Mom’s Buttermilk Ranch Dressing & Dip Recipe

Creamy, tangy, just thick enough to stick to salad or wings, Mom’s buttermilk ranch dressing and dip recipe is our most requested salad dressing. This Ranch takes advantage of the creamy heft of mayonnaise, the thick smoothness of sour cream and the unmistakable tang of buttermilk. Rounded out with the sharpness of garlic and onion and bursts of herb, this ranch is the perfect flavor bomb for your salad or dippers.

In deference to people who are anti-bleu/blue cheese (the undisputed queen of hot wing dippin’), this dressing is AWESOME! (direct quote) with Buffalo wings, potato chips, Italian subs… and other things I stopped listening to once they mentioned pizza. I am a huge fan of this dressing on a multitude of salads but am squarely in team bleu/blue cheese for wings. In case that wasn’t readily apparent. Let that taste profile inform your decision to bypass this recipe at your own peril.

In other regal news, Bunny, my mother if you’re new here, is the undisputed Salad Queen in these here parts. Give her a few greens, veggie bits, and access to the oils, vinegars and herbs and you’re golden. She’ll fill a bowl with random vegetal (or not) goodies, drizzle a bit of oil, spritz an acidic (vinegar or lemon juice), toss in a few herbs, maybe garlic, maybe Dijon mustard, maybe eye of newt – who knows – and viola! The most magnificently dressed salad appears.

The only problem with attempting to replicate most of her dressings is that she never uses – or needs – a recipe. Except this one. Angels sing. Sun shines. In her handwriting on a well-loved index card from who knows how far back – it’s as long as I can remember eating salads which has been a stretch – she has kept this recipe in the Vault [aka her recipe box]. To be sure, in the world of Ranch dressings and dips, this is the finest recipe and worthy of the black box where it resides.

A few comments on ingredients

Mayonnaise

Full fat, regular. Please. You can duke it out over the brand you use … ah hahahaha … but this is not the recipe to skimp on the fat. Please note this comment will appear thrice just for reinforcement and in case you skip around.

Sour cream

Full fat, regular. This recipe is not conducive to fat-reduction.

Buttermilk

Full fat, regular. HOWEVER (she says with devilish glee), it’s oddly difficult to come by full-fat, regular buttermilk at some stores (I’m looking at you, Harris Teeter!) and I’ve been known to get annoyed at the search and use low-fat. It’s noticeable to me though (keeping it secret from the heathens and BD), I’ve never gotten a comment or side-eye so… proceed with caution.

Onion and Garlic

Full fat, regular. Just kidding… Use fresh. Please. I swear by The Spice House spices, including their dried garlic and onion chips and bits, but this is not the place for that shortcut. I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation but mine is that the juice plays just as big a part as the allium bits and gets missed with the dry version.

The Herbs

Use fresh to get the best flavor. However, living in a place where (as I type this in February), that’s not always possible, I use GOOD FRESH dried herbs. If you use dried herbs, for anything that says TBSP (tablespoon) use a TSP (teaspoon). So 1 tablespoon of fresh chervil = 1 tsp dried.

Regarding the herbs, parsley and chive are key to the flavor. I have, on many occasions, used herbs other than chervil. Tarragon and dill are great substitutes.

But your taste buds are the best tester. Before you use dried herbs, taste them. If, yep, that’s parsley [chives, tarragon, etc.], you’re fine. If not, that taste will also be missing in the dressing.

Salt

I use Diamond Crystal Kosher salt. I tried it on a lark because I was reading about a chef I admire who swears by the stuff and I never looked back. It adds a saltiness without that weird I-sucked-ocean-water-into-my-nose sensation you can get with regular table salt and even some kosher brands. My grocery store carries it and it’s available mail-order if you can’t find it nearby.

Additions

Finally… Mom’s buttermilk ranch dressing and dip recipe is easily adaptable to suit a particular salad if you’ve got a hankering. Keeping the ratios of dairy/allium/salt & pepper leaves you a bit of room for playing. I’ve done a Mexican-esque chopped chicken salad that needed a pepper/cilantro kick. So I added finely minced jalapeño and sweet red peppers, subbed cilantro for the chervil, added chili powder and left everything else the same. That’s probably getting into the weeds where it’s not necessary but I generally don’t stop at what’s necessary so to prove that point, it’s a dressing. Play with the flavors.

FAIR WARNING

Once you make this dressing, or really any good homemade dressing, you will never be able to go back to store-bought (even the $$hwanky versions)! But is that really such a bad thing.

I hope you give Mom’s Buttermilk Ranch dressing recipe a try. Questions or comments? Please post below and I’ll pass along to Bunny or see if I can answer myself… or you may just get a two-fer. Lucky you. I love to see posts on Instagram so please @ or # me at @piecrustandpasta / #piecrustandpasta.