Hidden Valley and most bottled ranch dressings lead with soybean oil and xanthan gum, then add monosodium glutamate, natural flavors, and modified food starch. Real ranch is a fat base (mayo and sour cream), buttermilk for tang, garlic, onion, and fresh herbs. That's the whole formula.
The classic buttermilk version is thinner and pourable — what most restaurant copycats use for dipping and drizzling. The yogurt ranch is thicker and higher in protein, better as a salad dressing or a spread. Both use the same herb blend and improve overnight in the fridge.
Ingredients
- Classic: ½ cup homemade mayo, ¼ cup full-fat sour cream, ¼ cup buttermilk
- Yogurt ranch: ¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt, 2 tbsp homemade mayo, 2–3 tbsp whole milk
- Herbs + seasoning (both): 1 tbsp fresh dill, 1 tbsp fresh chives, 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp fine sea salt, ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk ½ cup homemade mayo and ¼ cup full-fat sour cream together in a bowl or directly in a wide-mouth jar until fully smooth.
- Add ¼ cup buttermilk one tablespoon at a time, whisking after each addition, until you reach your preferred consistency — thicker for a dip, thinner for a pourable dressing.
- Stir in 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp fine sea salt, and ¼ tsp black pepper.
- Fold in 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill and 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives. Taste and adjust salt or garlic.
- Seal and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving — the herbs bloom and the flavors meld significantly in that time. Stir or shake before each use. Keeps for 1 week.
- Whisk ¾ cup full-fat Greek yogurt and 2 tbsp homemade mayo together until smooth.
- Add whole milk one tablespoon at a time until the consistency is right — yogurt ranch is naturally thicker than buttermilk ranch. Two tablespoons makes a thick dip; three makes it more pourable.
- Add 1 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp garlic powder, ½ tsp onion powder, ½ tsp fine sea salt, and ¼ tsp black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Fold in 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill and 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh chives. Taste and adjust seasoning.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Keeps for 1 week.
Tips
Tip 1
Dried dill works in a pinch but fresh dill is noticeably better — use fresh if this is going on a recipe you care about (Outback blooming onion, wings).
Tip 2
Ranch improves significantly overnight — make it the day before when you can.
Tip 3
No buttermilk? Combine ¼ cup whole milk with 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. Let it sit for 5 minutes until slightly curdled. Works exactly the same.
Tip 4
For a thicker wing or blooming onion dip: skip the buttermilk and use ½ cup sour cream instead. Drop the milk entirely in the yogurt version.
What you'll need
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