Homemade ranch dressing

So, as you may or may not know, I lived for a few years in Sydney, Australia. In Australia, ranch dressing is not really a “thing”, so ranch dressing is pretty much impossible to find. I know American friends who would pack ranch dressing seasoning packets in their suitcase each time they returned to Australia because they couldn’t imagine life without it.

Luckily, ranch dressing isn’t difficult to make from scratch, so on those occasions when I really wanted ranch dressing, I’d whip up a batch myself. I remember one time in Sydney, I was helping Mitcher prepare for a work party we were hosting at our apartment’s rooftop balcony, and I whipped up a ranch dressing on a whim. We served it alongside some veggies, and you would not believe the number of comments I got from his coworkers, telling me how good it was, and asking me how they could make it.

When I make homemade ranch, I quickly whip it up: a foundation of mayonnaise and sour cream, mixed in with fresh garlic, dill, salt, pepper, and whatever other fresh herbs I had lying around. But since I never actually wrote down my recipe, I recently thought I’d try an ‘official’ recipe that I had been wanting to try: Ree Drummond’s recipe for homemade ranch.

Click here for the recipe: Pioneer Woman’s homemade ranch dressing recipe

This recipe is awesome, and is unique because it has worcestershire sauce in it, which I thought was interesting. So read on to see the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for homemade ranch:

Homemade ranch dressing

Ingredients

• 1 clove garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup real mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves, minced**
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Dash hot sauce

**Note: Fresh parsley is not my favorite flavor, so I only put about 2 T of minced parsley in when I made it. Instead, I upped the dill and chives a bit.

Directions

1. Mince the garlic clove and then sprinkle the kosher salt over the minced pieces and mash it into a paste. To do this, use the back of the knife and drag it along the cutting board. The salt acts as an friction anchor that allows you to get a good ‘grip’ on the minced garlic and really squeeze it into a paste.
2. In a large bowl, combine the garlic paste with the remaining ingredients (except for the buttermilk) and mix. Add the buttermilk in increments and mix to combine, to get it to reach your desired consistency. Taste it and adjust your seasonings to suit your preferences. Chill before serving.

The finished product: a quick and easy veggie dip or salad dressing

I made this recipe for a get-together at my house recently, and I served it as a veggie dip. For a dip, you want it to be a bit thicker, so you use less buttermilk in these instances. If you want it a bit thinner, like as a salad dressing, all you do is add more buttermilk so it becomes more runny.

This ranch dressing will be so much better than your bottled ranch. Even though I’m back in the US, I still don’t buy bottled ranch, simply because I don’t need to! There’s something about the fresh herbs and the raw garlic that the bottled version just can’t mimic.

So, if you feel like impressing some non-Americans, or just feel like making a dish all of your friends will enjoy, give this homemade ranch dressing a try!