By: Stacie HassingPosted: 7/26/23
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Say goodbye to store-bought dressings full of unknown ingredients, and say hello to easy homemade ranch dressing. Our recipe calls for only real food ingredients — ones you probably already have in your kitchen!
Recipe Highlights
Our homemade ranch dressing takes just a few minutes of prep time and a total time of 35 minutes (including chill time). It’s such an easy recipe, it’s sure to become a kitchen staple.
We use yogurt instead of mayonnaise as a base for this healthy homemade ranch. This cuts down the fat content and makes it a great source of calcium.
Benefits of Homemade Ranch Dressing
Who doesn’t love a good ranch dressing? It’s great on salads, perfect for dunking veggies as a light snack, and it’s a game day staple. Here’s the kicker: many store-bought ranch dressings have extra ingredients that aren’t so tasty.
For instance, titanium dioxide, also used in sunscreen, is added to bottled ranch and other salad dressings (think: blue cheese and Caesar) to achieve that bright white color. This compound has recently come under scrutiny as a potential carcinogen. Other ingredients you may not love include added sugar, corn syrup, and MSG.
When you make a dressing — or any food — at home, you control the additives that go into your meals. In our professional opinion, the best homemade ranch contains only ingredients that you’ll feel good about eating and serving to your family!
Ingredients To Make Homemade Ranch
- Organic plain yogurt
- Sour cream – you may substitute buttermilk, mayonnaise, or Greek yogurt, but be aware that this will change the consistency
- Apple cider vinegar – you may substitute white vinegar or red wine vinegar
- Dried dill
- Dried parsley
- Dried chives
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Salt & pepper
- Milk or buttermilk – optional ingredient to achieve thinner consistency
Ingredient Highlight: Organic Plain Yogurt
We prefer non-Greek yogurt for a smooth consistency. Our favorite brands include Siggi’s, Organic Valley, Stoneyfield, and Kalona SuperNatural.
If you’re looking for a thicker ranch dip consistency, Greek yogurt is a great option!
How To Make Homemade Ranch Dressing
It’s incredibly easy to make ranch dressing at home!
First, add the yogurt, sour cream, and vinegar to a bowl. Then add the magical mix of dried herbs and seasonings and mix well. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. This time is important as it allows the yogurt and sour cream to soak up the flavors from the seasonings.
After the chill time, check the consistency. You can add 1 tablespoon at a time of milk or buttermilk to thin it out (if you like a thinner dressing).
For serving size and the complete directions and ingredient amounts, scroll down to the recipe card below. All of our recipes include the nutrition facts, listing calories (kcals), protein, carbohydrates/carb, fiber, sugar, sodium, cholesterol, and more per serving.
Make It Low Calorie/Low-fat
If you’re looking for a low-fat or low-calorie ranch dressing, you can easily use 2% yogurt and lite sour cream.
Make it Whole30
To learn how to make ranch dressing dairy-free and Whole30, you’ll want to try our Paleo Ranch Dressing.
How To Store
This ranch will keep well in the fridge for one week. We like to store it in a mason jar or glass container.
Pair This Homemade Ranch With…
We like to make a couple of dressings on the weekend to have on hand for meals throughout the week. Ranch almost always makes the cut. It’s not just delicious—it’s also an incredibly versatile condiment.
Here are just a few things you can dress up with our easy homemade ranch dressing:
- Salads
- Creamy chicken salad, egg salad, or tuna salad
- Baked potatoes or our Slow Cooker Loaded Mashed Potato with Ranch
- Sandwiches or wraps
- Veggie trays
- Tacos
- Anything pizza flavored, like Pizza Stuffed Spaghetti Squash, Pepperoni Pizza Quinoa Bake or Pizza Sweet Potato Bites
- Anything buffalo flavored like Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken, Buffalo Chicken Strips, or Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
- Ranch-centered dishes, like Chicken Bacon Ranch Sweet Potato Bake, Ultimate Meal Prep Meatballs, Garlic Roasted Radishes, Crispy Garlic Ranch Roasted Potatoes, Garlic Roasted Root Vegetable Fries, BBQ Ranch Chopped Salad, or 5-Ingredient Creamy Ranch Broccoli Slaw
Looking for more easy recipes? Check out our cookbook!
Other Homemade Dressing Recipes to Try
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ranch dressing made of?
Ranch dressing is typically made of a blend of buttermilk, mayonnaise or another oil emulsion (we prefer yogurt and sour cream), salt, garlic, onion, and mustard. Most varieties also add a mix of dried and fresh herbs and spices including chives, parsley, dried or fresh dill, pepper, paprika, and ground mustard seed.
Is ranch made with milk?
Yes, most store-bought and homemade ranch dressing is made with a milk component, such as buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream. To make homemade ranch dairy-free, we like to use coconut milk (like in our Paleo ranch dressing recipe).
What is the main ingredient in ranch dressing?
The primary ingredient in most ranch dressing is buttermilk. We prefer using a mix of yogurt and sour cream (or buttermilk) as the main ingredients for the best homemade ranch recipe.
How to Make Healthy Homemade Ranch Video
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Recipe
5 Stars4 Stars3 Stars2 Stars1 Star4.9 from 9 reviews
Healthy Homemade Ranch Dressing
This homemade ranch dressing recipe is so delicious, you’ll never want the store-bought stuff again. And with just a few minutes of prep time, this is the best ranch dressing for a busy home chef.
Prep: 5 minTotal: 5 minutes
Servings: 1 cup 1x
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (6 oz.) organic plain yogurt
- ¼ cup sour cream (may substitute with ¼ cup mayonnaise, buttermilk, or Greek yogurt)
- 1 ½ tsp. apple cider vinegar (may substitute with white vinegar, red wine vinegar, or fresh lemon juice)
- 1 ¼ tsp. dried dill or 1 ¼ tablespoons fresh dill
- 1 tsp. dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 1 tsp. dried chives or 1 tablespoon fresh chives
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- ¼ tsp. salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- Fresh dill, chives, parsley, or fresh herbs of choice for topping
- Optional: regular milk or buttermilk for thinner consistency
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl.
- Mix until well combined.
- Optional step: for thinner consistency, add milk or buttermilk until desired consistency is achieved, 1 tablespoon at a time
- Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
- To serve as a dip, garnish with fresh dill, fresh parsley, herbs, or fresh chives.
- Store in the fridge in an airtight container, such as a mason jar, forup to 1 week.
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Notes
We prefer sour cream over buttermilk for a creamier ranch. However, if you prefer a homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, opt for ¼ cup buttermilk — just be aware that this will result in a thinner consistency.
For a thicker ranch dip, use Greek yogurt in place of the plain yogurt in the original recipe.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size: 2 Tbsp.
- Calories: 30
- Fat: 2 g
- (Sat Fat: 1 g)
- Sodium: 95 mg
- Carbohydrate: 2 g
- (Fiber: 0 g
- Sugar: 1 g)
- Protein: 1 g
Dietary
Egg-FreeGluten-freeGrain-FreeNut-freeVegetarian
© The Real Food Dietitians
Recipe By: Stacie Hassing
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Stacie Hassing
Stacie is a Licensed and Registered Dietitian from rural southern Minnesota where she, her husband and three children reside with their dog. She’s a co-founder of The Real Food RDs and content creator of simple and wholesome recipes. She loves all kinds of fitness and has a passion to inspire as many as she can live a healthier and happier life both in and out of the kitchen - the driving force behind the co-development of the The Real Food RDs brand.
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Reader Interactions
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Judith McCallum saysAll of the ingredients were right on target! I followed the recipe to the tee. I just added a couple of squeezes of fresh lemon juice, about 2 tsp of sugar, and 1 tsp of red wine vinegar for extra zing.
Reply
- Stacie Hassing says
Fantastic Judith! Thanks for the feedback and 5-star review!
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- Carrie says
Can this be frozen to last longer?
Reply
- Stacie Hassing says
Hi Carrie, we have not experimented freezing this so we can’t say for certain how that would turnout.
Reply
- K says
I made this a few days ago to serve over Barbecue Chicken Salad and it was fantastic. I’ve made other Ranch dressings, but this is by far the best flavor wise. Came together in no time at all. My neighbor tried it and she loved it. I used Siggi’s yogurt for the first time and the dressing was very thick, however, this was easily remedied. This recipe is versatile enough to be used a dip with Siggi’s which is a plus. Definitely making this again.
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- Stacie Hassing says
We are so happy this will be a repeat on the menu! Thanks for the feedback and 5-star review!
Reply
- K says
You’re most welcome. Others need to know how easy, healthy and delicious this is.
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