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Home » Lunch » Salad » Homemade Ranch Dressing

Homemade Ranch Dressing

Created: March 17, 2021 Updated: March 17, 2021 by lyuba 35 Comments

23.9K shares
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This ranch dressing is better than any store-bought one and will only take a couple of minutes to make. It’s a creamy combination of sour cream, buttermilk, some mayo, fresh dill, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, and cracked peppercorns. Enjoy this dressing on salads or as a dip!

If you love this classic dressing, try our other classics like Caesar Dressing, Italian Dressing, and Balsamic Vinaigrette.

syrup jar with handle filled with homemade buttermilk ranch on a wood table with a garden salad in a white bowl in background to the left and a brown cloth to the right

Ranch if by far, my family’s favorite dressing and I’m sure that’s true for most other people. It’s creamy and tangy with flavor that compliments just about anything. That’s why we always have a jar of homemade ranch dressing in the refrigerator.

What makes my version of this dressing special, in my opinion, is the fresh ingredients like fresh dill weed, fresh parsley, fresh garlic, and cracked peppercorns. Fresh ingredients make this dressing pop with bright and aromatic flavors.

Ranch dressing recipe can’t be any easier to make too. All you have to do is mince herbs, press garlic, and mix the ingredients together. You can prepare it in just 5 minutes when needed.

Another reason this homemade ranch dressing is perfect is how easy you can make it into a dip. All you have to do is use less buttermilk and the dressing will be thicker. It’s a great dip for a veggie tray, chicken tenders, or fries.

Ingredients for Homemade Ranch Dressing

buttermilk ranch dressing ingredients on a wooden cutting board
  • Sour cream – For the creamiest and richest dressing use regular full fat sour cream. If you have to make it lighter ranch, use light sour cream instead.
  • Mayonnaise – Stick with real mayo like Hellman’s and NOT spreads like Miracle Whip. The latter has added sugar and spices that will alter the overall flavor.
  • Buttermilk – use low fat, usually 1%, buttermilk.
  • Garlic – I always recommend using fresh garlic when possible. It really does taste better than jarred.
  • Worcestershire sauce – Don’t leave this out! Even the tiniest amount makes a huge difference in flavor.
  • Dill weed – This feathery herb packs a lot of flavor into its tiny leaves.
  • Parsley – Be sure to grab either curly or flat-leaf parsley, not the more ruffled Italian variety.
  • Peppercorns – Crack your peppercorns right into the dressing mixture for the most aromatic result. If you want to take it even a step further, you can toast your peppercorns. 

How To Make Ranch Dressing

Your first and hardest step in this recipe is to mince the herbs and press the garlic clove. After you do that, it’s a cake walk. Just whisk everything together until combined.

whisking buttermilk ranch dressing in a metal bowl

Pour the mixture into a spouted serving container for drizzling or transfer it to a glass jar with a lid.

Feel free to double the recipe to feed a larger crowd!

pouring homemade ranch dressing into a small glass pitcher

Tips For The Best Ranch Dressing

Since there isn’t really much to the preparation process, all the secrets lie in the ingredients.

  • Fresh herbs will be better than dried! The flavor will be much brighter and stronger with fresh herbs. Although, if you must use dried, use half the amount listed in the recipe.
  • Use fresh garlic! Yes, getting a jar of minced garlic or even pre-peeled garlic is much easier. But remember, jarred garlic has a pungent old taste and pre-peel garlic goes bad quite fast. So the flavor will be affected.
  • Peppercorns! Use a simple peppermill to crack peppercorns right when you need them.
  • Let it chill first. While you can certainly enjoy Ranch dressing right away, the flavors will continue to meld together the longer the mixture has to sit. Make a batch first thing in the morning or even the night before so it’s even better when you’re ready to eat!
  • Give it a quick whisk when using leftovers to blend ingredients back together.
  • Want to use it as a dip? Simply reduce the amount of buttermilk to create a thicker consistency. 
homemade buttermilk ranch being poured from jar onto garden salad

Storing Instructions:

If you’re making the dressing ahead of time or have leftovers, store homemade ranch dressing in the refrigerator. Pour it into a glass jar with an air-tight lid and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week.

view from above of syrup jar with handle filled with homemade buttermilk ranch on a wood table with a garden salad in a white bowl in background to the left and a brown cloth to the right

PIN THIS RECIPE FOR LATER

Homemade Ranch Dressing

This ranch dressing is better than any store-bought one and will only take a couple of minutes to make.
Print Pin SaveSaved! Rate
Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: dressing, ranch
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 8 (2 tbsp per serving. Makes little more than a cup)
Calories: 80kcal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup mayo
  • 1/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh dill weed
  • 1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
  • salt
  • fresh cracked peppercorns
US Customary – Metric

Instructions

  • Mince the herbs and press the garlic clove. Combine all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and blended.
  • Taste to see if you have enough salt. You can add it more zesty by adding more fresh cracked pepper too.
  • Pour the mixture into a spouted dressing jar or a gravy boat to serve right away or transfer it to a glass jar with a lid.

Storing:

  • Pour the dressing into a glass jar with an air-tight lid and keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 80kcal | Carbohydrates: 1g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 74mg | Potassium: 41mg | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 130IU | Vitamin C: 0.9mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @willcookforsmiles and tag #willcookforsmiles
titled photo collage (and shown): Homemade Ranch Dressing

LYUBA

ABOUT LYUBA

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read more...

23.9K shares

Filed Under: Dressing, Salad, Sauce Tagged With: dressing, homemade dressing, ranch

All images and text ©Lyubov Brooke for ©Will Cook For Smiles. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If using my posts in collections and features, please link back to this post for the recipe. Disclaimer: Nutrition information shown is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate as most ingredients and brands have variations.

Comments

  1. Gloria // Simply Gloria says

    February 7, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    Yep, you were right… I’m in heaven! I’m such a saucy kind of gal. So, I’m all about this homemade buttermilk(!) ranch.

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 7, 2014 at 6:56 pm

      I’m so glad you like it 🙂
      Thank you, Gloria!

      Reply
  2. Marisa Franca says

    February 8, 2014 at 6:46 am

    I agree with your take on fresh herbs –they take the recipe to another level. I can hardly stand bought dressings. There is something about them that sticks in my throat, especially the Italian dressing! My hubby likes the Honey Mustard but the ones I’ve tasted have not done anything for me. Like I mentioned in my blog, the first thing we do when we arrive in Florida for our three month say is to find fresh basil and rosemary. I would buy a few more but we then would have to worry about taking them home with us. I wouldn’t have the heart to just leave them to chance. Thank you for your sauces — I do plan on trying them and I’m sure as with your other recipes they will be delicious.

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:51 pm

      I find store-bought ones way too vinegary.
      Thank you, Marisa!

      Reply
  3. Jenna says

    February 8, 2014 at 8:55 am

    Thanks for this great collection Lyuba, I have been pinning away~

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:52 pm

      Thank you, Jenna!

      Reply
  4. Erin says

    February 8, 2014 at 10:18 am

    Hi Lyuba! Stopping by from Show Stopper Saturday, and defintely wanted to check out these dressings. I’ve been trying to get more in the habbit of making my own dressings instead of the bottled stuff. Homemade always tastes better, and you never know what’s in that bottled stuff. Thanks for a great collection!! ~Erin

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      Oh, it’s so much better, Erin! Thank you 🙂

      Reply
  5. Marion@Life Tastes Good says

    February 9, 2014 at 9:17 am

    Wow! There are so many I want to try!! Thanks for including me :o) pinning and sharing!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:56 pm

      Of course! Thank you, Marion!

      Reply
  6. Sarah Barker says

    February 11, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    I love homemade dressing, thank you so much for rounding up all these recipes in one place – can’t wait for “salad season” now!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:57 pm

      Thank you, Sarah!

      Reply
  7. Cathy@LemonTreeDwelling says

    February 13, 2014 at 9:52 am

    Yumm! I love homemade dressing…especially when it looks as tasty as this buttermilk ranch! Thanks for this great collection!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:58 pm

      Aww, thank you, Cathy!

      Reply
  8. Carol says

    February 15, 2014 at 8:59 am

    Wow, this is great! Thanks so much!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:58 pm

      Of course! Thank you, Carol!

      Reply
  9. Rattlebridge Farm says

    February 15, 2014 at 1:58 pm

    A fantastic collection of homemade recipes!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:59 pm

      Thank you, Michael!

      Reply
  10. kristi@ishouldbemoppingthefloor says

    February 15, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    Buttermilk Ranch is my favorite flavor of dressing!! This looks so good…where’s a big salad when you need one?

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 8:59 pm

      Right! Thank you, Kristi!

      Reply
  11. Laurie says

    February 16, 2014 at 1:10 pm

    This is a great collection of recipes.Thanks for linking up to Tip Me Tuesday linky party this week. {knuckle bumps}
    Did you know that I can “lend” your blog posts my Google page rank for better search engine traffic?
    {fabulous}
    If you upload at least 2 images, 2 steps, and blog post URL into your Tip Junkie craft room, you’ll be in business!
    {wink} ~ Laurie {a.k.a. the Tip Junkie}
    http://www.tipjunkie.com/post/how-to-add-a-craft-room-project-on-tip-junkie/

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 9:00 pm

      Thank you, Laurie 🙂

      Reply
  12. Trish - Mom On Timeout says

    February 16, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    I LOVE homemade dressing! All of these looks so yummy! Pinned and shared on FB 🙂

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 9:01 pm

      Thank you so much, Trish! Hope you are feeling better 😉

      Reply
  13. Kristen Duke says

    February 18, 2014 at 9:54 pm

    YUM!!! Homemade dressing is always so much better than store bought – can’t wait to try this out!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      February 19, 2014 at 9:01 pm

      It sure it, Kristen! Thank you!

      Reply
  14. Alena says

    June 13, 2014 at 10:28 pm

    I really want to try this!
    How much salt and peppercorn do you use for this recipe?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      June 15, 2014 at 4:34 pm

      Alena, salt and pepper is always to taste. I can’t really tell you how much because you have a different salt tolerance and may like things more or less salty. Add less that you like, taste it, add more as needed!
      I hope you enjoy it!!

      Reply
  15. Ellen says

    March 21, 2015 at 10:36 am

    the buttermilk ranch dressing was outstanding . I substituted fresh basil for the parsley and it was over the top. Thank you for sharing

    Reply
    • lyuba says

      March 24, 2015 at 8:57 pm

      Thank you so much, Ellen! Basil sounds great, I’ll have to do it next time 🙂

      Reply

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Well, hey there!

I’m Lyuba Brooke, mother of 2, the cook, recipe developer, photographer, and author behind willcookforsmiles.com. I share many classic and original recipes, cooking tips, and tutorials. My passion is sharing delicious meals for everyone to try. Read More.

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