Ranch Dressing

I saw on the news that World Cup tourists were getting busted at airports trying to sneak bottles of Ranch Dressing out of the States. There’s no need to smuggle! It’s easy to make and homemade is a gazillion times better – here’s the recipe!

Ranch Dressing

This is not some tale I’m making up. I really did see on the news that World Cup fans were getting stopped by airport security with gallons of ranch dressing in their carry-on. It became such a problem that the Transport Security Administration issued an official warning, reminding travellers to pack it in checked luggage or risk confiscation!

I do get it though. It’s good stuff! For those unfamiliar, Ranch is a wildly popular American creamy dressing made with buttermilk, mayonnaise, garlic, onion and herbs. Tangy, creamy, herby and a little bit savoury from dried onion and garlic, it’s used as a salad dressing, dip for vegetables, with wings, chips, pizza… basically, Americans put ranch on everything, and once you’ve tried it, you’ll understand why.

As you’d expect, it dominates the bottled dressing aisle but honestly, homemade is SO much better because you can really taste the herbs!

Ingredients in Ranch Dressing

Here’s what you need to make this. To make a really good one, get fresh parsley and chives, But for everyday home purposes, dried herbs does the job nicely!

• Buttermilk – This thins the dressing to the right consistency while adding the signature tang of Ranch. It also makes the dressing lighter and fresher than using just mayonnaise and sour cream. If you’d rather not buy a whole carton just for this recipe (though having buttermilk on hand is the perfect excuse to make Choc Chip or Blueberry Muffins!), it can be substituted with a 1:2 mixture of yogurt and milk which is just about the same thickness and very similar in flavour too.

• Sour cream and mayonnaise – I like to use a combination of both rather than only mayonnaise which I find too rich and greasy. Full-fat is recommended for best flavour (well actually, homemade will be the absolute best!), especially the mayonnaise as low-fat mayo tends to be sweeter, I find, which will alter the flavour of the dressing. If you prefer a version without mayonnaise, see my Mayo-free Yogurt Ranch Dressing (it’s very good!).

• Fresh parsley and chives – I fiddled with various combinations of dried versus fresh herbs, and these are the two fresh herbs I like to use. Dill was the other one I played with, but I prefer the earthiness that dried rather than fresh dill brings to the dressing.

• Dried herbs – The onion and garlic powder adds a savouriness to the dressing that makes it distinctly Ranch Dressing, while dill is a classic her used in Ranch. The dried dill can be substituted with fresh, but I really urge you to stick with powdered garlic and onion for this dressing, using fresh is just not the same!

• Apple cider vinegar – The tiniest smidge (just 1 teaspoon), to add a hint of tang into the dressing. You can substitute with lemon juice or any other clear vinegar, we use so little it doesn’t really matter.

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How to make Ranch Dressing

The making part just requires mixing everything together. The texture should be thin enough to pour (photo at top), but thick enough so it clings to anything you dunk in it (see potato wedges dunk shot below).

Then it really benefits from being aside for at least 2 hours to let all the flavours meld, before using. It is fine to use straight away, but what you’ll find is that you can taste all the ingredients separately whereas if you let it rest for a while, the flavours all sort of mingle together to become one.

It’s worth it!

As someone who saves creamy mayo-based dressings for when they’re “worth it” – I promise, Ranch is worth it! It is a Dressing that makes people want a giant serving of salad, with just enough mayo to taste indulgent though it’s actually mostly lower-calorie buttermilk and sour cream. Some recipes use double the mayo, but to me that pushes it into potato salad territory and away from (virtuous! wellness queen! Oh-we-glow!) leafy salads.

So load up your trolleys with leafy greens – you’re going to want to eat it all with this tasty dressing!! – Nagi x

PS No recipe video today, because it’s one of those simple quick-flick recipes. 🙂

More Salad Dressings that will make you want to eat your greens!

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Life of Jaffle

I am 99% sure I very recently commented how well behaved Mr Jaffle has been lately.

I take it back.

I also have to acknowledge the Instagram community who immediately jumped to his defence when I shared those photos – everything from “It wasn’t him” and “Clearly the flip flops exploded” to “The flip flops had it coming” and “He was framed!” 😆