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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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 ?