If you live in the Midwest, nothing is more ubiquitous than ranch dressing. Folks in Ohio where I live put it on anything. I won’t bore you with the history of ranch dressing, or talk about the first time I made it from a Hidden Valley packet in 1977. I want to tell you why you should make your own ranch dressing.
It’s easy and fast. It’s healthier than store-bought. You can make it as simple or complex as you like.
Easy and Fast
Once you’ve assembled the ingredients, throw them in a bowl and mix them together. You’re done.
Healthier Than Store-Bought
I won’t call out the brand in order to avoid any corporate harassment, but here are the ingredients of a very popular name brand of ranch dressing
Soybean Oil, Water, Vinegar, Sugar, Egg Yolks, Salt, Buttermilk, Contains Less than 2% of Modified Food Starch, Garlic*, Monosodium Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Whey, Phosphoric Acid, Onion*, Potassium Sorbate and Calcium Disodium EDTA (to Protect Freshness), Spice, Parsley*, Disodium Guanylate, Disodium Inosinate, Yeast Extract. *Dried. Contains egg, milk.
I can’t decide between the Glutamate and Guanylate, but I would prefer to use ingredients I can understand.
Simple or Complex
You can put a lot of things in ranch dressing to fine-tune the flavor. The basics are mayonnaise, buttermilk and/or sour cream, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, salt, and pepper. After that, you’re free to play. The recipe below is the current state of my ranch, and you could eat it with a spoon.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 cup buttermilk and/or sour cream see note 1
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce to taste
- 1-2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp roasted garlic powder see note 2
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper
- 1 tbsp chives dried or fresh
- 1 tsp parsley dried or fresh
- 1/2 tsp dill weed
Instructions
- Combine the mayonnaise, buttermilk and/or sour cream, Worcestershire sauce and blend togther.
- Add the other dry ingredients except the salt and blend those in.
- Add a tbsp of lemon juice and blend. Taste and add more lemon until it just shows through in the flavor profile.
- Add a tsp of salt, blend, and add more salt till it tastes right. You'll note that the lemony flavor decreases as you do so. Work to get them in balance.
- Add any specials that you prefer, such as hot sauce, chili powder, whatever you want that makes it special.
- Set aside for a while to let the flavors set.
Notes
- Sometimes I use sour cream alone for a thicker ranch, and other times I use a combination of sour cream and buttermilk for a thinner one. Even using all buttermilk is fine if you like yours very thin.
- I use Penzey’s roasted garlic powder, which is stronger than normal garlic powder, so adjust yours by taste. Using a couple of cloves of fresh garlic is also fine, but make sure that it’s not chunks of minced garlic. Get that garlic press out of the drawer and make a garlic purée that will blend better.
Hello Sir,
I found your post about wanting to grow Er Jing Tiao peppers on Squarefoot forum. I read that you found a guy from Austria who was growing them. Could you give me more information about that person? Did you find him on another forum? I live in Europe so I would love to try to get seeds from him.
Regards,
Anthony
Anthony,
I saw the man from Austria in a Youtube video, I believe. Do a Youtube search for erjingtiao and see what you find. Good luck!
Brian