• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Joy the Baker
Joy the Baker
  • New Magazine!
  • Bread
  • Cookies
  • Cakes
  • Pies
  • Recipes
    • All Recipes
    • Biscuits
    • Muffins
    • Cupcakes
    • Drinks
    • Breakfast
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Fruit
    • Nuts
    • Buttermilk
    • Chocolate
    • Vanilla
    • Holiday
    • Healthy
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegan
  • Blog
    • Baking 101
    • Tips
    • Beyond the Kitchen
    • Let It Be Sunday!
    • New Orleans

Homemade Ranch Dressing

May 23, 2012 by Joy the Baker 120 Comments

 IMG_7743

I really wanted to be a waitress… until I really didn’t want to be a waitress.

When I was a kid, my family would go to the same Italian restaurant every month.  I was so smitten by the young waiter who always seemed more than eager to bring me a straw with my water, and offer a hearty thumbs-up when my dad ordered an extra side of meatballs.  He made his button up shirt look flawless and comfortable…. and he just had one of those faces that you wanted to see every time you were hungry.

I was super stoked when I got my first waitressing job.  …Just so excited.

I was just as happy as I could be until I realized that the restaurant I was working in served ranch dressing.  The ranch wasn’t the problem.  The problem is that people want to put ranch on absolutely everything:  french fries, potatoes, toast, burritos.  Everything!  I was a vertiable ranch dispenser.  It was so far from the ultra-smiley impression of serving tables that I had gotten as a youth… mostly because I wasn’t ultra-smiley… I was a bringer.

Thank heavens this was a good while ago.  The restaurant?  Well, it started with “The” and ended in “Factory”.  It was a little dose of real life.  It helped me realize that I’d rather be the girl making the ranch in the back… not the girl faking a smile in the front.  This is how we learn.

IMG_7682

IMG_7699 - Version 2

Good ranch dressing starts with fresh herbs and smashed garlic.

IMG_7712

I start with a base of sour cream and mayonaise.  Add herbs, salt, pepper, and a good squeeze of lemon.

IMG_7734

Add buttermilk until the dressing finds a good consistency.

ranchtown

 Have some carrot sticks on hand.  You’ll have a lot of tasting to do as you make the ranch.

There are lots of bonus extras to add:  Tabasco, fresh dill, garlic powder, or barbecue sauce.  Add a dash of this and a pinch of that until you’ve reached a happy ranch point.  It’s important to let the dip rest in the fridge before serving.  Four hours.  It’ll give the flavors a chance to marry.

I’m satisfied, aren’t you?

Happy Day!

Homemade Ranch Dressing

makes about 2 1/2 cups of dressing

Print this Recipe!

1 cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)

1/2 cup mayonaise (I used light mayo)

cold buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 cup chopped chives

1 clove garlic

salt and coarse ground black pepper

additions:

garlic powder

tabasco sauce

worchestershire sauce

chopped dill

barbecue sauce

On a cutting board, smash a whole garlic clove.  Sprinkle garlic with about 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt.  With a fork, smash the salt into the garlic, creating a paste.

In a medium bowl, stir together sour cream, mayonaise, parsley, chives, and garlic.  Add salt and pepper.  Drizzle in buttermilk until you’ve reached a desired consistency.  I added about 1/2 to 3/4 cup but you may add as much as you’d like.

Add any additional ingredients like tabasco sauce, garlic powder, and dill.  A touch of barbecue sauce is dang good!

Taste and adjust ingredients to taste.

Place dressing in an airtight container and allow to rest in the fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.  The flavors need to rest and meld before serving.  Serve cold, and add more buttermilk if you find that the dressing is too thick.  Dressing lasts up to 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge.

Previous PostNext Post

Filed Under: Buttermilk, Gluten-Free, Recipes, Savory

Previous Post: « Strawberry Ice
Next Post: These Things I’ve Learned in Thirty Years »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ruth

    September 6, 2016 at 5:26 pm

    I love their ranch–I’m sorry if I was probably one of the patrons who kept asking for extra ranch to keep dipping everything in but…it’s my favorite Ranch Dressing. One thing that you mentioned is that you give it a squeeze of lemon–that’s not on the ingredient list? I hope you became the girl in the back making the dressing… ;)

    Reply
« Older Comments
Comments Page 8 of 8
« Previous 1 … 6 7 8

Trackbacks

  1. i love lists: weekend snacks | this abundant life says:
    October 9, 2015 at 10:28 am

    […] slices with homemade ranch & […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS IN Buttermilk

Sliced Texas Sheet Cake in a pan.
Texas Sheet Cake Recipe

For the past few, oh I dunno…. decades the only real question for family gatherings is: who is going to make the Texas Sheet Cake? It’s goes without saying that this unassuming, pecan studded cake will be sliced up at the end of every family celebration. As sure as the sun will rise, ya know?…

Read More

Slice of chocolate cake with chocolate frosting on a plate with a fork.
Everybody’s Birthday Cake – Chocolate Peanut Butter

What’s your go-to birthday cake? I’m taking a wild guess and crossing my fingers that it’s the best chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting. My dream cake? Literally any cake someone else bakes for me, amen. Though if they happen to bake an angel food cake topped with mountains of fresh raspberry whipped cream that…

Read More

Savory Pumpkin Pancetta Waffles with greens and eggs

I haven’t had to pull out all the stops, and all of my party tricks to host brunch and dinner guests this year. In some ways it’s been a luxury to let the dishes pile and air dry on the kitchen counter and I’ve been a little lazy about keeping champagne cold in the fridge…

Read More

Primary Sidebar

Fresh baked emails, delivered to your inbox

Jump to Recipe

Receive recipes from Joy the Baker and updates on events at The Bakehouse.

HI! I’M JOY!

Jump to Recipe

Welcome! This has been my little corner of the internet since 2008!

I’m a baker, photographer, cookbook author and teacher.  I live laugh love in New Orleans. 

MORE ABOUT JOY AND THE TEAM

BOOKS + Magazines

Jump to Recipe

JOY THE BAKER 2022 SUMMER MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2021 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

JOY THE BAKER 2020 HOLIDAY MAGAZINE

HOMEMADE DECADENCE

OVER EASY: SWEET AND SAVORY RECIPES FOR LEISURELY DAYS COOKBOOK

JOY THE BAKER COOKBOOK

Jump to Recipe

Joy the baker with dyed bandana around neck

HOW TO MAKE DYED BANDANAS

as seen in JtB Magazine!

Jump to Recipe
joy the baker on facebook joy the baker on twitter pinterest-social instagram-socialbloglovin-social

JOY @ WILLIAMS SONOMA

Jump to Recipe

SHOP THE CAKE LINE OF CAKE MIXES!

DRAKE ON CAKE

Jump to Recipe

Passionate from miles away since 2015.

Check it out on Instagram

Drake on cake instagram.

 

FAVORITE FRUIT RECIPES

strawberry sheet cake on a plate with strawberries on top.

My Favorite Super Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake

Berry crostata topped with whipped cream with coffee.

A Single Serve Berry Crostata Recipe

fresh baked blueberry cobbler on a plate with vanilla ice cream on top.

The Secrets To My Favorite Blueberry Cobbler

POPULAR CAKES

strawberry sheet cake on a plate with strawberries on top.

My Favorite Super Easy Strawberry Sheet Cake

Slice of coconut cake on small white plate with coffee.

My favorite Coconut Cake is actually made with cake mix

A slice of lemon blueberry gooey butter cake held on a cake slicer.

Lemon Blueberry Gooey Butter Cake

Footer

Instagram

joythebaker

📚Baker and author of books and magazines
🎂Creator @drakeoncake
💁🏻‍♀️Classes with me @thebakehousenola
🍰 Products with @williamssonoma

joythebaker
My EASIEST Strawberry Sheet Cake is also my absolu My EASIEST Strawberry Sheet Cake is also my absolute favorite. Get into a box of white cake mix and fresh 🍓🍓 purée! Topped with a thick layer of strawberry cream cheese frosting - this cake is a little pink dream! ⁣
⁣
The Easiest Strawberry Sheet Cake recipe linked in the bio for you! 💋
Our resident reader, @tobyfels shares my favorite Our resident reader, @tobyfels shares my favorite list of the summer on Joy the Baker this year: The Best Books for Summer 2022!  As a person who reads Beach Reads all year long, this is IT! With titles by @ashleymcoleman_ @anarasong @annleary @bonnie_garmus_author @heyashposton @annabelmonaghan @greerhendricks @sarahpekkanen @shelbyvanpeltwrites @marilynsimonrothstein @@misterosman and @kirstin.chen. The guide to your bookworm summer linked in the bio!
Over here testing the limits of “you are what yo Over here testing the limits of “you are what you eat” and will soon be taking my final form as a summer tomato. ⁣🫠🍅
⁣
This Mediterranean Feta and Fresh Tomato Tart is an absolute show stopper with a buttery crisp, press-in crust, whipped feta, and layers of fresh tomato, cucumber, onions, and olives. I’ll leave the recipe linked in the bio - it’s really very special. Join me. We are 🍅🍅.
Here are my two best kept secrets for getting thro Here are my two best kept secrets for getting through this summer.  I’ve never been much for secrets so I’m letting you right in! ⁣
1.	I’m committed to folding crumbled chewy brownies into the easiest homemade no-churn ice cream.⁣
2.	I’m shopping for all of my baking and summer entertaining essentials, wine and cheese at the new @aldiusa stores opening across the Gulf Coast! Wait… you’re as obsessed with ALDI as I am, right? The shopping is always easy and affordable and I always come home with a fun treat among my essentials. Hit up my stories to see my grocery haul (and the chips I ate in the car on the way home) and head to your nearest ALDI for your summer essentials!  #ad⁣
⁣
I’ll leave the recipe and your #ALDILove grocery list linked in the bio!
Let’s just make one! ⁣ ⁣ One Single Berry Cr Let’s just make one! ⁣
⁣
One Single Berry Crostata just you for. Double the recipe (🔗 in the bio) only if you want to share. ⁣
⁣
#joythebaker #berry #crostata #smallbatch #dessert #foodblogfeed
The freezer is packed with ice cream treats from h The freezer is packed with ice cream treats from here on out, and that’s a promise. ⁣
⁣
Find this Milk and Cereal Ice Cream Bar and loads of other semi-homemade ice cream treats linked in the bio! 💓🍦🫠
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2022 · Joy the Baker
All rights reserved. Violators will be whupped and sent to bed with no dessert · Privacy Policy

Scroll Up