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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OMG! I have been trying for almost a year to make a decent ranch. They NEVER come out anywhere near what I want or anything near ranch for that matter! Usually they just taste like garlic runny buttermilk.
BUT THIS RECIPE!!!! THIS RECIPE! I finally found a delicious and PERFECT recipe!!! Thank you so much!
LOVED IT!!!
Jenn, this recipe is brilliant! I’ve been making it for quite awhile now. I use freeze dried chives and bottled lemon juice if I don’t have fresh on hand. Everyone raves about it and I’ve texted the link to many of my friends and family. I always double it. It keeps fine for several days. We are ruined for ranch now and have no desire to use even the best store bought version. Thank you!
This is really fresh. I divided it and added crumbled blue cheese to half to make a blue cheese dressing. Very tasty.
GREAT Recipe!!!
Better Than Store Bought.
First time making homemade and will continue to use instead of pre made.
Great! A little bland for me so I had to up the salt a bit but the flavor is so good! Didn’t have Tabasco so I don’t know how it’s different from if I had added it, but next time I might try adding Worcestershire sauce like another reviewer mentioned cuz that sounds like it would add a nice flavor boost.
BEST. DRESSING. EVER. Made it with your chicken wings. So yummy. There’s one thing I’m disappointed about though. There’s no more!
I had the hardest time finding a homemade ranch recipe that was really as good as those found in restaurants, and this one was a pleasant surprise. Rather than adding tabasco, I use a small amount of worcestershire for an umami boost.
I love this dressing and use it often. Sometimes I add a green goddess blend of spices that I get at a spice store.
I just made this recipe for dinner. I’m excited for my husband to try his wedge salad. The instructions were clear and the process was quick an easy. Thank you for my new go-to ranch recipe.
I can’t stand the taste of most bottled ranch sold in grocery stores, so I decided to search for a recipe to make at home. This is definitely the best ranch I’ve tried, thus far. Thanks for the recipe!
I just made your Ranch Dressing. It is wonderfully tasty. I plan to use it as a dip with some carrots I purchased at the Farmer’s Market this morning. Can’t wait to try another of your recipes. So glad I chose your recipe.
This dressing is awesome! I’m more a Vinaigrette person, but my husband likes Ranch… and the commercial Ranch dressings have sugar in them along with a lot of other “unusual” ingredients. The taste of this is wonderful. My son ate a few large bowls of lettuce with this dressing. A real winner to my repertoire of homemade dressings. Thank you!!