Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing Recipe

Although I tend to eat salads most commonly served with a simple vinaigrette, there are times when the smooth slightly tart creaminess of a good Ranch Dressing is far more desirable.

While bottle ranch dressing will do in a pinch, these concoctions bear little true resemblance to real homemade ranch dressing, and if you’ve never before made your own, you and those that dine with you are in for a real treat. Serve this on a summer day on an easy salad of romaine or iceberg lettuce and beside some grilled meats and you have yourself something that’s pretty good.

Here is a slight variation of a ranch dressing recipe I’ve been using for years, sourced originally from the America’s Test Kitchen.

Homemade Summer Ranch Dressing

• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 3 Tbls of sour cream
• The juice from 1 wedge of lemon
• 1 clove of garlic, finely minced – the smaller you an cut this garlic, the better…a good chance to work on your knife skills!
• 2 Tbls of finely minced white onion
• 2 Tbls of finely minced green onion (the green part only)
• 1 Tbls of fresh parsley, minced
• 1 Tbls of fresh cilantro, minced
• A little freshly cracked black pepper to taste

1. Combine all of the above ingredients and taste for seasoning and balance. Since different mayos have differing levels of sweetness, you may need to add a little more sour cream to get it as tart as you like it.

Serve with on simple salads with crisp greens.

If you don’t have any fresh cilantro or parsley on hand, these can be omitted – do not try to substitute these with their dried (tasteless) cousins. If you feel your dressing needs a little more kick (I don’t) you can also try adding a little Dijon mustard or red wine vinegar to the mixture, a little at a time.

This dressing can be refrigerated for a few days.