Per usual, I headed to allrecipes.com* and typed in "ranch dressing". After searching through various options, I selected Ranch Dressing II to try. I made it early Saturday morning and put it in a small mason jar in the fridge to allow the flavors to blend. Within about 5 hours, it tasted pretty much like Hidden Valley ranch! As written, the recipe works best as a dip. My recommendations/recipe edits are below:
Ingredients
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream (I used about 3/4 cup of buttermilk instead because I wanted it to be more of a dressing than a dip. And um, I had buttermilk. And sour cream is icky)
1/2 teaspoon dried chives
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed (use WAY less. I love dill, but even using about 1/4 tsp was too much)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (use a smidgeon more)
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
1.In a large bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes before serving.
Let's run the numbers:
- Mayo - $3 for a big jar, and I used a cup, so $.45? One of these days I'm going to make my own mayo. It's on the list!
- Buttermilk - My milkman had it on sale for $1.39 for a quart. There are 4 cups in a pint, so $.35
- Herbs - ballpark, I'm guessing $.15 for everything?
Hidden Valley, you can suck it. Not only did I make my own dressing that is just as good as yours, but mine is way cheaper and free of icky stuff:
Vegetable oil, egg yolk, sugar, salt, buttermilk, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, MSG, artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate and disodium guanylate
Mmmm, MSG and disodium phosphate anyone? Just like grandma used to make it! When I went to spell check this post, the only thing the dictionary didn't recognize was the ingredient list from Hidden Valley. That's telling you something!
*I receive no compensation for talking about this website. It just rocks my world and I thought you guys should know!
Thanks for the recipe. Ranch is my favorite dressing ;), but I won't buy store-bought dressings, because ... well, they're icky. Disodium ... what?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recipe, it looks delicious, how long do you think it would stay good for?
ReplyDeleteHi Tammy Jo! I'm guessing a few weeks in the fridge. Buttermilk has a semi-long fridge shelf life (2-3 weeks), and mayo is good for a long time.
ReplyDeleteGonna try this!! My husband is a ranch junkie and every time he picks up the bottle to use it I cringe. Anything that clings that much to the side of a bottle when you are trying to rinse it out is just gross and no good. It's like glue. I get an arm work out every time I try to rinse those suckers out before putting them in the recycling. Gross.
ReplyDeleteYou have a milkman!?
ReplyDeleteYou've got to try this ranch dressing recipe too....my fave!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.topsecretrecipes.com/Outback-Steakhouse-Ranch-Salad-Dressing-Recipe.html
Going to try this. I used to love ranch dressing but hormonal changes has caused some really weird allergy triggers for me. I used to be able to eat some things, but now it causes physical pain if I eat them. Ranch dressing is one of them. No clue what it is - I assume it's one of the "spices" they lump together under that term. All I know Newman's Own buttermilk ranch is the only one that doesn't leave me trying to scratch my nose off for an hour after eating it. (Like cilantro causes me to be doubled over for the rest of the night as it tears up my insides. Strange. Allergies.)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely want to try this. Thank you.