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 (speaking of spoons, I could also eat this Caesar dressing with a spoon!). Try the buttermilk ranch over a crisp green salad or as a dip for crudités, potato chips, or 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.
- Dried 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 (like this Kentucky butter cake or these chocolate muffins), when something relies more heavily on the buttermilk flavor, 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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This ranch dressing is amazing. Just enjoyed it on butter lettuce, shredded carrots, and bacon. Yummy! It will become a staple in my house,
Hi Jenn, I have been meaning to review this recipe for a while. I believe this was the first recipe from your site I ever tried (or at least one of them!). Myself and my family (along with anyone who has ever tried it) love this recipe. It is so versatile. It’s delicious as a dressing, a dip, a marinade or just by the spoonful! The recipe is great for adapting – increase the garlic for garlic ranch, the fresh pepper for peppercorn ranch, etc. If you don’t have buttermilk, its easy to make some with regular milk and some lemon juice or vinegar.
I just want to take this chance to make a general comment on all of your dressings. Thanks to your varied and tasty dressings we have not bought bottled salad dressings from the store in years. Between your ranch, Caesar, balsamic, raspberry vin, ginger peanut, and all the rest, we always have amazing and tasty dressings on hand. We never get tired since you have so many options we can just keep rotating recipes to keep it interesting.
Thank you for all of your hard work to bring us tasty and healthy recipes!
This recipe has become a staple in my household. I had no idea you could make restaurant quality dressing in just minutes. It even tastes great on taco salad. I just used lime juice in place of the lemon & added a dash of chipotle powder & smoked paprika.
Never, ever buy bottled or dehydrated ranch dressing again! This is easy and utterly delicious; everyone in my family loves it.
This is the most delicious ranch dressing EVER! It’s creamy with just the right kick of everything. And you can make it more “garlicky” by adding more or less according to your taste. As it sits the dressing does become more intense with the garlic as the recipe states so start out with just a small clove and work your way up if you like the more intense flavor. Give it a good stir before each use and you’ll never use another ranch recipe. This is simply the best!
This recipe has become a staple at our house. I do tend to use fresh dill instead of dried. I also really mash the garlic with the flat side of my knife until it becomes a paste. Good stuff.
So happy!
Can this be used for broccoli salad ? Sounds lovely and want to try.
Sure!
Perfect – just the right amounts of everything, so none of the flavors overwhelm your salad. And of course none of the fake citric-acid astringency you get in store-bought dressings.
Thank you for sharing this amazing ranch recipe! The beautiful pictures help as well!! My mom loves this recipe now… and will never buy store-bought again!
This is just the best dressing ever! So flavorful yet not heavy or overwhelming. I didn’t realize it called for dried dill so I used fresh and it was still fantastic. This will be in my rotation for sure. Thank-you for always creating such delicious recipes 🙂
This recipe is the most delicious ranch that I’ve ever made! Thank you for giving us this wonderful recipe with beautiful pictures!
This truly is a wonderful buttermilk ranch recipe. I’ve read online that Dijon mustard, lemon zest, and/or smoked paprika would enhance ranch dressing, too. I would appreciate your advice on the amounts to add, if any.
Hi Michael, I think any of those would be nice additions. I’d definitely start out small; maybe 1/4 tsp. of each and then give it a taste and adjust as necessary. I’d love to hear how it turns out with any tweaks!
You need to take down your Pinterest Pin ability if you are not allowing Pins to be done. Pinterest says your website does not allow anything to be pinned.
Thanks
Hi Justin, Sorry to hear you’re having a problem pinning my recipes. I just tested it and it’s working fine for me. You may have better luck trying a different browser!
perfect recipe! just the right tang.
Awesome and easy to tweek to personal taste. I make this at least once a month. Can be used as a tasty dip too!
This is a delicious recipe. If you make it you wont use store bought again !
Delicious! Used all fresh herbs. So yummy.
I made this recipe and I love it. I used sriracha sauce instead of Tabasco and it was a little bit spicy but it was delicious!!!!
All of your recipes are wonderful. I took one of your wonderful recipes and modified it a little bit.
The one I chose was your Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. I substituted Organic Valley buttermilk and Organic Valley sour cream in place of the previous ingredients. I also added some Organic Parmesan cheese to give it a little different taste. It was wonderful.
I think this dressing is just about perfect. I love how fresh it tastes, and it keeps really well if you just can’t finish it all in a week. Its great for salads or as a dip or sauce. A keeper.
How long does homemade buttermilk dressing last in the refrigerator?
Hi Barbara, it should keep in the fridge for about 4 days.
This recipe was shared with me and I loved it so much, I’ve shared it with at least 20 other people. I can’t make this without having at least 1/2 the guests ask for the recipe. It’s that good.
This is an excellent recipe. We use it for a dressing or dip. Easy to make and very tasty.
All the recipes I did were a huge hit with the family. Even my husband who is a chef was very impressed with all these recipes.
Thank you for sharing.
I discovered this recipe about a year ago when I needed ranch dressing but was out. I didn’t feel like going to the store for one little bottle of ranch dressing, so I whipped up a batch of this. Man oh man, this is EXCELLENT! I haven’t bought ranch since then–I just keep making this up when I need some. It’s so easy and blows the store bought stuff out of the water! Thank you for an incredible recipe. ?
Is dried dill seed the same as dried dill? My market only had dill seed.
Thanks in advance.
Hi Wendy, they are two different things- sorry!
Would you be able to freeze this?? You mentioned it should last about 4 days in the fridge…Can’t wait to try it!
No, due to all the dairy, I don’t think it would freeze well- sorry!
Very good but the chives are a little overwhelming. I love chives but a little less would help balance the flavors. Definitely will make it again.
Made this & tasted it immediately after combining the ingredients and it was awesome! Used fresh dill, about 2 tsp and also a bit of fresh parsley. So flavorful and tangy. I’m betting it will taste even yummier later. I used only 1 garlic clove and the garlic flavor was still strong. Delicious but next time I may omit the garlic until right before serving, I don’t mind it but other folks might.
This dressing makes me love raw veggies! Super easy and delicious. I will never buy store bought again! I cut back on the garlic as recommended as I made a double batch for Mother’s Day and wanted to have leftovers. Today is day 3 of the dressing and still as great as the day I made it.
Our chives are up and this dressing is delicious! On fresh greens, it makes a restaurant quality salad. Another perfect recipe. Thank you, Jenn.
Truly simple is always better. Love that I always have everything on hand in this recipe to make homemade dressing that we all love. No more bottled at house. Thanks!
Can you substitute the sour cream with Greek yogurt for a healthier alternative?
Hi Bailee, While I haven’t made it that way, a number of other readers have commented that they’ve used Greek yogurt in place of the sour cream and have been happy with the results. I’d use the same amount (1/2 cup).
I just made a batch today (probably the 10th time I’ve made it since I discovered the recipe last year, lol) and was out of sour cream, so i used Greek yogurt. I didn’t notice any difference at all. Still wonderful!
Delicious. I had some raw milk that was starting to sour so I looked up buttermilk recipes. I had almost everything on the ingredient list so I gave it a shot. I used Greek yogurt instead of mayo and sour cream. Also left out the Tabasco since my garlic was somewhat spicy. Turned out great!
This dressing is now tied for first place with your Ceasar. I would almost say that it is a little bit ahead except that since I made the Caesar so much, I probably really just overdid with eating it. This is at least equally delicious and now, I’m on my third batch in a just over a week. It’s great as dip, as you mentioned and basically you want to just drink it. The flavor mix is just wonderful and definitely try to get the buttermilk in there. It’s cheap and it makes a difference. I have used both chives and when short, a green onion/chive mix. Both seemed good but I will still try to shoot for using the chives. Because my store was out of buttermilk the first time, I did use milk and white vinegar. Still good, obviously, as I made it again, but the real buttermilk really did make it taste even better. I try to make these recipes as written at least once, if possible. While it’s great that you can substitute, it’s not going to taste as it’s intended to. I did, as suggested, decrease the garlic when serving later on. I cut it about a third. Worked out perfectly for me. Love, love it! Thanks so much!
This tasted incredible and probably took less than 5 minutes to put together. My ranch-loving 10-year-old said it was so good, “Even better than Hidden Valley!”, although of course I already knew that! LOL! Thanks for the terrific recipe.
Delicious! My husband is a bit weary of dill (too much of it growing up), but this was the perfect combination! It was also yummy as a dip with veggies the next day for my daughter’s lunch.
This was amazing! Best one i have tried so far. Will definitely be using it again!
Hi Jenn!
A quick one on this one: if I don’t have fresh chives what can I use instead that would not be too far off? I saw one review say the tops of scallions – struggling to get those here as well. Anything else I can use? Or would it be okay if I left them out? I’m also using tarragon as you suggested in place of dill. Thanks!
Sarah, you could use dried chives if you can find them. The dressing is enhanced by the chives, but you can leave them out if necessary.
Hello!
I made the buttermilk ranch dressing today (for Super Bowl Sunday) to dress a Cobb salad. I used the exact measurements and it was the BOMB dot COM.
Thank you ?
I’ve made something similar to this for years, use mainly Greek yogurt and a bit of mayo; got my kids eating veggies and dip at an early age. For a different flavour try using celery salt instead of salt. I leave out the garlic as personal preference. Great recipe never need to buy creamy salad dressings again!!
This recipe is really good with fresh dill. Yum
This was great.
How many days will this dressing be good without spoiling if I keep it in the refrigerator?
Hi Food Lover :), I think it would keep nicely for about 4 days.
Thank you Jenn for yet another fantastic recipe! I tried to get my family to let it rest (to thicken and let the flavors meld) before a big football game tonight, but they couldn’t help themselves… they looove it! I had to use greek yogurt in place of sour cream, as we didn’t have any on hand, but still turned out great. Your recipes are truly the best!
I’m blown away. This ranch is amazing. I knew by the reviews it would be good, but this stuff is beyond delicious. I never thought I’d be tasting a brand new flavor at 42 years old. Well done.
This recipe was delicious! The lemon juice adds a terrific “tang” to the recipe.
Really like this dressing. Was concerned about the dried dill, it really added good flavor. I did cut down on the garlic the second time I made it & it didn’t have that garlicky taste I really enjoyed from the first time. If you like garlic, definitely use the 4 cloves. I also substituted scallions green tops for chives because there were no chives at Wholefoods. I couldn’t tell the difference. Really enjoyed this dressing. Again, Jenn, you rock. Thanks!!!
This is my very favorite ranch dressing. It’s so easy & I always have the ingredients on hand. Very tasty. For a change, sometimes I add blue cheese crumbles into the dressing. I have stopped looking for my perfect ranch dressing – this is it!
How do you make it thicker to serve with crudités?
Hi Emily, you could Up the amount of sour cream and mayonnaise in order to thicken it, but be sure to taste it as, while it changes the texture, it will also change the taste a bit. You could also try mixing all the ingredients in the blender as that helps to thicken dressings and sauces.
Great idea….I will use the immersion blender!!!
You might break it with a blender.