This homemade ranch dressing is one of the best ranch dressings out there: why buy it again? It’s a healthy spin using yogurt and spices.
See Also: All Homemade Salad Dressings
When Alex and I first started cooking together, storebought salad dressings were the first to be replaced by homemade versions. Now, we’re not against buying salad dressing. There are many salad dressings these days without lots of sugar, salt and preservatives. However, homemade salad dressings are 1. very delicious 2. don’t have preservatives or added ingredients 3. are pretty quick to make! Such is the case with this homemade ranch dressing. Now that we have a homemade ranch dressing recipe that we love, I don’t think we’ll ever buy it again! Keep reading for our best ranch dressing recipe.
How to make homemade ranch dressing
As you may know if you follow us or have our Pretty Simple Cooking cookbook, Alex and I are passionate about the intersection of healthy, pretty simple, and delicious. Meaning our favorite recipes taste amazing, are pretty easy to make, and aren’t too terrible for you. We’ve designed this homemade ranch dressing recipe to hit all categories.
Related: 10 Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes
Most ranch dressings are made with a lot of mayonnaise. We’re not against mayonnaise at all, since it’s a whole food made up of a short ingredient list. However, to add a healthy ranch dressing spin, we’ve cut the mayo with a bit of plain yogurt. This helps it to be a little lighter, and adds a bit of those lovely yogurt probiotics. We have used a bit of mayonnaise, but less than the standard ranch dressing. The mayo is important to add the richness and so that the ranch dressing adheres to the lettuce and vegetables. After making a lot of healthy dressings that don’t stick to the salad, we’re conscious about this aspect as well.
Add to the mayo and yogurt a splash of olive oil, and some delicious spices: garlic powder, onion powder, and dried dill. We’ve specified that you can also add some chopped chives or green onion tops for an added freshness. It takes it to the next level: but it’s also not necessary for a delicious ranch dressing!
How to serve homemade ranch dressing
This healthy homemade ranch dressing is perfect on any type of salad that you throw together! Here are a few of our salad recipes where we’d use it:
- California Salad with Chickpeas & Dill
- Ranch Wedge Salad with Potato Chips
- Healthy Potato Salad with Hard-boiled Egg
- Vegetarian Cobb Salad
- Kale Caesar Salad with Cornbread Bits
- Radish and Blue Cheese Chopped Salad Recipe
- Easy Salad Bar Ideas
- Every Night Salad
Related: How to Make Homemade Vinaigrette
Now of course, ranch is also perfect for dipping! Here are some delicious dipping ideas for our best healthy homemade ranch dressing recipe:
- Carrots, celery & bell pepper strips (see this video on How to Cut a Pepper)
- Baked French Fries
- Yogurt Ranch Salad Pizza
- Potato chips
- Buffalo Cauliflower
- Veggie Dippers
What do you love to dip in your ranch dressing? Let us know in the comments below!
This recipe is…
This homemade ranch dressing recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
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Homemade Ranch Dressing
(6 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: About 3/4 cup 1x
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Pin RecipeDescription
This homemade ranch dressing is one of the best ranch dressings out there: why buy it again? It’s a healthy spin using yogurt and spices.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt*
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives or green onion tops (optional)
Instructions
- Whisk together all the ingredients in a bowl. Store refrigerated (keeps at least 1 week).
Notes
*Make sure the yogurt has a creamy consistency. Most yogurt brands we’ve used work, but we found one brand that was very runny which didn’t work well for salad dressing.
- Category: Salad Dressing
- Method: Whisked
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Ranch dressing homemade, Ranch dressing, Best ranch dressing, Healthy ranch dressing, Salad dressing recipes
About the Authors
Sonja Overhiser
Cookbook Author and writer
Sonja Overhiser is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best healthy cookbooks of 2018. She’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the food blog A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Sonja seeks to inspire adventurous eating to make the world a better place one bite at a time.
Alex Overhiser
Cookbook Author and photographer
Alex Overhiser is an acclaimed food photographer and author based in Indianapolis. He’s host of the food podcast Small Bites and founder of the recipe website A Couple Cooks. Featured from the TODAY Show to Bon Appetit, Alex is author of Pretty Simple Cooking, named one of the best vegetarian cookbooks by Epicurious.
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