Homemade Ranch Dressing {Crazy Cooking Challenge}

Tina's at Mom's Crazy Cooking brought back the Crazy Cooking Challenge and Ranch Dressing is "IT" this month.

Ranch is one of the most popular varieties of dips set out among the appetizers at every party and it goes with every raw vegetable you can think of.

I always remember my mom making many different dressings for coleslaw, macaroni and pasta salads (they are different in their own way); tossed green salads and vegetables. As a result I've always made my own dressings and have passed that on to my daughters as well. They always taste so good and the ingredients are all natural and fresh, no preservatives or additives. Using a food processor is a time saver for making dressings any time.

There are lots of homemade dry ranch dressing recipes floating around the web, all trying to recreate a 'copycat' recipe for the Hidden Valley variety. The Hidden Valley Ranch owners were the creators of the now popular Ranch dressing in 1954 and it went commercial many years later when guests loved the dressing so much the owners of HV Ranch were encouraged to package it for the masses.

I happened to be in Target and was checking the ingredients on the HV package & took this picture with my phone. The MSG ingredient is the one ingredient that I avoid on packaged foods. So making homemade ranch dressing is the way to go.

Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonaise
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 TBLS. chopped fresh parsley
• 2 TBLS. chopped fresh dill
• 1 TBLS. finely chopped chives
• 1/2 TBLS garlic finely chopped
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• kosher salt to taste

Prep Directions

1. You can place the fresh herbs and garlic in a food processor to finely chop them.
2. Mix well the mayo and buttermilk in a small bowl and then add the chopped herbs.

3. Add seasonings to taste.
4. To make a dip add plain greek yogurt or sour cream in place of the buttermilk - depending on your preference. Add seasonings to taste and fresh vegetables for dipping.

The bonus to making homemade dressings and dips is that you can use any seasonings you want. Make it to honor your family's heritage and make it your own!


Mangia!
Winelady Cooks