Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Published January 20, 2021. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Never buy store-bought again with this delicious easy to make homemade buttermilk ranch dressing recipe that comes together in minutes.
Believe it or not, I love ranch dressing because it’s fantastic as a dipper and of course as a salad dressing. If you’re the same then definitely serve it up with my buffalo wings or pizza recipe.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
This history of ranch dressing is a bit funny as a man named Steven Henson who was a plumber turned cowboy. While plumbing in Alaska he would cook for his co-workers and that is when he came up with the buttermilk ranch dressing. A couple of years later he moved to California and bought a ranch, and that’s how it got its name.
It’s a very simple recipe that has quite a few iterations nowadays. With that being said, there are some basic staple ingredients including:
- Mayonnaise – I personally like full-fat mayonnaise, like Duke’s.
- Buttermilk – This provides some acid to the recipe make it tangy, and it will also thin it out.
- Onion – Yellow or white onion is the best option to use. In addition, you can use dry onion granules.
- Garlic – Be sure to use just 1 garlic clove if using fresh, if not dry garlic granules are great!
- Vinegar – You can use either distilled or white wine vinegar for this recipe.
- Herbs – Use dill, parsley, or chives in this recipe or a combination of 2 of them.
Since buttermilk is so tangy it is my personal opinion that vinegar isn’t needed, but you can absolutely add it in there if you want a little more.
How to Make Ranch Dressing from Scratch
Follow these simple instructions to make this tasty homemade buttermilk ranch:
Add all of the ingredients to a large bowl.
Whisk together everything until combined and chill before ready to serve.
Is It Cheaper to Make Your Own?
Before I get into a cost breakdown, the great thing about making it on your own is that you know what is going in it. There are no preservatives or anything made in a lab that’s going into your recipe. Homemade is always the better option.
As far as price is concerned there of course are some hard-upfront costs if you don’t have the dry herbs readily on hand. You’re looking at about $15 in dry spice and herb costs, however, those will render 10x this recipe.
In addition to those costs, the only two things you will need are mayonnaise and buttermilk. The costs for those will range but figure about $7.50 total for both. After a total of $22.50 for all ingredients involved, you will get a total of 4 batches of this recipe making it $5.65 which is about the same as store-bought.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make this up 5 days ahead of time.
How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 14 days.
chef notes + tips
- The dressing is kind of like soup where it will actually taste better the next day as it will allow more flavors to come out.
- I used all dry ingredients in my recipe as it will allow the recipe to last longer and I believe the dry ingredients bring out more flavor than when using fresh.
- There are some recipes that call for sour cream. If you want to do this, swap out the mayonnaise amount for sour cream.
- Feel free to add in more or less buttermilk to get it to the consistency you want.
More Dressing Recipes
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Video
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups mayonnaise
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 2 teaspoons onion granules
- 2 teaspoons garlic granules
- 1 ½ teaspoons dry dill
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a medium-size mixing bowl.
- Whisk until everything is completely combined and smooth.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
Notes
- Make-Ahead: You can make this up 5 days ahead of time.
- How to Store: Cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 14 days.
- The dressing is kind of like soup where it will actually taste better the next day as it will allow more flavors to come out.
- I used all dry ingredients in my recipe as it will allow the recipe to last longer and I believe the dry ingredients bring out more flavor than when using fresh.
- There are some recipes that call for sour cream. If you want to do this, swap out the mayonnaise amount for sour cream.
- Feel free to add in more or less buttermilk to get it to the consistency you want.
I love all of these dressings but my favorite is the thousand island. I haven’t tried yours, but then again I just saw it. My love for thousand island is more of a heart felt thing because my moms homemade was all we had growing up bottled thousand was no match. It was a mix of Hellmans mayo (that’s all we had in our area at the time), ketchup, lil worcestershire, lil lemon juice, chopped sweet pickles and juice or pickle relish, salt, pepper and 2-3 hardboiled eggs. She/I always mix everything and then add the pickles and hb eggs. That way we know if we need to add more, we can. Ours was/is always more chunky. When I make it for my salad, my hubby usually goes and gets corned beef (for me to cook🥰), polish kraut and good rye bread from a polish bakery. I might get 2 salads, the rest…..corned beef sammies.
fantastic!
Turns out perfect every time.
Excellent!
Delicious & so easy to make! I tried for years to figure out a good recipe for buttermilk ranch from scratch, and nothing I came up with comes close to this! Wicked Awesome!
So good!!
Made this dressing, so easy and the longer it sits the better it tastes!
Great!
I have tried to make Buttermilk Ranch from scratch for years & could never quite get it right, until I used this recipe. This stuff is OMG GOOD!!♥️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so good!!
Make this all the time and love it
Thank you!
I doubled this recipe and made it with Chef Billy Parisi homemade mayo! OMG‼️‼️
So good I could eat all of it with a spoon!
Excellent!
Love!! I will always make this at home now! Yummy
So good!!
I made this today with mayo that I made with Chef Billy’s recipe. Both came out amazing and 😋
My go to dressing now. Love it.
Oh my! This is dangerously good stuff! Salad has a whole new meaning!! Thank you for sharing! I’m in big French fry trouble!! Chicken nuggets! Lord help me!!
So good!!
So good I could just eat it by the spoonfuls
Best Ranch Dressing recipe I have found!!
Love it!!! Best Ranch Dressing recipe!!
The best ranch dressing ever! I’ll never buy store bought again!
I have to admit I haven’t been a fan of ranch dressing for a very long time. My mother used to make it while I was growing up and we all loved it. I never got her recipe so had to try bottled ranch and lots of recipes. None were even close so I stopped buying bottles and wasting ingredients. I’ve been making your other dressings for a while now so figured I’d give it a shot. I Love It! Actually all of us here love it. Thank You! for a recipe that’s just like Mom’s!
Made a batch this weekend and it was a hit with everyone. I added some dry chives along with the dill and it was very tasty. You were right, it was even better the next day! I can’t wait to try your other dressings!
Please elaborate on “I use all dry ingredients”.
dry as in a jar opposed to fresh.
Have you ever made it with Buttermilk powder? Have you ever used powder in any recipes? Have read different things saying it is not the best to use??
I have not.
Billy, it looks delicious but can I used keto milk or almond milk instead of buttermilk . I haven’t not tried yet . Thanks
Possibly?
This recipe is fantastic! Thanks for sharing : ) I add a squeeze of lemon juice and make my own buttermilk since I never have it on hand.
I loved it!