When I order a salad and am given a choice of dressings, I always order the same one. Ranch. Any true ranch dressing aficionado knows that there is good ranch and there is bad ranch. Bad ranch comes in bottles or little packets at fast food restaurants and is served over iceberg salads with those teeny cubed croutons and unripe tomatoes. Bad ranch leaves a nasty chemical taste in your mouth. It is all tang with no richness. It sucks and it can ruin a perfectly good salad in an instant. GOOD ranch on the other hand is a gift from the gods. It tastes creamy and garlicky and buttermilk-y. It tastes freshly made because if it’s REALLY good ranch, it probably is. It makes chicken strips and onion rings a thousand times better and don’t even get me STARTED on french fries.
No matter where you go, you can never be sure which ranch you will get, fancy places sometimes serve nasty ranch and holes-in-the-wall sometimes pony up the good stuff. The secret to good ranch is making it from scratch. It’s not hard and it’s not expensive which is why you can find it at truck stops and diners. I urge all you ranch lovers out there to try this recipe. If you think all ranch dressing is the same, make this recipe and taste test it against any bottle of ranch you get at the store (even the kind from the refrigerated section.) I promise you, this ranch will blow the others away.
I offer two versions of my recipe, one with fresh garlic and one that only uses dried spices that you probably have in your cabinet already. They are both delicious, the one with fresh garlic is a little spicier and a lot more garlicky. Next time you get served BAD ranch, go home and make this. You’ll never want to eat a salad outside your home again!
EZ RANCH
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 Tbsp Kosher salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp onion powder (add more to taste if you think you need it but wait 24 hours before you add)
- 1/2 tsp MSG*
- black pepper to taste
- dash of Cholula or hot sauce of your choice
Whisk together buttermilk and mayo until smooth. Add all other ingredients and whisk until blended. Chill for at least 30 minutes, taste, adjust seasonings to suit your taste then chill for another half hour before serving, overnight is better. Keeps in the fridge for over a week.
Fresh Garlic Ranch
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 clove fresh garlic (med to large)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 2-3 small stalks of fresh chives (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp MSG*
- black pepper to taste
- dash of Cholula
Cut the garlic clove into four pieces. Pour 1 Tbsp of kosher salt over the garlic then mash into a paste using a fork. Once the paste is of uniform consistency, place it in a bowl. Add the buttermilk and mayo and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining salt, parsley, chives, onion powder, MSG, pepper and Cholula and whisk together. Chill for at least 30 minutes, taste, adjust seasonings to suit your taste then chill for another half hour before serving, overnight is better. Keeps in the fridge for over a week.
Pictured is Callie’s Magic Salad: Butter lettuce, diced red peppers, persian cucumber slices, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped broccoli and cauliflower, slivered toasted, unsalted almonds, shredded cheddar cheese and RANCH.
*Ok. I know what you’re thinking. MSG? WTF!? #1 MSG does not give ME headaches. I have tested it. If it gives YOU headaches (or if you THINK it does) simply leave it out #2 MSG makes stuff taste better. Seriously. It does. #3 MSG is gluten free. I understand that MSG is controversial. I am just publishing my recipe exactly as I made it.
Both of these recipes look fabulous I can't wait to try them!
I'll try both of these this weekend. AndrewChef De Cuisine.
This is THE best ranch ever
Definitely quality restaurant style ranch! I’m SO picky when it comes to ranch and after you described my EXACT feelings on ranch, I decided to try it. I’m so glad I did. I’m making buffalo wings tonight and I’ll be using this ranch along with them 
Oh and yes, letting it set, brings out all of the flavors
Thank you so much for sharing this!
Rachel Hill
I’m so glad you like it! I take my ranch pretty darn seriously and this stuff is the real deal!
My favorite Ranch version is to add at least a teaspoon of dried Tarragon and sometimes Dill. I also love lots of black pepper, having been raised in the South!
Will try to quantify amount needed. Thanks for the recipe, I can’t use the Hidden Valley packets anymore because the MSG reliably causes my eyes to swell (Grave’s Eye Disease)….Thanks, Ava
I have used this recipe for sometime and have been praise for it natural flavor from my guest and family
I don’t like the vinegar’y taste of hot sauce’s so I use a tsp (or more if you like) of smokey paprika… super-fab-ilicious… (yes it’s a word, look it up)
I used to make Ranch from Hidden valley’s powder mix and then add buttermilk and other ingredients, but it takes perhaps 5 minutes longer to mix ingredients…
I grew up on the Hidden Valley powdered mix with buttermilk. I think my recipe tastes almost the same but it costs just pennies per batch compared with about $2-$3 for a packet of Hidden Valley! I’ll bet the smokey paprika is delish! I made this recipe last week but I put it in the blender with one chipotle pepper from a can of chipotles in adobo and a quarter cup of salsa. It makes a slightly spicy, smoky ranch that is amazing on a grilled chicken salad. YUM.
heh, it’s not even about the cost, since you are probably ending up throwing more away because of limited shelf life. You’ll have to wonder how that bottle of ranch dressing can last a year… (yuck
Being from Denmark and missing many of my home-country delicacies has taught me that making everything is the way to go in addition to actually knowing what’s in it
I am a sucker for spicy (can’t get those wings hot enough) so I’ll try the Adobo/salsa recipe… Thank you!
Using MSG tricks the mind into thinking it tastes better when it doesn’t, because it’s a chemical reaction with your brain chemistry. It undermines the integrity of good food and authentic cooking. I was very shocked to see your article about good vs bad ranch and then scroll down to see that.
Love the recipe and it sounds quite tasty. One thing I think I’ll do, instead of adding so much salt (or really, any salt at all), to the garlic version is to make it a paste with the onion powder. It’s not granulated, granted, but it’ll work. Alternatively, you can make your own garlic paste in a grinder and freeze what isn’t needed.
You see, I don’t add salt to any recipe at all. Okay well, that’s a lie. I add salt to enhance certain leavenings, but that’s it. I don’t put it in anything else. Ever. Seriously.
The downfall to this is that when we go out to eat, the food always tastes too salty for us. On the other hand, the benefit is that I realize I could do it better at home, since we don’t like salt anymore and I save money by not eating out.
Better health. More money. I guess it turns out to be a win-win situation.
I want to say thank you, thank you and if I missed it thank you. I made this ranch along side a wing recipe a friend of my gave me from Wing’s N Thing’s and it was an absolute HIT! Thank you so much for posting the ranch recipe… I may never buy bottled ranch again.
OMG! Wow! Your Ranch Dressing IS THE BEST EVER! I left out the msg and used fleur de sel and after the first batch have added fresh herbs and herbes de provence.
As my Dad used to say, “I’ve died and gone to heaven!”