Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
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This buttermilk ranch dressing is cool, creamy, and garlicky. Serve it over a green salad or use it as a dip for crudités or chips.
Gourmet is probably not the word that comes to mind when you think of buttermilk ranch dressing, but homemade is nothing like the mass-produced bottled stuff on the grocery store shelves. This buttermilk variation of my standard ranch dressing recipe is one of my go-to salad dressings. It’s cool, creamy, tangy, garlicky, and, honestly, good enough to eat straight with a spoon. Try the dressing over a crisp green salad or as a dip for crudités, potato chips, or baked chicken wings.
“Delicious. This takes just a few minutes to make with outstanding results. A+”
What You’ll Need To Make Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
- Sour Cream: Provides creaminess and tanginess to the dressing.
- Buttermilk: Adds a subtle tang and helps thin out the dressing to a pourable consistency.
- Mayonnaise: Contributes richness and helps bind the ingredients together.
- Garlic: Infuses the dressing with a bold, savory flavor.
- Salt and Pepper: Enhance the overall taste of the dressing.
- Dill: Adds a hint of herbal flavor and freshness.
- Fresh Chives: Offer a mild onion flavor and a pop of color.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Provides brightness and balances the richness of the other ingredients.
- Tabasco Sauce: Adds an optional touch of heat and extra flavor for those who enjoy a bit of spice.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
To make it, simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.
And whisk to blend.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely! It will keep well in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Keep in mind that the garlic flavor gets stronger the longer it sits, so you may want to cut back if you’re planning on making it in advance. Also, the dressing will thicken up to more of a dip consistency as it chills. If you’d like it to be pourable, let it sit on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes before using.
Sure, you can omit the mayo and increase the sour cream to 3/4 cup. Because the additional sour cream will add more tangy flavor, reduce the lemon juice to 1 teaspoon.
While I’m a big fan of making your own buttermilk for baked goods, when something relies more heavily on the buttermilk flavor and consistency, I suggest using store-bought.
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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
This buttermilk ranch dressing is cool, creamy, and garlicky. Serve it over a green salad or use it as a dip for crudités or chips.
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann's or Duke's
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (see note)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1½ teaspoons dried dill
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- Few dashes Tabasco sauce, optional
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Chill until ready to serve.
- Note: The dressing will keep well in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. The garlic flavor gets stronger the longer it sits, so you might want to cut back if you're planning on making it in advance. The dressing will thicken up to more of a dip consistency as it chills.
Nutrition Information
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- Serving size: 2 tablespoons
- Calories: 69
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 1g
- Sugar: 1g
- Fiber: 0g
- Protein: 1g
- Sodium: 113mg
- Cholesterol: 9mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
Gluten-Free Adaptable Note
To the best of my knowledge, all of the ingredients used in this recipe are gluten-free or widely available in gluten-free versions. There is hidden gluten in many foods; if you're following a gluten-free diet or cooking for someone with gluten allergies, always read the labels of your ingredients to verify that they are gluten-free.
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So fresh and tasty!!! I use a little less garlic and chives since I’ll use it over a few days.
The last batch used a blend of nonfat greek yogurt and sour cream (to feel slightly better about how much I consume on a daily basis) and it was still delicious.
My first instinct was to use fresh dill vs dried, but I do think that dried dill works better as a traditional ranch. Fresh dill competed with the salad.
This recipe does not call for the “Ranch Dressing” packet as an ingredient. Was it accidentally left off or is this really made without it? Thank you!
Correct, the salt, pepper, and herbs mimic what you’d find in the ranch dressing packet. Hope that clarifies!
Amazing and Herby!
I made this to dip your buttermilk chicken tenders in (I will make tonight) and I was not disappointed!
It was easy to make; I used fresh dill instead of dried as it was all I had on hand.
I’m something of a ranch snob (being from the South, we put it on everything) so trust me, you won’t regret making this!
My kids love ranch dressing and I have just never been a fan of any store bought version. I had been searching for the perfect recipe and decided to give this one a try since all of Jenn’s recipes never fail to amaze me. Wow! I honestly had thought of using fresh dill but since I had dried dill at home and usually like to test the recipe as is before tweaking, I went ahead and used dried. This did NOT disappoint and I think using fresh dill is not necessary, I will continue making this recipe as is. I’d also like to point out that as others have mentioned, I love that this recipe does not have a large amount of mayonnaise which I’ve disliked in other recipes. Do not change a thing in this recipe, I love how simple it is but bursting with flavor!
OMG! This is such a delicious and balanced salad dressing! All the proportions are just perfect and yet allow for a little adjusting (I didn’t have the optional tabasco but I added a few sprinkles of chipotle powder). So yummy and the lemon juice put it right over the top for my tastebuds. I POURED it over a small baked potato and pretty much licked the plate! I also love Jenn’s homemade Caesar Salad dressing. You can’t go wrong with these recipes!!
I’ve tried many homemade ranch recipes and this one was the most simple and delicious. It was so easy, that my daughter put it together on her own, with no supervision. My family loved it!
Great dressing. There’s a restaurant near me that makes a fabulous jalapeño ranch dressing so I tried to adapt this one and it turned out great. Added one jalapeño, minus the seeds and ribs, and one teaspoon of chili powder. Yum!
Best Ranch Dressing!! The first time I made it I substituted green onions for the chives because that’s what I had- it came out delicious both ways!! I made a batch for my daughter and she said it was so good, almost too good!! Thanks for the delicious recipe!!
Great dressing! I didn’t have chives so I added red onion in and it was still fabulous. Added fresh dill rather than dried as I love it.
Great dressing! I didn’t have chives app I added red onion in and it was still fabulous.
Greetings from Toronto,Canada
Super Yummy – if I call it “Buttermilk Ranch Soup” can I eat it out of a bowl 😉
The consistency for a dressing was perfect. If using as a vegetable dip I would like it to be a little thicker. Suggestions please.
Hi Melany, Glad you enjoyed! For a thick dip, replace the buttermilk with more sour cream. Hope that helps!