In Pursuit of the Perfect Ranch Dressing


We've all heard it before and trust me I say it a lot! Processed foods have more fat, sugar and sodium (salt) in them. I cook a lot from scratch but still relied on some processed items - store bought salad dressing being one of them. Until I realized just how much sodium is in them.
Anywhere from 115-160 mg of sodium for every one tablespoon. Considering adults only need 1500 mg of sodium each day – sodium from salad dressing can really add up quickly.

I decided to start making homemade salad dressing. I quickly learned vinaigrettes can be easily made. Michele even posted a great video “Homemade Vinaigrettes” on August 30, 2013.

But ranch dressing had us a little more stumped. I posted a ranch dressing recipe on March 26, 2014 that we tried and like but wanted to see and compare other recipes. After looking over a couple and realizing many recipes are similar, my daughter and I tried a ranch dressing experiment one night.

We mixed plain Greek yogurt and buttermilk to the consistency we liked (3:1) – ¾ cup yogurt and ¼ cup buttermilk (this is great for a dip but would need more buttermilk to make a dressing – try adding 1 tablespoon at a time). I then divided this into 10 small dishes and pulled out our spice rack. We each took five bowls and went to town mixing various spices into each with a taste test to finish.

Our favourite combination was garlic powder, parsley, dill and a dash of hot sauce.

What we learned – we didn't care for tarragon, bay leaves or thyme. We also preferred Franks Red Hot Sauce over Tabasco Sauce.

I would love to hear your favourite spices to make a ranch dressing.

Our Perfect Ranch Dressing/Dip

  • ¾ cups plain Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1/8 tsp Garlic powder
  •  1 tsp Parsley
  • 1 tsp Dill
  • Hot sauce to taste (optional)


Mix together and refrigerate for one hour before serving. 

Enjoy!

Shannon RD

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