Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
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This homemade buttermilk ranch dressing is cool, creamy, and tangy, with plenty of fresh herb and garlic flavor—and it takes just minutes to make.
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 grocery store shelves. This buttermilk ranch recipe is a variation of my classic ranch dressing and one of my go-to salad dressings, with sour cream and mayo for richness, buttermilk and lemon for tang, and plenty of garlic, dill, and fresh chives. Honestly, it’s good enough to eat straight with a spoon! Try it 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, Mayonnaise & Buttermilk: These make up the creamy base of the dressing. The sour cream and mayo give it richness and body, while the buttermilk adds tang and thins it to a pourable consistency. Use good quality mayo, such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s, and store-bought buttermilk rather than a homemade substitute—the flavor and consistency matter more in a dressing than they do in most baked goods.
- Garlic: Fresh garlic gives the dressing its characteristic bite, and its flavor gets stronger as the dressing sits. If you’re sensitive to raw garlic or making the dressing well ahead, you can use a little less.
- Dill & Fresh Chives: Dried dill gives the dressing classic ranch flavor, while fresh chives add freshness and a mild oniony bite.
- Fresh Lemon Juice: Adds acidity and brightness, balancing the richness of the creamy base.
- Tabasco: Optional, but a few dashes sharpen the flavors without making the ranch noticeably spicy.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Mix the dressing: Whisk all of the ingredients together until smooth and evenly blended. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Keep in mind that the dressing will thicken as it chills and the garlic flavor will become more pronounced as it sits. The dressing keeps well in the refrigerator, so it’s a great one to make ahead; see the recipe card below for storage instructions.
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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¼ cup mayonnaise, best quality such as Hellmann’s or Duke’s
- 2 cloves garlic minced (see note)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1½ teaspoons dried dill
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, from one lemon
- 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.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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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Can you substitute garlic powder for fresh garlic?
Hi Suzanne, While I like this best with fresh garlic, you can substitute garlic powder; use 1/8 teaspoon powder for every clove of garlic, so in this case it would be 1/4 teaspoon.
I’m super excited to try this, but I need to make it egg-free. Do you have any recommendation for a mayo-replacement in this recipe that wouldn’t change the taste too much?
Thanks!
Hi Bobbie, You could just increase the sour cream to 3/4 cup and cut the lemon juice in half. Enjoy!
There is a mayo called “Just Mayo” and it is egg free, dairy free and soy free and it is also gluten free. It is a great product. I use it all the time in place of mayo. No one can tell the difference.
I just made this with my daughter, who loves ranch dressing. She said this was the best ranch dressing we’ve made so far. This is good because of ranch dressing she actually asks for salads! ( I cheated and used fresh dill and added parsley) Nothing like homemade ranch dressing and I love that its healthier. I didn’t mention it, but everyone gobbled up the Swedish meatballs we made the other night too, even though I snuck in liver for 1/2 the sausage! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
I made this recipe substituting lowfat yogurt for sour cream and used olive oil mayo. It was amazing! My husband actually took seconds of the salad, and that’s a first. Will definitely make again.
I always try to have freshly made salad dressing in my frig…the store bought dressings – even the organic versions- are filled with chemicals and preservatives.This is the most delicious Ranch Dressing that I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying on a salad ! I like the addition of fresh chives and dill. There is usually a fresh batch in my refrigerator awaiting my next salad. Thanks Jennifer ! Your recipes are healthy and delicious and your blog is by far my favorite !
This dressing is fabulous. Grilled chicken breasts and served with this dressing on a fresh salad.
I had some left over dressing so the next day I marinated a cut up chicken in it all day. Roasted the chicken at 375 and basted with more dressing and OMG-one of my best dishes ever. The chicken was moist and delicious.
Great way to use up left over dressing– thanks for sharing!
This ranch dressing is awesome! Measurements were perfect for our taste with a additional 1/2 teaspoon of recipe spices, mostly kosher salt for our liking. Very yummy. This is our new dressing of choice. Thanks for posting.
Amazing! Absolutely phonomenal!
Excellent recipe, bursting with flavor.
My quest to find the best homemade ranch dressing is officially over. I’ve tried about 8 other recipes, none of which have quite hit the mark. Usually I’ll make them, taste them, and inevitably end up tweaking them because they’re lacking in one way or another. And, inevitably, my girls end up preferring Hidden Valley Ranch. Despite having had absolute success with every single recipe of Jenn’s that I’ve tried, I put off making her ranch dressing just because the ingredients looked basically the same as all the other recipes I’ve tried, so I figured the results would be the same. I finally got around to making it, and—wow! No tweaking necessary! This dressing is outstanding, and I will never use another ranch recipe but this one again. The proportions of each ingredient are just perfect, the seasonings are spot-on, and I’ve finally found a dressing that my kids prefer to Hidden Valley Ranch. Yay! One tip that I think also helps the flavor: I minced up the garlic as fine as I could get it, and then I sprinkled half of the salt over it (1/2 tsp) on the cutting board and, applying pressure on the side of my knife blade, scraped the garlic/salt pile back and forth over the board to form a thick paste. Add the garlic paste to the dressing ingredients and mix well. Delicious! Thanks, Jenn!