What could possibly be better than a sunny and warm early summer afternoon filled with family, chilled wine, and cool and creamy homemade ranch dressing with a rainbow of crunchy raw vegetables?
With family unexpectedly in town for a few days, we get to focus on the important stuff, like breathing, relaxing, and simply being together.
We had some gorgeous vegetables with no real plan for them, and I put the homemade ranch dressing together early so that the flavors could mellow and come together. By the time we were in the mood for snacks, the ranch dressing was beautifully cool, flavorful, and perfect for a summer afternoon treat.
This homemade ranch dressing is one of those recipes that gets more way compliments than you’d expect for a simple dip or salad dressing. If you’re having people over, I recommend making it. It impresses everyone! There’s something magical about the flavors of fresh homemade ranch after years of eating the stuff that comes in bottles, packets, and jugs. I’ll freely admit to liking nearly every ranch I’ve ever tried (up to and including Cool Ranch Doritos…), but homemade ranch dressing can’t be beaten. It’s filled with flavor and truly fun to share.
The only trick is to chop the ingredients really small, so your dressing doesn’t have big chunks of garlic, onion, and celery. If lots of chopping or mincing will drive you crazy, you can absolutely pulse the ingredients in your food processor. You don’t want to puree them, but you do want to make sure they’re nice and tiny.
Are you watching your food choices? You can certainly substitute low-fat or fat-free sour cream here, but I won’t pretend that the flavor will be the same. Full-fat dairy products are delicious!
As always, use whatever vegetables for dipping that you have around, you’re growing in your garden or that you know you and your family love. There’s no wrong choice here! We used rainbow carrots, celery, red pepper, radishes, and cucumber, but if you want zucchini and mushrooms, go for it!
If what you’re looking for is a thinner salad dressing and not a thick dip, you can easily thin this homemade ranch dressing out with a little more buttermilk or even a tablespoon or two of water. Just add it little by little until you have the consistency you’re going for. If you do that, just make sure to give it another taste when it’s ready to see if you want to add a little more salt after increasing the liquids. Always make sure you taste everything after you change it!
Chop everything small!
Add your ingredients to the bowl
Use any vegetables you have on hand
Deliciously cool and creamy homemade ranch dressing
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 Tbs buttermilk
- 1/2 red onion, minced
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, minced
- 2 Tbs parsley, minced
- 1 Tbs thyme, minced
- 2 Tbs lemon juice
- 1 Tbs lime juice
- 1/2 Tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 dash Tapatillo or Tabasco
- salt and pepper
- Place the garlic, onion, and celery in a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and the lemon and lime juice and mix well. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
- Add the sour cream, buttermilk, black pepper, and the Tapatillo and mix well. Mix in the parsley and thyme. Stir in the red wine vinegar. Taste, and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper, and lemon or lime juice.
- For even better flavor, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors mellow and come together.
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