Easy Homemade Ranch Dressing Recipe with Whey & Kefir
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Like any good, God fearing mid-westerner, we like ranch dressing here. On pizza, on salad, raw veggies, chicken wings, french fries, on literally everything you could imagine. My kids were dipping their sliced apples in it the other day. They can’t be trusted. We apparently but ranch dip on everything? So it’s time I share my ranch recipe with ya!
I oddly stumbled on this recipe when I was throwing together random cultured dairy things I had and cheesemaking leftovers together to see what happened. I did measure so I thankfully have a recipe to share and am thrilled with the results. I make this all the time! This year I have completely given up store bought mayonnaise and now ranch dressing. I had been purchasing the bottled stuff because we love it and I haven’t found a recipe that is good, but FINALLY I have succeeded. I’m rather picky, I suppose, and I think this is the best ranch dressing ever. And that’s saying a lot because homemade dressings are not my forte.
Not only is this ranch dressing NOT comprised of emulsified seed oils, gums, artificial sweeteners, natural flavors, and preservatives, it is chock full of good nutrients and probiotics!! Now, when my kids are eating ranch on everything, I don’t feel all that bad about it. Start with a homemade version mayonnaise made with healthy oils for the creamy base and add probiotic and protein rich dairy products and some simple ingredients to make your own homemade ranch a superfood.
​Homemade Mayonnaise
Honestly, even the good quality mayonnaise from the stores really isn’t good tasting once you figure out homemade. Check out my recipe here and choose the oil or fat you want to use. You have not LIVED until you have made mayonnaise with bacon grease. Fun fact: the store-bought stuff normally uses soybean oil. And the stuff that doesn’t is rather expensive and you can make it a bunch cheaper at home and tailor the flavors to your taste. Making it with a healthy animal fat blows anything else out of the water. And then adding it to this protein and probiotic rich dressing.. absolute favorite.
Little swaps here and there in your pantry from store bought to homemade and avoiding ingredients that don’t make you feel very good actually are a game changer in the long run. Try swapping out a couple things every year as a small, attainable goal like I do and make things homemade. If you work slowly, it doesn’t seem overwhelming and it will actually make a huge difference in your health. If you don’t want to, no sweat, but I’ll ask… why are you here? I also have no qualms eating some good, poisonous restaurant ranch every now and then, but I’ll tell you… I normally don’t feel very great afterward.
Equipment:
- ​mixing bowl
- whisk
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1 Tbs sweet whey
- 3-6 Tbs raw goat milk
- 1 Tbs dried parsley
- 1/2 Tbs dried dill
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2-1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Substitutions
(because your girl needs options)
Sour Cream
Most of the time I never have sour cream made or on hand. You can use homemade yogurt or plain greek yogurt if you have it.
Sweet Whey
Sweet whey is a by-product of cheesemaking with rennet to coagulate the milk. Acid whey is when you use an acid to coagulate your milk, in simple terms. I prefer sweet whey in recipes like this as opposed to acid whey, which can have a pretty harsh flavor. Whey is chock full of nutrients and protein, so don’t toss it, use it! If you don’t have whey, simple use apple cider vinegar, homemade apple scrap vinegar, or fresh lemon juice. Whatever you have on hand, really, but be advised that whey is the best.
Raw Goat Milk
If you know me, you know that goat milk is the only milk and everything else is trash. ( I am kidding. Kind of). You can use regular milk, storebought milk, raw milk, pasteurized milk, cat milk. I don’t care. Even cultured buttermilk works really nicely if you enjoy buttermilk ranch dressing. Sometimes if I have some extra milk kefir, I’ll use that instead of plain milk. It’s a touch thicker consistency, but provides a nice, tart flavor.
Garlic Powder
If you would rather use fresh garlic, do, but slow roast it and blend it in. The flavor is AMAZING. Adjust the powder measurement to your preference for garlic flavor.
Step 1: Mix
Start by making a batch of homemade mayo.
Add all ingredients except milk to a medium bowl.
Whisk to combine. Add milk slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, to get the dressing to the desired consistency you like. Don’t add any at all even if you like a thicker ranch.
Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
Step 2: Chill
Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for several hours. Mason jars work really well!
This tastes best if you let it sit and meld for a few hours before using to let the dried herbs brighten up.
Notes:
If you want to use fresh herbs, absolutely do! Use 2-3 times the amount of dried. Toss all the ingredients in a blender and buzz them really good or chop finely. I have an elderly secondhand magic bullet that does a perfect job for a batch of ranch!
Fresh dill, fresh chives, fresh garlic, fresh parsley, all of it! It is SO good during the growing season when you have a bunch of fresh herbs. Hidden valley ranch, who?! Your taste buds will thank you.
Equipment
- whisk
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
- 1 Tbs sweet whey
- 3-6 Tbs raw goat milk
- 1 Tbs dried parsley
- 1/2 Tbs dried dill
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2-1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2-1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Start by making a batch of homemade mayo.
- Add all ingredients except milk to a medium bowl.
- Whisk to combine. Add milk slowly, 1 tablespoon at a time, to get the dressing to the desired consistency you like. Don’t add any at all even if you like a thicker ranch.
- Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
- Pour into an airtight container and refrigerate for several hours. Mason jars work really well! This tastes best if you let it sit and meld for a few hours before using to let the dried herbs brighten up.
