Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe

By Kemp Minifie

4.1

(27)

Active Time

20 minutes

Total Time

20 minutes

Homemade ranch dressing is unequivocally better than the store-bought stuff. There are countless recipes for it, but this version—made with buttermilk, fresh garlic, and a smattering of herbs—is the one we’ll always come back to.

Fresh, not dried, herbs are key for this recipe, adding bright, vibrant flavor and pretty flecks of green. Be sure to chop all the herbs very finely, particularly the fresh parsley, which can be tough and bitter when left in large pieces. The creamy condiment packs a punch thanks to another secret ingredient: dried mustard powder. The spice brings warmth and tangy depth to the dressing, complementing the acidic notes of the buttermilk.

This buttermilk ranch dressing recipe is flexible enough to adapt using the ingredients you have on hand. No chives in the fridge? Leave ’em out. Jar of mayo runneth dry? Substitute sour cream or Greek yogurt. Is that onion in your cabinet growing a suspicious green tail? Swap in onion powder. The one nonnegotiable ingredient is the dairy—but you can make a substitute for buttermilk by mixing regular milk with fresh lemon juice or white vinegar (let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken to the desired consistency).

This recipe for ranch dressing is easy for home cooks to pull off, requiring just 20 minutes in the kitchen. And a batch of it can be used in countless ways: Drizzle over lettuce as a ranch salad dressing, serve alongside chopped veggies on a crudités platter, or use as a dipping sauce for any number of foods (not a blue cheese fan? Dip your chicken wings in ranch). Goodbye, store-bought ranch. We won't miss you.

Makes about 1 cup

In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise and buttermilk. In a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic and onion with the fine sea salt to create a paste, or use a large heavy knife to mince and mash the garlic and onion with the salt into a paste. Add the garlic-onion paste and dry mustard to the buttermilk mixture and whisk well to combine. Add the chives, parsley, dill, and freshly ground black pepper and whisk well to combine. Season the dressing with additional fine sea salt.

Do Ahead: The dressing can be prepared ahead and refrigerated, in an airtight container, up to 1 week. Ready to move on to green goddess or an Italian vinaigrette? More salad dressing recipes, right this way →

How would you rate Ranch Dressing?

Leave a Review

So good!

Anonymous

1/5/2023

I’m among the cooks who was disappointed with this recipe. While I loved the fresh taste, it was too heavy on the onion and garlic for me (and I love both) and so watery that it did not cling to the vegetables in my salad. I read some reviews suggesting to thicken with ground saltines, but I try not to eat flour, so that won't work for me. I tried adding more mayo, powedered buttermilk and will let it settle overnight.

mfoarde

Saint Paul, MN

4/6/2019

They don't sell Ranch Dressing over here, so i have nothing to compare it to, but I absolutely love it! My relatives love it aswell and beg me to make it for them.

Mathanja

The Netherlands

4/5/2019

Well, I make dressings all the time and misplaced my favorite ranch dressing recipe. since I hadn't made ranch in a while I located this recipe and tried it. It is not impressive. The texture and consistency are off. Many others that have reviewed it have commented as well. Epicurious site has been changing through the years and I am not finding as many recipes with which I am happy. The advertising and popups are irritating distractions when you are searching for specific information. Unfortunately for Conde Nast, I no longer refer it as a favorite to my friends.

erminator

San Francisco, CA

1/2/2019

This is very similar to my mothers, the chives and the parsley make it with a 1/4+ of white pepper, adds a small amount of heat..

food sleuth

USA

10/13/2018

I couldn't find buttermilk so substituted plain greek yogurt, thinned out with a touch of milk, but kept it relatively thick consistency so didn't have the "too runny" problems that others had. I also put the garlic & onion through a garlic press, which was much easier than using a mortar & pestle. This dressing tastes even better if you let the flavours meld in the fridge overnight. Next time I'll cut back on the dill a bit - although it's delicious, it makes the dressing taste more like Dill than Ranch.

Anonymous

Toronto, Canada

8/8/2018

I read the reviews that othes left and decided just to substitute garlic powder and dried onions. I didn't have buttermilk, so I used a few tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, and I added about 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan. I did use fresh parsley, chives and dill. Now, I have to admit, it's been about 20 years since I've had ranch dressing, but this dressing I ended up with is very good. I've enjoyed 2 huges salads with it, and my husband used it as the sauce on his Buffalo Wing sandwich. Yum! (Pls note I'm being forced to rate before submitting my review, so I'm reviewing my version of the recipe with 3 forks. My apologies to those purists who think modified recipes shouldn't get a rating.)

Anonymous

Norfolk, MA, USA

6/3/2018

Made this recipe per my 11 year old's request. Omitted the onions;chives added enough spiciness!

syscooks

San Francisco

6/1/2017

The most important ingredient is missing from this recipe - saltine crackers. Without the pulverized saltines this dressing will never set up and thicken correctly. Don't even try to use anything else as a thickener. Take it from me, nothing else will work. And, frankly, dried herbs taste MUCH better in this than fresh. If you have any dehydrated onion & garlic flakes use them! They add so much more depth of flavor. Pulverize them along with the saltines. There's a time, place and purpose for everything. Do be careful with that dill. If you use the amount called for it will overpower everything else. This recipe took a lot of tweaking and a few tries to arrive at a satisfactory outcome. I finally came up with a ranch dressing that was even better than the packaged, but it took a total rewrite of this recipe.

worldbeat

Oakland, CA

8/16/2016

Some reviewers said it was too thin. The solution is to add powdered saltine crackers to the mix. I’ve made a version of this for years, after seeing a knock-off recipe for the Hidden Valley Ranch dry powder version.

dmasterman

Quinault, WA

8/15/2016

My children helped make this tonight. It turned out wonderfully. Making this in a Mason jar they could shake made it fun for them also.

JunkyardMermaid

Kelseyville, CA

6/22/2015

This was great, and much fresher tasting than the envelope version, even though I used only dried herbs, garlic and onion powder. Consistency was just right, in my opinion.

saralj

San Jose, CA

3/9/2015

I've always had super results from Epicurious, not so with this. As written, not so good, although I wanted to rate it a 2 or three with my changes, but was unable to do so. First, it was much too thin - altho' it did thicken somewhat overnight and FAR too much garlicky flavor - and I generally like and use garlic. Hated to waste it having used fresh herbs from my garden! What to do? I added some freshly grated parmigiano reggiano. I added some prev. made oil and vinegar dressing - olive oil and canola oil, red wine and balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, s & p. Great improvement. Oh, I also added a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

SusanOd

Santa Fe, NM

10/1/2014

Delicious and has a great texture!I used the Magic Bullet and just threw in all the ingredients and blended for 30 seconds. Viola!

sheriberry66

Phoenix, AZ

5/31/2014

Tastes too much like mayo and is very thin and liquidy :(

ecperng

San Francisco, CA

3/7/2014