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 ranch dressing, but homemade is nothing like the mass-produced bottled stuff on the grocery store shelves. This buttermilk version is my favorite. It’s cool, creamy, tangy, garlicky and, honestly, good enough to eat straight with a spoon. Try it over a crisp green salad or as a dip for crudités, potato chips, or chicken wings.
To make it, simply combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.
And whisk to blend.
That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!
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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)
- 1 scant 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: 225mg
- 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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Wonderful wonderful wonderful. I always double the recipe at a minimum and have been known to quadruple it. I eat it with everything and sometimes eat a spoonful by itself. I make my own mayonnaise using Sally Fallon’s recipe in Nourishing Traditions.
This was phenomenal. I doubled the recipe and and added 2 TBSP of lemon juice (1.5x amount) only because it’s pre-portioned and frozen from our Meyer lemon tree. I cut the garlic by 1/2 because last time it was too garlicky for my taste (and I LOVE garlic-but not overpowering in ranch dressing) I also added some dried Italian herbs (only because I couldn’t find my dill at the moment, but later found it and added it). I had guests over and they all wanted the recipe. I really like the freshness and tartness of the extra Meyer lemon juice from our tree, which may have added a tinge of sweetness to the dressing. We used this to dip home grown air fried zucchini strips. It was so delicious we literally ate until we were absolutely stuffed!)
Made as written. Simple and delicious! Thank you.
Substituted 1/4 cup fresh green Chile for dill and added 2 cloves extra garlic. Used 2tbl dried chives. Made a wonderful dressing. Will make this often and probably in larger batch.
This is the absolute best homemade ranch recipe. I’ve tried dozens and this is my go to now, even with using powdered garlic and dried chives (when I have them). Bravo 👏👏👏
Hello Jenn,
This recipe was a success! I offered a teaspoon to a friend one afternoon, after the dressing had chilled for some time. Their comment, “oh that’s good,” to which I promised them a take-home portion. As things worked out, they did not get their portion as time didn’t permit. When I saw them the later, they wondered if their portion was available. No, as I had eaten it all, and yes, they missed a round two creation as well.
The ingredients that I used made the dressing created a thicker dip type consistency as is often served with crudities. I am looking forward to attempting variations of the wedge salad and green goddess recipes, especially.
My question is how can I use either dry milk or dry buttermilk to enhance the flavor? I don’t understand what these ingredients could accomplish. Can you help and advise?
Thanks, Keith
Hi Keith, so glad to hear you enjoyed the dressing! I wouldn’t actually recommend using either dry milk or dry, buttermilk in this recipe – I’m not sure how using them would impact the finished product.
We really wanted to love this, but we did not like it. We are a family that eats only ranch. We tried it with several different types of food and nobody cared for it, I am sorry to report. It all ended up in the trash. It tasted too much like a pickle and it was too much lemon juice.
It could have been the dried dill. I personally use fresh dill and it makes all the difference-very tasty substitution. Highly recommend.
Made this a few times in the past. Didn’t change a thing as it’s perfect as is. Wonderful with steak and arugula salad. Yum!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Once we made this, there was no turning back. This is the best ranch dressing ever. We use it on salads and as a crudite dip. The only modification I made was to increase the mayonnaise to 1/2 cup and reduce the sour cream to 1/4 cup, as we prefer it on the creamier side. When I was out of chives, I substituted slice green onions (green part only). This worked, too. It had a slightly stronger onion flavor, but was still delicious.
Very tasty buttermilk dressing! My only subs were to use fat free Greek yogurt for the sour cream, and fresh dill instead of dried. Wonderful, zesty flavors!
Jenn,
How much fresh dill would you substitute for the dried?
Hi Kerrie, I would us a heaping tablespoon.
This recipe is what started me following “once upon a chef” years ago. I’ve made 30+ recipes from the site, own both cook books, and have never made a recipe from here that wasn’t absolutely delicious! This dressing literally improves anything you put it on. It has a 100% rating that anytime I bring the dressing anywhere, I will be guaranteed to share the recipe and your site with people. This is also sooo soooo good for dunking pizza crust into it.
Homemade dressings are easy to make and delicious. This one will be a repeat. Only took a few minutes to make, longest part was walking out to the garden to pick chives.
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!
This was so delicious. Be aware that the flavors need time to meld so make it ahead of time. It tasted okay when freshly made. Once hour later it was even better. The next day it was fantastic. So I really say make this a day ahead of time to let that garlic and dill flavor develop. Perfect recipe for me. Thank you!
Hi Jen,
Was wondering how the “Tested and Perfected” recipes differ from the ones that are not labeled as such? Thanks.
Diane
Hi Diane, Have I not labeled some of them as “tested and perfected?” If that’s the case, that was inadvertent as they are all tested (and perfected). 🙂
Oops. You are right–all recipes are labled as such. Some of the labels blended in with the picture and were not as visible. Thanks. Love your recipes!
Diane
Where are the ingredients listed?? This site is overrun by commercial pop up’s. Don’t understand how this recipe got such high ratings on this site.
It sounds like you are just looking at the portion of the page that has the pictures with some instructions underneath. If you scroll down a bit to under the pictures, you’ll find the full recipe. Alternatively, at the very top of the page, to the right of the recipe name, you’ll see an orange/red button that says Jump to Recipe – if you click on that, it will take you directly to the recipe. Hope that clarifies!
You scrolled right past them to get to the comments, so…
lol
Funny when people can’t find it, it’s always the authors fault or the website, but never their computer skills ?
Much too runny. Even lessened buttermilk but too thin for a dip and just runs off the lettuce. Tastes great though!
This gets thicker with age. Day 1 was thin. Day 2 was great. Day 3 you could stand a fork up in it. Patience, grasshopper!
I love all of Jenn’s recipes, this is my go-to site. Made this tonight with steak au poivre and onion rings. My husband is still raving about the salad dressing. Thank you.
Been making this recipe for a couple of years now and always do it exactly as written on this website; happy to report it’s a standard in our home and a fan favorite for the family and friends that have had it!
Before I make this……is the dill weed or seed????? Someone mentioned fresh dill competing with the dressing????
I have lots of fresh
Hi Jackie, the recipe calls for dried dill. Hope you enjoy!
I added a dash more lemon juice, and a bit of water to thin; mine was quite thick. I love the flavors! Served with a grilled lemon chicken breast and summery Romaine/garden tomato/grilled croutons salad. SO good!
I just made this and it is so flavorful and easy! I bet it will be even better in a few hours when it is time for dinner!
I’m interested in using this recipe long-term, but I need to verify what consistency this dressing is. Is it thick or thin? I’m hoping you will say on the thicker side, as I’m not a fan of super thin dressings. Thank you. 🙂
Hi Elizabeth, It’s thin enough to be able to drizzle it on a salad. If you’d like it thicker, replace the buttermilk with more sour cream. Hope that helps!
Made this dressing today and it is wonderful! It was easy to make, visually appealing and so good!
A friend gave me your Irish Cream Tirimisu recipe and that has become my “Special” dessert dish. Thanks so much.