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Home » Recipes » Condiments, Sauce, Dips

The Best Homemade Ranch Dressing

Modified: Jul 24, 2024 · Published May 26, 2023 · by Jacqueline Piper · 2 Comments · This post may contain affiliate links. Read our privacy policy.

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Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.
Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle with fries and a bowl of dip in the foreground.
Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.
Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.

Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing | My easy creamy restaurant-style Ranch Dressing recipe is enough to make you crave extra salad every day of the week. You'll want to dress all of your salads and dip all of your vegetables in this delicious, thick, and creamy herby dressing. Takes only minutes to make!

Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.
Jump to:
  • What makes up the Ranch flavoring?
  • How do you make buttermilk ranch?
  • Ingredients
  • Substitutions
  • Instructions
  • Tips for making buttermilk ranch dressing
  • What to serve with Homemade Ranch Dressing
  • Storage
  • FAQs
  • Recipe

If you need a new favorite dressing for this summer, make it my easy Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. You'll want it every day, in a salad, a wrap, as a dip or by the spoonful.

Try dipping your next slice of pizza in it. Just try it. My favorite takeout combo at home. Or use this ranch dressing to make my chicken bacon ranch pasta salad!

Homemade dressings are among my favorite things to make - they are so easy. Just combine the ingredients and store it in the fridge until needed.

This dressing is super cute in a pretty glass jar, but do yourself a favor and store it as I do now - in a nice open-mouth jar, so you can get every single bit out.

What makes up the Ranch flavoring?

Ranch Dressing flavors are a combination of rich creamy fats like mayo and sour cream with herbs like parsley, chives, and dill in addition to garlic, onion, and black pepper.

How do you make buttermilk ranch?

Buttermilk ranch dressing is made by adding buttermilk to thin out the consistency of the dressing. In this recipe, I use a combination of milk and apple cider vinegar to make a homemade buttermilk. Buttermilk gives a tangy flavor to ranch dressing.

Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle with fries and a bowl of dip in the foreground.

Ingredients

See the recipe card for exact amounts.

  • sour cream + Greek yogurt: these ingredients bring a thickness and tang to the recipe and enable us to use less mayonnaise for a slightly healthier recipe.
  • mayo: this makes up the base of the dressing so use one that you like. Don't use miracle whip, it's different.
  • milk + apple cider vinegar: this pair essentially makes a homemade buttermilk. Feel free to omit both and use buttermilk instead.
  • dried herbs: parsley, dill, chives, garlic, and onion make up the delicious ranch flavor.

Substitutions

  • Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is thick. You can try regular yogurt but the dressing will be thinner. Use less or no milk in that case.
  • milk + apple cider vinegar: skip these and use buttermilk instead if you keep it on hand. Use as much as need to thin out the dressing to your preference. The recipe card lists up to ½ cup of milk.
  • fresh herbs: I have fresh herbs all the time but somehow I haven't tried them as a substitute in this recipe, although it should work great. Use double the amount of fresh herbs.

Instructions

Prep Tips

  • You only need a whisk and bowl for this recipe and a container with a lid to store it.

This is a simple measure and mix recipe - it's even better after a few hours in the fridge!

Adding sour cream to yogurt in a bowl.

Add the sour cream, yogurt, and mayo to a bowl.

Adding spices to yogurt, mayo, and sour cream in a bowl.

Add the parsley, chives, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Mixing spices with yogurt, sour cream, and mayo in a bowl.

Mix well, using a whisk if necessary.

Adding milk to other ranch dressing ingredients to thin it out.

Add the apple cider vinegar. Add the milk as needed, stirring constantly, to achieve the thickness you prefer.

A plate of fries with a bowl of ranch dressing.

Tips for making buttermilk ranch dressing

  • give it time to chill: once you mix the ingredients together, let it sit in the fridge for a few hours so the flavors can mingle together. It'll taste even better!
  • dried herbs: dried herbs are easier to keep on hand for a lot of people than fresh herbs. You can substitute fresh herbs in this recipe if you want to, just make sure to double the amounts listed on the recipe card. I haven't done this myself but it should work out great.
  • Greek yogurt: I use thick Greek yogurt in this recipe. If you use regular yogurt your dressing will be a bit thinner. You might need less milk in the dressing.
  • apple cider vinegar: using regular milk (or plant milk) mixed with apple cider vinegar creates a homemade buttermilk which adds a great tangy flavor to this recipe. You can omit both of these ingredients and use buttermilk instead.

What to serve with Homemade Ranch Dressing

Try this delicious homemade ranch dressing as a dip for recipes like my Cheeseburger Spring Rolls, Cauliflower Bites, or a Pizza Grilled Cheese.

If you like pizza dipped in ranch dressing, try my Corn and Poblano pizza with this dressing recipe.

Use this dressing in sandwiches or burgers like my Crispy Chicken Burgers, or Crispy Chicken Wraps. Or top a Taco Salad with this dressing.

Need more dip recipes? Try my Honey Dill sauce. Browse my Dip + Sauces category for more dip recipes.

Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle with fries and a bowl of dip in the foreground.

Storage

Store this recipe in the fridge in a container with a lid for about a week.

FAQs

Can I freeze this recipe?

No, you can't. Mayonnaise and sour cream don't freeze well. But this recipe lasts a week or longer in the fridge.

Recipe

Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.
5 from 5 votes

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Author : Jacqueline Piper
Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 16 tablespoons
Easy, creamy homemade Ranch Dressing with dried herbs and homemade buttermilk.
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Ingredients
 
 

  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream
  • ½ cup milk I use %1
  • ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1 ½ teaspoons dried dill
  • 1 teaspoon dried chives
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
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Instructions

  • Combine ingredients: Mix together the mayonnaise, yogurt, and sour cream. Whisk until smooth. Add the chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, and onion powder. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk until smooth
  • Adjust consistency: Add apple cider vinegar. Add the milk as needed, whisking constantly, until you reach the thickness you prefer. You may not need all of the liquid.
  • Store in a jar with a lid, in the refrigerator.

Video

Notes

This recipe yields about a cup of dressing, depending on how much milk you add.
Store the dressing in a container with a lid in the fridge for about a week.
Omit the milk and apple cider vinegar and use buttermilk instead.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 58kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 6g | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 1g

Nutritional information is an estimate. Values vary based on products used. Read our full Nutrition Disclaimer.

Have you tried this recipe?Tag @pipercooksblog on Instagram so we can see it!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you.

This post was originally posted on May 7, 2019.

Homemade ranch dressing in a tall glass bottle.

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A photo from the original blog post.

Homemade Ranch Dressing - PiperCooks

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Comments

    5 from 5 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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  1. Tammy says

    March 14, 2022 at 6:25 pm

    This is the best home made Ranch recipe I’ve tried! I omitted the milk because I wanted to use it as dip now but tomorrow I’ll add some milk and try it in a salad. It has a really nice fresh taste and not too heavy or oily. Homemade is always better in my opinion! Thanks for another great recipe Jacqueline!

    Reply
    • Jacqueline Piper says

      March 15, 2022 at 10:47 am

      I'm so happy to hear this, I love this recipe too. Thank you for commenting, I really appreciate it 🙂

      Jacqueline

      Reply
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