Homemade Ranch Dressing - Recipe Diaries (2024)

FAQs

How is ranch made from scratch? ›

Whisk mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl until well-combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.

Ranch normally has a pleasant smell, so if it develops any kind of foul odor, it's likely past its prime. If you can't determine its quality from its texture or smell, you can also taste the dressing to see if it still tastes high quality.

I use a mix of mayonnaise, sour cream, and a bit of buttermilk for some tang, plus garlic, and plenty of fresh herbs. I also like to add a dash of cayenne pepper for a kick, but you can add Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, or whatever you want.

As mentioned, if you don't have buttermilk, you can use kefir instead. Or, in a pinch, you can make your own homemade buttermilk substitute with regular milk and white vinegar. This is very easy to do: Combine 1 tablespoon of white vinegar (or lemon juice) with enough milk to make 1 cup.

Who Invented Ranch? Around 1950, Steve Henson unknowingly made history when he whipped up a unique mixture of dry herbs and buttermilk. Originally a plumber, Steve came up with the concoction while working briefly in Anchorage as a construction worker and part-time cook for his crew.

The reason it's so beloved is because it has a very particular aromatic flavor profile, which all comes down to the seasoning. Where the sauce typically differs is in its consistency.

Stored in a well-sealed container in the fridge (assuming you began with fresh sour cream and buttermilk) your buttermilk ranch dressing should keep for up to two weeks. Help it stay fresh by not dipping anything directly into the container that you're storing it in—for example, a half-bitten carrot.

Dorothy Lynch says a bacteria in their product is causing the dressing to foam, leading to possible explosions of the bottle. This bacteria is found in multiple food products including yogurt and probiotics and can sometimes cause gas bubbles to build up inside of bottles.

“Eating expired ranch dressing could lead to foodborne illnesses, especially if the ranch has been improperly stored,” she says. It's important to discard this dressing if it's past its expiration date or if you notice changes in its smell, color, or consistency, Randhawa says.

Even when a restaurant does start with premade ranch, they will often fold in extra fresh herbs, and maybe even more buttermilk, to lighten and bring in some brighter flavors that can be lost in shelf-stable bottling.

Why is restaurant ranch so creamy? ›

When considering why meals taste so much better in restaurants than when prepared at home, the answer is usually lots of butter. However, when it comes to ranch dressing, there's another creamy ingredient that steals the show — buttermilk.

The slightly sweet hint of green onion combined with mayonnaise and buttermilk give this classic recipe its fresh, signature taste.

For that matter, neither home-soured nor commercially soured milk is “real” buttermilk. As Sandor Katz explains in The Art of Fermentation, true buttermilk is a by-product of the butter-making process.

The question was what to substitute for buttermilk in a recipe. Sweetened condensed milk will not work. You can, however, use sour milk. You can make this yourself by adding about 1 tsp (5 ml). to a cup of milk.

Ranch dressing is a savory, creamy American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, mustard, herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), and spices (commonly pepper, paprika and ground mustard seed) mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion.

Scratch ranch relies on fresh herbs and aromatics, which bring bite and those pops of grassy flavor that dried or powdered versions never can, so you get an eating experience that is elevated. Usually, ranch recipes will contain fresh buttermilk, and sometimes sour cream as well, for a tang that is really balanced.

Ranch dressing is essentially a buttermilk mayonnaise dressing spiffed up with herbs. It was popularized by Clorox, when they figured out a way to make their Hidden Valley brand shelf stable. (According to Slate, bottled ranch dressing is shelf stable to 150 days or about 5 months.

"Titanium dioxide, an ingredient often used in body care items, especially sunscreen and face lotions, helps provide the white color in ranch dressing," says Jones.