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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Have made several times. I love garlic- but agree that if made in advance sometimes my enthusiasm for adding a lot of garlic overpowers the dressing. I have found that if I pour off a bit ( to save for later) and add more mayo and sour cream , the flavors are still delicious and more mellow. This recipe is requested by many! Also- favorite salad to accompany: variety of lettuces, including endive, romaine, or just the good organic lettuce blend in the clamshell; celery sliced very thinly; frozen baby peas defrosted; nitrate free bacon cooked and chopped; grape tomatoes sliced in halves; maybe some chopped chives in the salad. Serve w blue cheese crumbles on the side. Thanks Jen for an AMAZING recipe for an easy and delicious salad dressing!
Absolutely delicious! I substituted fresh garlic with garlic powder and fresh chives with dried.
By far THE best recipe, ever. I’ve made many versions. Agree on go lighter on garlic if you plan to use over a few days. I made my own buttermilk since I didn’t have any. I also cut up green onion/scallion, chive like, because I didn’t have chives. Just plain deliciousness!
I love, love, love this dressing.
This was so easy to make and has none of the hateful 8 oils. As an added bonus it tastes far better than anything you will ever buy in the store.
Simple yet excellent recipe! My advice is to make it the day before. It allows all the flavors to come alive! Amazing recipe and I found it easily ? just had to hit recipe at the top of the page ?
Can I use jarred minced garlic instead of fresh? I know the equivalent (1/2 tsp is one clove).
And could I replace fresh chines with freeze dried ones ?
Sure, Sharon, you can get away with both of those tweaks. Enjoy!
Delicious and so easy to make.. Made this for Christmas and everyone loved it..
This is so delicious, I’ve been making different variations all summer since finding your recipe, always subbing in fat free Greek yogurt for sour cream and omitting lemon juice and tabasco. When I haven’t had chives on hand I’ve subbed in green onion, today I tried a tiny bit of onion powder. I keep making half batches at a time ’cause I’ll snork the whole thing down myself with a bag of veggies! Thank you sooooo much!
Hi! How long will this keep for? Thank you!
Hi Josie, It 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. Hope that helps!