Buttermilk ranch dressing acts as a salad dressing for fresh greens or as a dip for anything from carrots to chicken wings to pizza.
If you have 10 minutes and a few ingredients on hand, then you can make the best homemade buttermilk ranch dressing recipe. It will take you longer to run to the store to buy a bottled version than making your own.
How To Make Our Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Mix the mayonnaise and buttermilk together with a fork or a whisk.
Add the dry herbs and spices; kosher salt, garlic powder, dry mustard, onion powder and a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Mix well.
Clean, dry and mince fresh flat leaf parsley and chives. Add to buttermilk ranch dressing recipe and mix well.
You’re done! Use immediately or chill for 2 hours to let the flavors meld and the dressing thicken. Will last in the refrigerator covered, for up to a week.
What To Serve With Our Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Vegetables – raw or cooked. We love baby carrots with the buttermilk ranch dressing recipe. You may want to reduce the amount of buttermilk so that the dressing is thicker and more like a dip.
Other raw vegetables like broccoli, edamame, cauliflower, large more rustic carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, radishes, bell peppers, endive or radicchio.
Cooked vegetables get a kick from buttermilk ranch dressing too. How about cooked asparagus, green beans, broccolini, potatoes or parsnips? Just drizzle on after cooking the vegetables, just before serving.
Chicken wings of course! With some celery sticks too.
Hamburgers, a dip for fries, pizza slices, potato chips. I don’t know, what isn’t good with a little ranch?
Is There A Difference Between Buttermilk Ranch Dip & Dressing?
Just the amount of buttermilk. Keep adding more buttermilk until you get the consistency that you like. Thicker, less buttermilk, for dips. Thinner, more buttermilk for dressings.
Remember that the buttermilk ranch dressing recipe will thicken the longer it’s in the refrigerator.
Substitution Ingredients For Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Mayonnaise – Substitute with equal amount of sour cream. Or use half mayonnaise and half sour cream.
Buttermilk – you really need buttermilk to add the classic tanginess of ranch. If you only have regular milk then see our quick homemade buttermilk recipe. If you have milk and either a lemon or vinegar then you’re good to go.
Kosher salt – you can substitute table salt by reducing the amount of salt to ¼ teaspoon.
Garlic Powder – you can substitute fresh garlic by grating 1 small clove of garlic.
Onion Powder – grate or finely mince 1 Tablespoon onion
Fresh flat leaf parsley – If you have fresh parsley it’s a great flavor and texture enhancer. But if you only have dried replace with 4 teaspoons dried parsley.
Fresh chives – replace with 4 teaspoons dried. But like the parsley, I really think it’s best to use fresh when it comes to the parsley and chives.
Other On-The-Go-Bites Recipes You May Like
Buffalo chicken sliders with ranch dressing
Chicken tenders with Parmesan cheese
Why Is Ranch Dressing Called Ranch Dressing?
There are all kinds of stories out there as to why Ranch dressing is called ranch dressing. I favor the story that came from Hidden Valley Ranch. Maybe because that’s what I remember growing up.
Ken Henson perfected a buttermilk salad dressing when he was working in Alaska and cooking for fellow workers. He and his wife, Gayle, moved south and bought a dude ranch called Hidden Valley Ranch near Santa Barbara California.
The ranch had a hard time making ends meet, but the buttermilk ranch dressing that Ken had perfected in Alaska was a smashing success at the ranch and ultimately with consumers nationwide. The Henson’s made and sold a buttermilk ranch dressing dry packet that consumers had to add buttermilk to.
They sold the business for $8 million to Clorox who popularized the dry mix as well as created a shelf stable, bottled buttermilk ranch dressing recipe that many of us are familiar with today.
With all due respect, I prefer our homemade version that is fresher and cleaner tasting. But I’ll also admit that there are times I’ll buy bottled dressings, don’t we all?
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Our buttermilk ranch dressing recipe can be used as a salad dressing or as a dip for fresh or cooked vegetables.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup buttermilk 3/4 cup for dressing
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley minced
- 2 Tablesoons fresh chives minced
Instructions
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Mix mayonnaise and buttermilk. Add kosher salt, garlic powder, dry mustard, onion powder and a few grinds of fresh black pepper, mix well. Add parsley and chives, mix well.
You can serve right away. If you have time let the ranch dressing sit for a couple of hours or overnight to let the flavors meld.
Store covered in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Recipe Notes
Ingredient Substitutions:
Mayonnaise – replace with sour cream
Fresh herbs – replace with 1 teaspoon dried
Buttermilk – see 10 minute recipe for homemade buttermilk
See post for other ingredient substitutions
Serve with: raw vegetables as a dip, over cooked vegetables as a dressing, over a fresh green salad, use as a dip for potato chips, fries or pizza. See post for other suggestions.
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