Have you ever read the ingredients on the label of your beloved “ranch” salad dressing? Scary stuff. The list is loooong, and there are many items that take some concentration to pronounce. This is not food.
To satisfy my craving for ranch without submitting to eating the yucky stuff, I developed this recipe. It uses less than 10 ingredients, all of which are real food. (And my 11 year old, ranch dressing-loving nephew loves it (and was surprised that we could actually make salad dressing, we didn’t have to buy it!)
Amy’s Ranch Dressing
makes approximately 1 cup of dressing
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove, pressed through garlic press or minced
1 green onion, green part only, finely chopped or a few chives, finely chopped (if you don’t have these on hand, the dressing will still taste good, even w/only the parsley)
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley (or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt or kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1. Whisk the buttermilk and mayonnaise in a small bowl or glass jar.
2. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped or dried herbs, salt and pepper.
3. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes to marry the flavors. The resting time will also thicken the dressing.
