Ranch dressing is perhaps one of the most important condiments in this great country.
However, it’s not always filled with good-for-you ingredients. For one thing, most homemade ranch is made with mayonnaise. Now don’t get me wrong, I love mayo. But it does usually contain refined oil, unless you make it yourself with olive oil (which I have yet to try), so I eat it in moderation. This recipe uses sour cream instead of mayo, and if you ask me, it’s way more delicious than store-bought ranch! Speaking of which… just in case any politician out there needs some material for their next filibuster , I would like to now list out the ingredients in a popular ranch dressing from your local supermarket: Soybean Oil, Water, Egg Yolk, Sugar, Salt, Cultured Nonfat Buttermilk, Natural Flavors (Soy), Spices. Less than 1% of Dried Garlic, Dried Onion, Vinegar, Phosphoric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate, Artificial Flavors, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA as Preservatives, Disodium Inosinate and Disodium Guanylate. And now, I would like to list the ingredients in this easy recipe: Sour cream, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, chopped fresh dill, chopped fresh parsley, vinegar, buttermilk. Mine is better. Not that this is a competition. (But if it were, I would win.)
There are only three easy steps to making this dressing. I don’t usually measure all these ingredients precisely, but if you are a numbers-only person, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom. First, make a paste from one clove of garlic and some salt. This is super easy- all you do is mash the garlic slightly, sprinkle the salt over it, and use the tines of a fork to mash into a consistent paste. (You will probably have to mash for about a minute to get it just right). Then, add the garlic paste in a bowl to all of the other ingredients except for the buttermilk. If you are using this is a dip, you are done! If you want it to be thinner and more dressing-like for a salad, add some buttermilk while stirring constantly until it is the desired consistency. Note: I did not have buttermilk when I made mine, so I just used regular whole milk. You can also use a mixture of whole milk and plain yogurt as a substitute for buttermilk. Store in your fridge for about one week.
Here’s the printable recipe for this yummy homemade ranch dressing with no mayo!
