Homemade Ranch Dressing
This Homemade Ranch Dressing is the best tasting dressing! Buttermilk, mayonnaise, sour cream and the perfect blend of seasonings and garlic!
A CREAMY HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING RECIPE
I just love a good salad. Crispy green lettuce. Red ripe tomatoes. Fresh cucumbers and crunchy croutons. And if you’re making a salad a meal, why not top it off with something special? Now, I got no bones against bottled dressing. I use it all the time and y’all have seen it make an appearance a couple times on the blog here. It is actually pretty easy to make your own salad dressing if you have a few basic ingredients on hand. And the taste is really something special!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Simple ingredients of real mayonnaise, real buttermilk and sour cream along with garlic, dill, parsley, onion powder, salt and pepper.
Most restaurants/steakhouses make their ranch dressing from scratch. It is so easy to make homemade ranch dressing and the fresh ingredients make all the difference. Only real, full fat ingredients should be used – no substitutions. Real buttermilk (not the fake kind that is made with combining milk with lemon juice and/or vinegar).
It can be depending on how often you eat ranch dressing. If you don’t expect to eat it very often then it is probably cheaper to buy the bottled stuff (it just won’t taste as good!)
The full fat, fresh ingredients along with freshly minced garlic (very important!) along with the dill, parsley and onion powder. Freshly grated onion can also be used.
No. Ranch seasoning is strictly a powdered seasoning. I have a recipe for ranch seasoning here. Ranch dressing is the prepared ranch salad dressing which is basically the dry seasoning combined with mayonnaise, sour cream and buttermilk.
Homemade ranch dressing doesn’t have any added preservatives so it will usually last about 2 weeks in your refrigerator.
INGREDIENTS NEEDED: (FULL RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST)
- mayonnaise
- buttermilk
- sour cream
- garlic
- dried dill
- dried parsley
- onion powder
- salt and pepper
HOW TO MAKE HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING:
In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
You want to make sure you really mince your garlic. I have a garlic press so I used that but if you are chopping it up by hand, get it as finely minced as you can. The fresh garlic adds a ton of flavor to this dressing.
Store in a jar or bowl with a lid in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. I think it gets even better tasting after it’s been in the refrigerator for at least a day. It really helps the flavors come together.
CRAVING MORE RECIPES?
- Comeback Sauce
- Homemade Tartar Sauce
- Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce
- Homemade Virginia White Sauce
- Homemade Chimichurri
- Homemade Marinara Sauce
- Homemade Pizza Sauce
- Homemade Ketchup
- Homemade Honey Mustard
- Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing (no anchovies)
- Alabama White Sauce
- Quick Sauerkraut
- Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix
Originally published: March 2012
Updated photos and republished: January 2022
Homemade Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon dried dill (or 1 Tablespoon fresh dill)
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1 Tablespoon fresh parsley)
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together all the ingredients.
- Store in a jar(s) or bowl with a lid in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
- This dressing will thicken up slightly as it sits in the fridge.
Video
Notes
- If you want a thicker dressing, to use more for dipping, try substituting sour cream or plain yogurt for the buttermilk.
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
“The Country Cook” is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories and other nutritional values can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Is this a thin dressing? I am soooo tired of ranch dressing that won’t pour? I don’t want dip, I want dressing.
Hi Lisa – it is a thin dressing. However, it can thicken up as it sits overnight in the fridge. But you can always thin it out by adding a touch of milk to it and shake it up. 🙂
Ive tried so many ranch dressings. Your recipe is IT! Used milk with a 1/2 tsp vinegqr for the buttermilk and fresh parsley. The consistency is perfect the taste amazing. Thank you!
going to make it now looks wonderful love love ranch dressing
I am so glad I came across your website. It’s not even breakfast time yet and my mouth is already drooling! What is your favorite brand of bottled dressing IF you HAD to use it when homemade wasn’t an option… based on your taste preferences for this dressing I am super curious! Especially for Ranch, Italian, and Greek, plus any others you’d like to share! Thanks!!
Hi Tina! That is a tough one! I am always tasting and trying new dressings to see which store-bought ones I like. I think I’ve tried everything under the sun! LOL. I like Marie’s and Marzetti salad dressings (especially for Ranch.) I think they are at the higher end of the price scale though. Marie’s has a good Creamy Caesar dressing too. As for Italian, I like the Ken’s Northern Italian for a light dressing and their regular Italian is good too. Newman’s Own is a decent one as well. I think Ken’s Greek Salad Dressing isn’t too shabby either. Hope that helps!! I put links above just so you can see what the bottle looks like (the Marie’s and Marzetti brands will be in the cold section of the produce dept.)
Thanks so much for the recipe! We are having hot wings and I didn't have any ranch. I was able to use the last of my homemade mayo. I didn't know it was so easy to make ranch.
Have a quick question, I can't have mayo, I'm allergic to eggs. Is there anything else I can do to make this..I luv salad, but dressings are a tricky thing !!!
to Debbie Timmons. I use tony chachere's Creole seasoning. all the right ingredients already added. use it on everything!
Hi, can you please let me know how long you can keep this dressing for in a sealed glass container.
LOVE your recipes.
This of this is SO good! It seems to get thicker the longer it sits in the fridge. Also, buttermilk varies in thickness. It doesn’t matter to me though – this is THE BEST RECIPE!
I swear you have the luckiest family in the world, all this awesome food you make them! lol. We love ranch dressing, I'll be sure to try this!
I made this yesterday! Easy and delicious. Wonderful!
Yum! Thank you. 🙂
Oooo. Heyyy. I like this recipe. Just found your site. Gonna cruise around the place a bit.
I have made this dressing 3 times now since pinning it a couple months ago. It is the best homemade dressing I've ever tasted!! I used to use HVR buttermilk recipe pouches but they contain MSG, so I quit. We have a chain of pizza buffet/arcade restaurants where I'm from originally, Mr. Gatti's. They have the all time best ranch dressing ever n I have never found a recipe that came even close to theirs til this n I love it! Thanks so much for posting this blog! P.S. I have used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream n sour milk (1c milk:1T lemon juice or vinegar) in this recipe as well n it's just as good n less calories n more protein. I also used almond milk last time n couldn't taste a difference. So good!
One of the best ranch recipes I've made from Pinterest so far.
Instead of mincing garlic, I use a grater and grate it. Much smaller pieces. Garlic powder would work with this also.
Or try it with mincing the garlic by hand or in a manual food chopper. Using garlic that has been pressed thru a garlic press will give you a stronger garlic flavor over hand minced because you are also pressing the juices out. By hand mincing, you get a milder garlic flavor because you are keeping the juices inside each of the tiny pieces instead of "losing" the juice into whatever it is you're making. Depending on my mood/energy level, I'll either mince by hand with a chopping knife or use my Zyliss food chopper if I want the milder flavor.
This was perfection! No changes needed!
Can't buy ranch dressing in Australia (at least where I live) — I'm so glad to see your recipe!
There's nothing better than having a big old mason jar filled with homemade dressing in the fridge! Looks wonderful.
I can no longer tolerate lettuce, even spinach and romaine lettuce now bothers me, but I am of the OPINION that Ranch Dressing should be a FOOD GROUP!!!
This looks great- have been looking for a good homemade version to try.
Followed recipe exactly – this was FABULOUS!!
Love it. We LOVE salads (yours looks amazing) and I always make my own dressings. This was ridiculously good!!
Followed this recipe – it was SO good!! OMG!
Brandie, thank you so much for sharing this recipe! You even answered my question about using sour cream or yogurt! Blessings from Bama!