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Get It NowOf all the dressings out there, ranch is my absolute favorite. And ever since I posted this homemade ranch dressing recipe (on the 2nd anniversary of Wholesome Yum!), it has been crazy popular with readers, too. Many people have told me that it tastes like Hidden Valley Ranch. Others argue that it’s even better. After so many rave reviews, I can confidently say that this is the best ranch dressing… all with natural ingredients!
For my keto friends, you’ll be happy to know that this is a keto ranch dressing. (I even included it in my first keto cookbook.) But, it doesn’t use any specialty ingredients and “regular” would be exactly the same… it’s simply the best ranch dressing, no matter your eating lifestyle.
Why You’ll Love This Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe
- Tangy, herby flavor
- Cool and creamy texture
- Easy to make in just 5 minutes
- Natural, common ingredients
- No sugar, corn, soy, fillers, or preservatives – much healthier than store-bought ranch!
- Tastes great on everything!
What Is In Ranch Dressing?
This section explains how to choose the best ranch dressing ingredients, what each one does in the recipe, and substitution options. For measurements, see the recipe card below.
- Mayonnaise – I often use homemade avocado oil mayo, but you could also use a store-bought variety.
- Sour Cream & Lemon Juice – Traditional ranch contains buttermilk (or buttermilk powder), but I don’t usually have these on hand, so this homemade ranch dressing recipe uses sour cream and lemon juice to create the same tang as store-bought buttermilk ranch dressing. You could also substitute the sour cream for plain Greek yogurt, and the lemon juice for white vinegar.
- Dried Herbs – To get that classic ranch flavor, you will need dried parsley (or fresh parsley), dried dill (or fresh dill), and dried chives (or fresh chives). If using fresh herbs, triple the amounts — just use the same measurements in tablespoons instead of teaspoons.
- Spices – Garlic powder (or 2 cloves of fresh garlic), sea salt, onion powder, and black pepper add just the right flavor. Use freshly ground black pepper if you can. You could also add paprika for a more complex flavor.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk – This helps to thin out the dressing. For a nut-free version, you can replace this with any kind of milk, such as coconut milk, hemp milk, regular dairy milk (if it fits your lifestyle), half and half, or heavy cream.
VARIATION: Want a dry ranch dressing mix?
It’s just as quick and easy to make a dry version with similar ingredients! See my homemade ranch seasoning recipe for instructions.
How To Make Ranch Dressing
This section shows how to make homemade ranch dressing, with step-by-step photos and details about the technique, to help you visualize it. For full instructions, including amounts and temperatures, see the recipe card below.
- Combine. Whisk the ranch dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add almond milk last, gradually, until you reach desired consistency.
TIP: Adjust the amount of milk to get the thickness you like.
I like to make it a little thicker for a dip, or thinner for a dressing.
- Chill. This is optional, but enhances the taste if you have time. Once you’ve made the ranch dressing recipe, refrigerate it for at least 1 hour to let flavors develop.
Storage Instructions
Store homemade ranch dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. (Note that it may be thicker straight from the fridge — you can always thin it out with more milk as needed.)
I like to store this dressing in a salad dressing shaker or mason jar for easy mixing, but you could also use a glass salad dressing bottle or a plastic squeeze bottle.
Can You Freeze Ranch Dressing?
No, you can’t freeze ranch dressing recipes. The main ingredients, mayonnaise and sour cream, don’t freeze well.
Best Ways To Use Homemade Ranch Dressing
You’ll want to put this stuff everything! Whether you’re using it as a dip, condiment, or casserole enhancer, this homemade version of ranch will quickly become your go-to. Here are some ideas:
- Salad – Ranch is a staple for all kinds of salad recipes. It goes particularly well ona BLT salad, hearty chef salad, or probably the most popular option, cobb salad.
- Dip – This easy, creamy ranch dressing recipe also works well as a dip for veggies such as carrots, celery, broccoli, or cauliflower. Fresh ones are always good, but it’s also delicious with fried zucchini or zesty buffalo cauliflower. You can also mix it into an excellent crack dip, or dunk zucchini chips or kale chips in it.
- Wings – Serve this dish with air fryer chicken wings, crispy garlic parmesan wings, zesty lemon pepper wings, or baked buffalo chicken wings.
- Casseroles – Use it in chicken bacon ranch casserole, or try it in other casseroles like spaghetti squash casserole.
- Soups – This dressing is even delicious in soups. Mix it into taco soup or drizzle on top of buffalo chicken soup.
- Chicken – Use it in cheesy bacon ranch chicken, spicy buffalo chicken salad, or as a dip for bacon wrapped chicken tenders.
- Pizza – Drizzle it on chicken crust pizza, or make a BBQ chicken pizza using your favorite BBQ sauce and drizzle ranch on top.
More Easy Homemade Dressings
Tired of store-bought dressings with fake ingredients? If you like this easy ranch dressing recipe, you’ll love these, too:
Ranch Dressing Recipe (The BEST)
Make the BEST homemade ranch dressing recipe in just 5 minutes, with common ingredients. Use it as a salad dressing or dip!
Instructions
Tap on the times in the instructions below to start a kitchen timer while you cook.
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Whisk all ingredients together. Add the almond milk last, gradually, until you reach desired consistency (possibly less for a thick dip or more for a thinner dressing).
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Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to let the flavors develop. Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.
Did You Like It?
Leave a rating to help other readers, or get the recipe sent to your inbox.
Nutrition facts are provided as a courtesy. Have questions about calculations or why you got a different result? Please see our nutrition policy.
© Copyright Maya Krampf for Wholesome Yum. Please DO NOT SCREENSHOT OR COPY/PASTE recipes to social media or websites. We’d LOVE for you to share a link with photo instead. 🙂
428 Comments
Brit
0Was craving a keto soup and found your delicious 5 ingredient taco soup recipe. I made this ranch dressing and your taco seasoning recipe. Incredible, this ranch dressing absolutely transformed the soup, my husband was moaning with pleasure with every mouthful! Lol
The only changes I made was substituting homemade 24hr yoghurt for the sour cream and adding 1/8 cup heavy cream. Thank you so much for your quick and easy and so tasty recipes!
AWhit330
0Found your recipe and it’s really good, you’ll think I’m crazy but add a few dashes of fish sauce to get that umami flavor and it’s absolutely perfect!
Omalleyoop
0Wow! Never been a big ranch fan but I am now. We were forced to alter the recipe because of the items on hand. nonetheless, my wife who is a big fan of ranch says it’s the best she’s ever had. We are on a keto diet so we used avocado oil mayo (which is thinner than regular mayo so we only used 1T of almond milk but actually could have omitted it), didn’t have chives on hand, and couldn’t wait the hour chill time. Definitely going to double the recipe next time. Thanks
Ma
0All I can say is …. WOW! I have searched for a homemade ranch that everyone can agree on for years. I gave up a long time ago. Been keto for 6+ years and just figured it was not to be. In one last ditch effort chose the first one that came up. FInally. The search is over. Thank you sooooo much!
Koren Adams
0This ranch dressing is absolutely delicious! It was easy to make and it tastes better than most regular ranch dressings. I used Hellmans olive oil mayo instead of regular mayo to make it a bit healthier.
Claire
0BEST Ranch Dressing ever! I won’t buy store bought dressing again!
Claire
0This is the BEST Ranch Dressing ever!! I never buy store bought dressing after having this. Thank you!
Diana
0OMG! First of all I made this dressing on a whim early in the morning before my fiance went to work because I totally forgot today was salad day so I quickly looked for a recipe that wasn’t difficult, I saw this one had excellent ratings and we happened to have everything on the list except milk but we had heavy cream. I am a person that thinks there’s nothing better than the Hidden Valley packet or Wing Stop Ranch so I was very skeptical but hey, this was for his lunch so I needed to act quick. As I stirred all the ingredients together I said out loud, “wow this really looks like regular ranch” my fiance agreed. I told him, okay let’s taste it, we did and we both were like WOW! It was sooooo good. I had cut the recipe in 1/2 because he was the only one taking a salad and although I have some left over, I wish I had made the full batch. This recipe is perfection and I wouldn’t change a thing. I will NEVER use store-bought or Hidden Valley ranch packets again
* oh and I didn’t have onion salt (for some reason), so I used onion powder and a little extra salt and it was still perfect
Kris
0This was great!
Kelli Carolan
0This recipe is amazing. So easy, and delicious.
Sarah B
0Thank you so much! I would take this over store bought ranch dressing any day! Absolutely delicious. Thank you again for sharing.
Beth Hamamoto
0Great dressing!! Made it , but used buttermilk instead of almond milk.
Tastes great, easy to make too
I will never use another recipe
Judy
0This is THE BEST Ranch dressing recipe ever! It goes together so quickly with ingredients we always have on hand. The only thing i did differently is using Half & Half instead of Almond milk. We love almond milk but we always get the unsweetened Vanilla one and i wasn’t sure how the Vanilla flavor would work.
Ive made it several times, always with great results. Been looking for quite some time for a fabulous Ranch dressing & this is it!
Btw, yes, fresh lemons are hard to have on hand but when they are plentiful in season i peel them ( using the peel for other stuff) and pop them in to the blender & pour into the small size of cubes, ice cube trays, then freeze. Works great to just pop a cube or 2 in the dressing.
Sarah
0THIS IS AWESOME!!! I’m getting into the “make what you eat” lifestyle and this is definitely making me want to continue making everything I eat. So good! No nothing that’s unnatural! Happy reader here!
Cindy
0This is an amazing recipe, so tasty and simple! I will never use store bought again!! Thank you for sharing it.
Dina
0Thank you for this recipe! I have made several recipes for ranch dressing and this one is by far my very favorite, it is so good. DEFINITELY was a success! And thank you for all the information you give!
Bec
0Until I started getting good at reading labels, I never realized how much sugar is hidden in ranch dressing! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
Sara Maniez
0My husband wants to try the KETO diet, thank you for sharing a recipe that I can try to use for our family! It looks delicious!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0You’re welcome, Sara! This is actually a good classic ranch dressing that many people who aren’t following keto also like. 🙂
Kat
0Making this tonight! I thought I was eating good salad dressing by buying the refrigerated glass bottle types. Last night I actually read all of the ingredients and wow! Two forms of corn, sugar, preservatives galore and too salty. Woke up this morning and my rings are all thought. No more manufactured salad dressing. Wish me luck. I will post results. Thank you.
Brandy
0I’ve made this a few times now and every time it turns out SO delicious! I’m not doing keto, but your picture looked so yummy, I just had to try it! I didn’t have any lemon on hand, so I omitted it and I used regular milk instead of coconut milk. It turned out amazing. Next time I have lemon on hand, I will make this again and see what the difference is. This will for sure be my go-to when making ranch. So much better than the powered stuff!
Michele
0L am going to try this ranch dressing on a keto bbq chicken pizza. I used to get a bbq chicken pizza takeout and they used ranch dressing as the base but theirs was on the sweet side so I will just take some of the dressing and sweeten it up a bit for the pizza. Thanks Maya.
Roqui
0I made this last night to go with my zucchini fries! I had a little issue finding dried chives so I used fresh but do think it would be better with dried. Love, love, LOVE!
Can’t wait to make this a weekly staple!
Unfortunely, the lemon doesn’t last in my house… My 3 year old eats them all!!
Susie Ford
0Best Ever!!!
Kayla
0How long would you recommend this would be good for?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kayla, It would be good for as long as your mayo and sour cream… about 7 to 10 days.
Helen Spillane
0Keto Kitchen Warrior Goddess does it again!!! OMG!!! Thank You…. this is My all time favorite dressing.
I’ve lost 20kgs in 4 months on Keto!! (1.5 to go to my goal weight of 65kg!!) And all my favorite recipes are right here. Thank You, Thank You… THANK YOU!!!!
WholesomeYUM.
Paula
0Can a low or fat free mayo and sour cream be used?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Paula, Yes, you can do that!
Theresa
0Your recipes are amazing! Thank you for so many wonderful recipes I can use for myself as a LCNewbie, as well as, recipes that will help my diabetic sister get through the holidays! The LCK Ranch Dressing is fab!
Theresa
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that, Theresa! Thank you!
Tim
0I don’t know who you are but my God you have made my keto existence sustainable. After looking up and down the dressing isle we couldn’t find a single dressing that fit into needs, Nealy every one has added sugar…
Your recipe is better than other dressing I’ve had and it’s healthy without the crap.
Thank you again
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that, Tim! Please come back soon!
Tracy
0This is so yummy. I should have made a double batch, I cannot stop eating it. So easy and taste way better than any bottled keto friendly dressing I have tried. I used coconut mayonnaise in mine.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Yay, so glad to hear that, Tracy!
Tanya Klein
0Hi there 🙂 Can you suggest a way that this yummy recipe can be made with a bit less fat? Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Tanya, You could use light sour cream if you’d like.
Danielle
0If you don’t happen to have lemon juice on hand, you can substitute distilled white vinegar if you want as well.
You can make buttermilk with regular milk (or thinned cream) and lemon juice or vinegar. Let it sit until it curdles a bit and mix well.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you for sharing, Danielle! Yes, that should work, just with a slightly different flavor.
Jodi Hollow
0Died and gone to heaven with this ranch recipe!!!!!!!! DELICIOUS!!! THANK YOU!!!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love to hear that, Jodi! Have a great day!
Kris Andersen
0Do you know how many macros are in this recipe?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Kris, The nutrition info is on the recipe card above.
Heather
0Pickle juice in place of almond milk… amazing! Sometimes I also add some cilantro
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Heather! Have a great day!
Wendy
0How many servings does this make/ what is the serving size?
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Wendy, The serving size is 2 tbsp and the recipe makes 12 servings.
Counselorchock
0YUM! I used white pepper cuz I love it and this is DELISH. Thanks!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that! Have a great day!
Analee
0I am so excited to true this recipe! I have a question though, when trying to avoid canola or soybean oil, what Mayo do you use? Or do you make your own. If so I’d love a link to your recipe! Most mayos have those pesky oils in them. Thank you, can’t wait to hear from you! Lovely website!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Analee, I usually make my own mayo because it takes just a couple minutes – here is the avocado mayo recipe.
Kelly
0Ohmygoodness I just had to make a comment because this is the best ranch I’ve ever tasted, seriously!! Thanks for sharing it!!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked it, Kelly! Have a great day!
Felicia
0I was skeptical because I’ve tried so many and didn’t like them but as I was reading recipe, I realized I had everything so I thought, why not!! This dressing recipe is off the hook good. I followed recipe exactly and wouldn’t add or change a thing. I used unsweetened almond/coconut milk because that’s what I had.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Thank you so much, Felicia! Enjoy!
Renee
0Color me skeptical. I love Ranch Dressing and I can’t help it, but I tend to be picky about it. I made this to use in your Bacon, Chicken, Broc casserole. Oh my! It is so good (and so EASY) to make. This is the best Ranch Dressing I’ve ever had. Maya, thank you!! So happy to have a great keto dressing that is so tasty, quick and easy. 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy to hear that, Renee! Thanks for stopping by!
Heather
0So awesome… I substituted pickle juice for the almond milk and it was sooooo good!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love your substitutions, Heather!
Stephanie
0Do you know where to buy no sugar added bacon that is also grain and soy free? I can’t find any. The no sugar bacon I found, the pigs were fed grain.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Stephanie, My favorite bacon is from Butcher Box – you can get a discount code and free package of bacon here.
Jeanette
0Love it! Quick and easy!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Who doesn’t love quick and easy, Jeanette? 🙂
Carolyn
0I am a complete ranch snob, it’s sad. So I’m actually very excited to try this. I will update once I do.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I hope you like it, Carolyn! Thanks for stopping by!
LR
0My favorite go-to ranch dressing. Thank you for the recipe. I don’t know why I waited so long to make my own dressing. The stuff in the store is so much and full of chemicals. I’m going to try some of your other recipes.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am so happy you liked the ranch dressing! Please come back again soon!
Sonya
0Hi Maya! Thanks for the recipe. I just made it and set it to chill. I had to use diluted heavy cream as I was out of almond milk. I took a little taste before it went in and I love it. Now I will have more leafy greens in the form of salad. Glad I found this one.Thanks again.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I am glad you liked it, Sonya! Thanks for stopping by!
Tammy
0I’m not much of a ranch person, but my husband and kids are, I mean, we’re diehard Hidden Valley fanatics. When I switched to keto, I found this recipe and made it using homemade mayonnaise. Everybody in my household went crazy over it, including myself, the anti-ranch person. My husband says Hidden Valley now tastes weird to him (probably because of all the chemicals), and the kids practically beg for this stuff. Even my picky eater loves it!!
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love to hear that, Tammy! Have a great day!
Terri
0Curious as to why “nut-free’ is listed in the keywords when the recipe calls for Almond milk
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0Hi Terri, It says “nut-free option”. This is because the recipe has the option of being nut-free. You can swap the almond milk with another milk of choice, like coconut milk beverage.
Daresa Ryan
0Thank you so much for this! I didn’t have any dill or almond milk, so I used three tablespoons of pickle juice to replace 🙂
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0What a great tip, Daresa! Thanks for sharing with us!
Tawna
0Let me just say Yummm!! So delicious. I will never buy store bought dressing again. So easy to make. I did not have chives onion powder or almond milk. Used HWC and omitted the other two. It was amazing. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Maya | Wholesome Yum
0I love to hear that, Tawna! Thank you!