The BEST homemade buttermilk ranch dressing! Buttermilk and loads of fresh herbs are the stars of this easy homemade sour cream based dressing - you will never go back to store bought again!

Creamy dressings are probably my favourite dressings of all time. I mean there's nothing wrong with a good vinaigrette, but the creamy stuff is what my dressing dreams are made of. The queen of all the creamy dressings is ranch dressing. More specifically, buttermilk ranch. It's the perfect complement for everything from salad, to dipping veggies to pizza.
This ranch dressing is everything a ranch dressing should be: creamy, tangy, and full of fresh herbs. It comes together in minutes so it's easy to prepare, and the taste is just so much better and fresher than anything store bought.
Why you are going to love this!
- Fresh & flavorful - the flavor from the fresh herbs take this dressing over the top and makes it so much better than any ranch dressing that comes from a package.
- Quick & easy - just chop some herbs, dump and stir!
- Family favourite - ranch dressing is a much loved favourite in households everywhere. Use it for salads, sandwiches, as a veggie dip or as a flavour enhancer anywhere you would use sour cream.
- Real food recipe - store bought dressings may be convenient, but they are usually filled with chemicals and low quality ingredients. Making your own ranch dressing from scratch is healthier for you.
Ingredients
- buttermilk - an authentic ranch ingredient giving it some tang. If you don't have buttermilk you can substitute with yogurt or 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice with enough milk added to it to equal 1 cup.
- sour cream - I use more sour cream in my ranch dressing than most recipes. I love the extra tang it brings to it over the traditional mayo as a secondary ingredient.
- mayo - I like to use just a bit of mayo round out the flavour a bit.
- chives, parsley, dill - the stars of the dressing. The amounts and proportions between these herbs is not important. Use as much as you like of any or all of them to customize the flavour to your tastes. Fresh is always better than dried for the best tasting dressing.
- lemon juice - again for the tang, and to enhance the flavour of the dressing with a bit of acid.
- garlic & onion powder - bring a bit of umani to the dressing. I love using garlic powder here instead of fresh because I don't like a strong garlic flavour in my ranch dressing.
How to make it
This dressing is so flavourful and SO easy to make! Like all my favourite recipes, the key to the flavour is starting with fresh ingredients - specifically fresh herbs and the more the better. I like a balance between the parsley, chives and dill, but feel free to adjust this depending on your tastes!
- Add the ingredients to a medium sized bowl and stir it with a spoon until all the herbs and flavourings are distributed evenly through the dressing.
How to use it
Ranch is such a versatile dressing, and besides making a great salad it goes great with so many other things!
- Use it as a dressing and make our chicken bacon ranch salad.
- Swap out the sour cream and seasonings in this recipe for ranch dressing and make creamy ranch mashed potatoes
- Top some buffalo chicken nachos with it.
- Try it drizzled over blackened fish tacos!
Tips and tricks:
- For the best flavour make your dressing a few hours ahead of time. letting the dressing sit in the refrigerator for a couple of hours gives the flavours from the herbs and spices time to blend in with the dressing base.
- If you would like to lighten this dressing up, switch out the sour cream for Greek or Skyr yogurt
- The herbs are flexible - if you don't have dill, don't sweat it! Add more parsley and chives etc.
- This dressing will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to a week.
- To make ranch dip - leave out the buttermilk and double the sour cream
More recipes you’ll love!
If you like this buttermilk ranch dressing, you might want to check out some of our other awesome dressing and dip recipes:
If you have made this recipe we’d love to see it! Tag us on Insta @loveandgoodstuff.
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Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients:
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- 1 cup sour cream
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon chopped parsley
- 1 Tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 Tablespoon chopped dill
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 4 teaspoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Add the chopped parsley, chives, and dill to the bowl along with the garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and lemon juice and stir until mixed thoroughly.
Nutrition
* nutritional information is calculated by online tools and may not be 100% accurate.
Toni says
This is such a perfect dressing recipe! Thank you so much for sharing this! A new staple at my house!
Courtney says
Thank you! You are so welcome!
Traci says
Easy and delicious! Everybody needs this buttermilk ranch dressing recipe in their pocket. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Courtney says
You're very welcome!
Gail Montero says
Homemade is always best and the same goes for this tasty and delightful buttermilk dressing!
Courtney says
I totally agree 🙂
rika says
I have some leftover buttermilk in my fridge and buttermilk ranch is one of my favorite salad dressings. Thanks for sharing.
Courtney says
You're welcome!
Chris Collins says
I'd drizzle this over just about everything! Can't wait to try the recipe, looks so delicious 🙂
Courtney says
Thank you!
HEATHER says
I have some herbs and buttermilk I need to use up so I can't wait to make a batch of this!! So much healthier too then buying the bottled stuff - love knowing what's in my dressing 🙂
Courtney says
Perfect! Hope you enjoy it!