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The best homemade ranch salad dressing tastes better than anything store-bought and only takes a few minutes to make. Ranch dressing is delicious on salads and as a dip for fresh vegetables.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
There aren’t all that many recipes here on the blog that I label as “the best.” With nearly 1,500 recipes here, there are less than 20 that have truly earned that label.
I figure that everyone’s tastes are different and who knows if someone else’s opinion on the “best recipe ever” is going to match mine? These recipes though? They really are the best of the best.
And this ranch salad dressing? It is hands down the BEST Ranch Salad Dressing that I have ever tasted. Without fail, the people who try it, have all agreed. Just scroll through the comments to see how everyone raves over it.
Ranch Dressing Recipe
Plenty of garlic, dill, and other spices make this a memorable ranch dressing. Just thin enough to pour smoothly, without becoming too liquid or watered down: the creaminess of the dressing is well balanced by the tang of the fresh lemon.
This dressing has had a permanent place in my refrigerator for almost five years now. My kids reach for this ranch dressing or our homemade ranch dip at least once, if not twice, a day to eat with fresh vegetables.
Most nights, I set out our produce boxes and a bowl of this ranch dressing each day as I am getting ready to make dinner. The kids happily snack on vegetables for half an hour or more while we chat and cook dinner.
Ranch Dressing
This is easily the most popular salad dressing I make. We have friends that insist I bring this Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing along every time we get together for a meal.
Everyone who has tasted this dressing has been convinced at first bite that they need to make it for themselves. This recipe has become not only the most popular salad dressing on this website but one of the most popular recipes overall.
After all, what’s not to love about the BEST ranch dressing you’ll ever taste?
How To Make Ranch Dressing
Combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, and milk in a small bowl or jar, and whisk until smooth. Add the dill, parsley, chives, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and fresh lemon juice. Whisk again to combine.
Taste the ranch, I recommend dipping fresh vegetables into it for the perfect taste test. Adjust the spices or add more lemon juice for extra tang. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until ready to serve. This will keep well in the fridge for as long as the dairy ingredients are good, usually at least a week.
Salad Dressing Recipes
For more great dressing recipes to try, Honey Lime Jalapeno Vinaigrette, Creamy Poppyseed Dressing, and these Balsamic Vinaigrettes are a few more of my go-to homemade dressings.
If you love ranch but want to bump it up, Pepper Dill Ranch is packed full of crushed pepper and loaded with fresh dill, this dressing is a great addition to our usual dressings and dips for our raw vegetables.
I have this Avocado Lime Salad Dressing by Inside BruCrew Life and this Green Goddess Salad Dressing by Kalyn’s Kitchen on my future recipes to try list.
The Best Homemade Ranch Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or regular milk
- 3/4 – 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon finely cracked pepper
- freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste approximately 1-3 teaspoons, adjust to taste
Instructions
- Whisk together the mayo, sour cream and milk until smooth. Add the spices and whisk until combined. Add the lemon and whisk again. Pour into a jar and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This dressing will keep nicely in the refrigerator for up to a week. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
{originally published 9/15/11 – recipe notes and photographs updated 7/15/21}
Family loves this. I make it at least once a week if not more. I use heavy whipping cream in place of milk. We have to spoon it out after refrigeration because it does thicken up. Make it with homemade mayo and love the clean version of Ranch dressing..never going back to store bought. Thank you for sharing this.
I’m still working on perfecting this recipe. I don’ use buttermilk for anything so alot of i goes down the drain. Thanks so much for the suggestion of heavy whipping cream!
I need recipes that don’t contain milk in it.
I will also need to know the product I can substitute milk for.
I work in a retirement home with elderly people and some of them are lactose intolerant.
Please help me with recipes.
Thanks, Lisa
Maybe coconut milk?
I don’t know what that commenter was talking about this having no flavor. I just whipped up a quick batch since I am out of ranch and had tons of sour cream. My milk went bad so I skipped it and it came out PERFECT! Just how I like it. Thick, and delicious! I had all the herbs in my cupboard! I don’t know if I will ever buy store ranch again! Thank you!
I made this for dinner tonight and loved it!
This was a great ranch dressing. It was easy to make and required no special ingredients. It tastes way better than bottled ranch dressings. This will be my go-to ranch dressing from now on.
Your ranch dressing recipe is fabulous. I did add extra seasonings and a tad more sour cream and it was delicious. Thank you so much.
I made this tonight and am VERY pleased with the delicious result. However, I substituted plain yogurt for the mayonnaise and will make the dressing this way from now on.
I just printed this recipe and everything printy.. all 14 pages..Bad page design…
That shouldn’t have happened. If you clicked the “print recipe” button, it should only print one page. I just tested it.
By far the best dressing! Since my grocery store was out of buttermilk i had the powered buttermilk that you mix with water and it turned out perfect!
Tastes like ranch to me! Far better than commercial. I didn’t have onion powder so added fresh shallot. Also used whole milk. If you add acid to milk it becomes similar to buttermilk, and this recipe calls for acid so wether you use buttermilk or milk you should get the desired result.
Ty! I’ve missed my ranch dressing since I quit eating anything ready made. Have you cooked with this? I’m thinking baked chicken cassarole
Followed the directions exactly. Used fat free milk and low fat sour cream. It turned out exactly how we like our ranch dressing (not too thick). This will be our go-to ranch dressing recipe from now on.
Best Ranch : thank you for sharing this recipe. I made it fir my so.n he is in an extremely low sodium diet. And he lives lives ranch dressing. He was so excited when I served thus to him last night at dinner. This is a great recipe.
Substituted butter milk for milk.
Added a little less than 1/4 tsp garlic powder and a pinch of cayenne pepper.
It lacks the richness that garlic brings and a little “zing” from the cayenne wakes up the taste buds. Nice recipe.
Just made a batch – with no milk – will let everyone know tomorrow
Could I double this recipe using the same amounts?
Yes, it doubles nicely.
I make this recipe with regular milk and just add another 1/2 cup of sour cream (Sometimes a whole cup extra) to thicken it. Though it doesn’t really taste like ranch to me, it actually taste better in my opinion! I also know what exactly is in it, which makes me happier. 🙂 thank you for the recipe! I’ve made it three times now!
Followed the recipe as written with the exception of fresh lemon juice. I used 1.5 teaspoons of bottled lemon juice, full fat sour cream (Daisy), Duke’s Mayo, and regular whole milk. The flavor is phenomenal however the dressing is a bit loose, even after 24 hours in the fridge. Next time I will use a 1/4 cup of milk instead of the 1/2 cup and hopefully that will firm up the consistency. Otherwise, easy and amazing recipe!
The flavor is wonderful, but it is way too thin. I recommend mixing everything together except the milk. Add the milk slowly until it is the desired consistency.