresh dill.
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Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe (No Buttermilk and Sour cream)
Ingredients
- ½ cup Mayonnaise
- ½ cup Greek Yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 2 cloves Garlic peeled and grated
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Dill finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Parsley (Coriander leaves) finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Salt to taste
- 1 teaspoon Sugar
- ½ teaspoon Black Pepper powder
- 2 tablespoon Lemon Juice to taste
- ¼ cup Milk or as needed
Instructions
- Take all ingredients in a bowl except milk. Mix really well until it is combined. The dressing will be thick at this point.
- Now add in required amount of milk to loosen the dressing. The dressing should be pourable texture. Now taste and adjust the dressing to your taste.
- You can store this dressing in fridge upto a week.
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