Homemade Ranch Dressing

This Homemade Ranch Dressing recipe is the BEST ever! It’s as simple as combining the ingredients (you only need 3!,) chilling and serving!

Glass jar of Ranch dressing


 

You just can’t beat homemade salad dressing, and this Homemade Ranch Dressing is one of the best! Simple ingredients and quick to make.

I am a person of honesty, so let’s start off by saying that I’ve never been a huge fan of ranch dressing. GASP. But when I don’t care for something I can typically make it at home from scratch and learn to like it. Such is the case with homemade ranch dressing.

I love the flavors of dry ranch seasoning mixed into other things. Potatoes. Fries. Chicken. Seafood. It is all good!

A bowl of dry spices

Have you ever read the store bought ranch dressing mix ingredients? Let me enlighten you: maltodextrin, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, calcium stearate.

Don’t have those ingredients in your pantry? Why don’t you check out my recipe for ranch mix and then making ranch dressing at home…

ranch dressing ingredients in a food processor

What is in my homemade ranch dressing?

  • dry powdered buttermilk
  • dried parsley flakes
  • dried dill
  • garlic powder
  • onion powder
  • dried onion flakes
  • ground black pepper
  • dried chives
  • fine sea salt
  • milk
  • mayonnaise

You are probably familiar with all of the ingredients in this homemade ranch dressing with the exception of maybe one: dry powdered buttermilk.

close up of homemade ranch dressing ingredients

Dry powdered buttermilk is just like any other dry powdered milk. It is made from actual buttermilk, which is the liquid left behind after churning to milk butter, but fermented so it is a little funky.

But then dehydrated so it has a much longer shelf life. Let’s be honest, I don’t use that much buttermilk. Maybe here and there for fried chickenpancakes and waffles, but not on the regular.

homemade ranch dressing with a salad

So keeping a canister of buttermilk powder in the pantry is my solution for a last minute breakfast or easy homemade ranch dressing.

All of these ingredients I can pronounce and I feel good about feeding to my family. My 2-year old daughter refers to ranch dressing simply as “dip” and won’t eat carrots without it.

close up of salad dressings in a glass jar

Questions about how to make the BEST Homemade Ranch Dressing:

What can I use Ranch Dressing on?

I have one friend who is a self proclaimed ranch fanatic who would tell you there isn’t anything that ranch dressing shouldn’t go on. But the most common uses are:

Ranch dressing pouring over fresh salad

What is the history of ranch dressing?

Ranch dressing was created by Steve Henson as his signature buttermilk dressing. He made it for friends and family until later in life he purchased a ranch with his wife, Gayle.

They started calling it the dressing of the Ranch and then mass marketed. Hidden Valley Ranch is the name of their ranch and the rest is history.

How do I store ranch dressing from scratch?

It is stored best in an airtight container- either plastic or a mason jar with a tight lid. Since it is homemade and doesn’t have any preservatives other than salt, a natural preservative, it only last about a week.

You can make a large batch of the dry ranch seasoning and then make fresh dressing every night though. I doubt it will last a whole week since it is so good!

Homemade Ranch Dressing for Pinterest

If you’re a ranch fanatic too, check out these other ranch recipes:

Tools for making homemade ranch dressing:

Mini Food Processor– I use this thing daily! It is by far my most used kitchen appliance, it is small and I throw all the parts into the dishwasher, well except the base and cord, of course!

I love it for salad dressings so they are equally blended with no chunks of herbs and spices. Unless you are into that sort of thing, which is fine too.

Measuring Utensils– While I like to eyeball it, most folks prefer to measure. Suit yourself ?

Whisks– I buy whisks in multiple sizes. You never know which one you will need. If you don’t have a food processor, I recommend using a whisk.

Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe
close up of salad dressings in a glass jar

Homemade Ranch Dressing

5 from 8 votes
You just can't beat homemade salad dressing, and this Homemade Ranch Dressing is one of the best! Simple ingredients and quick to make.
Prep Time: 2 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 7 minutes
Servings: 8

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Combine all three ingredients in a bowl and whisk or in a small food processor. Mix until combined.
  • Cover and chill for 30 minutes for best results.
  • If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!

Nutrition

Calories: 209 kcal, Carbohydrates: 2 g, Protein: 1 g, Fat: 22 g, Saturated Fat: 4 g, Cholesterol: 15 mg, Sodium: 191 mg, Potassium: 46 mg, Sugar: 2 g, Vitamin A: 68 IU, Calcium: 37 mg, Iron: 1 mg
Author: Jessica Formicola
Calories: 209
Course: Sauce
Cuisine: American
Keyword: homemade salad dressing, ranch salad dressing
Did you make this recipe?I’d love to see your recipes – snap a picture and mention @savoryexperiments or tag #savoryexperiments!
Jessica Formicola in her ktichen

About the Author

Chef Jessica Anne Formicola

Jessica the mom, wife and chef behind Savory Experiments. You might see her on the Emmy- nominated TV show Plate It! or on bookshelves as a cookbook author. Jessica is a Le Cordon Bleu certified recipe developer and regularly contributed to Parade, Better Homes & Gardens, The Daily Meal, Mashed and more!

Read More About Jessica

5 from 8 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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Questions and Reviews

    1. Thanks for catching that! The link wasn’t working, you can click through to our recipe that includes the dry ingredients or buy the dry seasoning mix at the store.

  1. On your recipe for the ranch seasoning mix you include a recipe for ranch dressing that only has 1/2 a cup
    of whole milk and 1/2 a cup of mayonnaise with two tablespoons of the seasoning mix. Here you say to use 1 cup of whole milk and 1 cup of mayonnaise with two tablespoons of the seasoning mix. Which version do I use?

  2. 5 stars
    I just love Ranch dressing at restaurants that make their own in house. Now I can make this at my house! Thank you for the recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    This dressing certainly looks amazing. The consistency is perfect – just the way I prefer mine to be. Excited to see if it tastes any different 🙂

  4. 5 stars
    If you say it is the best recipe ever, then there is no way I can miss it 🙂 I can see so many great dishes I can use this dressing with!

  5. 5 stars
    This recipe looks awesome. I love homemade dressing and cannot wait to give your version of the ranch dressing a whirl. I love that you know exactly what ingredients you’ll be putting on your salad. Plus no preservatives id HUGE with me.