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I love developing salad dressing recipes. It’s such a serious upgrade to your home cooking when you switch from buying dressing from the grocery store to whipping up vinaigrettes at home. But, until now, I hadn’t ever tried to recreate the king of all salad dressings – Ranch. If you love ranch dressing, you’ll love my upgraded Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch as a wholesome, customizable alternative to store bought. I don’t always make copycat recipes, but you know I’ll still need to put my own twist on it, and the roasted garlic really bumps this dressing up to the next level.
This Buttermilk Ranch Dressing is so Much Better than the Store-bought Stuff
Did you know that Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing has a fun connection to Anchorage, Alaska? Turns out that the dressing itself was invented in Alaska by Steve Henson to keep his work crews happy. He later retired to Southern California, where he bought a guest ranch, and served the same dressing that he created in Alaska. It became extremely popular, leading Henson to start selling the spice mix. And the rest is history.
Of course, I grew up eating ranch dressing made from those packets from the grocery store. As I’ve gotten older, however, I’ve moved away from the premade stuff in favor of making more things fresh and from scratch. Instead of dried herbs, I’ve gone with the fresh stuff (I don’t have to worry about shelf stability, after all). And my biggest change: swapping in roasted garlic instead of garlic powder.
If you’ve never tried roasted garlic, you’re missing out. Fresh garlic is great, but roasted garlic has a sweet, caramelized flavor without any of the pungency. I could eat it with a spoon (and maybe I did in the course of developing this recipe). Seriously, the roasted garlic is really what makes my ranch such an upgrade on the store bought version.
Farmers Market Ingredients and Substitutions
Garlic
This is one recipe where you will not want to substitute the fresh garlic with anything else. Garlic powder, pre-chopped garlic, garlic in a tube, none of it will work the same way as fresh garlic.
Don’t be alarmed by the amount of garlic, either. When you roast it, the garlic becomes mellow and sweet, so you won’t be overwhelmed with garlic pungency. Even with two whole heads of garlic. I promise.
If you love garlic as much as I do, you’d probably enjoy reading my deep dive on fresh garlic from the farmers market. You can find that over here!
Herbs
There are many theories as to which herbs and spices are in ranch dressing. If you were to read the nutrition facts on the seasoning mix, you’d find nothing; all it says is “spices” and “natural flavoring.” Of course, Hidden Valley is under no obligation to be helpful here. Google is slightly more helpful with “garlic, mustard, herbs, and spices,” but obviously that leaves a lot to be desired as well.
The most helpful bit of info I’ve found, though, comes from a random cookbook that I found in a used bookstore in Chicago. It was titled something like “California Cuisine,” and it consisted of different dinner party menus inspired by locations across California. One of those locations was Hidden Valley, California (yes, it’s a real place), and one of the dishes was a Ranch Potato Salad. In this recipe, the herbs included dill, chives, and surprisingly, tarragon. This cracked the code for me; the addition of tarragon is really what makes it taste like a ranch dressing and not just any old creamy, herby concoction.
But you can use whatever herbs you like! Seriously. If you don’t like basil, substitute with chives. If you don’t like tarragon, try some fresh oregano. Got some leftover chives? Toss them in! What I’m saying is that you’ve got options, and you shouldn’t feel limited by the herbs I’ve chosen here.
Tips and Tricks
You don’t necessarily need any fancy equipment to make this Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch, but it might make things a little easier if you’re working with a mayonnaise that solidifies in the refrigerator (like my favorite one here) if you’re too impatient to wait for it to come to room temperature.
If you’re impatient like me and want to use a blender, be stir the herbs in by hand. The blender will just turn the whole dressing a light neon green, which just isn’t the same. Ranch is supposed to be white with flecks of green herbs, not solid green!
Serving Suggestions
This upgraded Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch works in so many ways. Of course, it does make an amazing salad dressing. In fact, my husband even said that while he’s usually happy with simple vinaigrettes, this buttermilk dressing is special. We certainly haven’t gotten tired of it.
Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch also works well as a crudité dip, a spread for sandwiches, and anywhere else you’d use ranch dressing. I’m not much of a pizza person, but I’m betting this roasted garlic version would be a great option for those that love pizza and ranch.
But what about the leftovers?
Store your leftover Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Dressing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week. This recipe makes a lot of dressing, intentionally. You’ll want to put this on everything. I may or may not have used it to make the same steak salad several days in a row.
Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch
If you love ranch dressing, you'll love my upgraded Roasted Garlic Buttermilk Ranch as a wholesome, customizable alternative to store bought. I don't always make copycat recipes, but you know I'll still need to put my own twist on it, and the roasted garlic really bumps this dressing up to the next level.
Ingredients
- 2 small or 1 large head of garlic
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp dill, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp basil, finely chopped
- ½ tbsp tarragon, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Scant 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
- Cut the tops of the garlic heads to expose the cloves. Brush generously with the olive oil, and wrap up in aluminum foil. Roast in a 400° oven for 40 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and golden brown. Take out of the oven to cool.
- Once the garlic has roasted and cooled, squeeze the roasted garlic out from the papery cases onto a cutting board. Chop finely with a knife to create a paste, and add to a mixing bowl. Add the mayonnaise and herbs to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Stir in the buttermilk slowly, about ¼ cup at a time, stopping when you have your desired ranch dressing thickness. Adding the buttermilk too fast can cause the dressing to split and become runny.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 144Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 9mgSodium: 180mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 1g
Calculated nutrition values are not always accurate, but can provide a general idea for planning purposes. Please do not rely on this information as it may not be complete. Recipes that include unusual ingredients, especially scrap ingredients, will have the least accurate information with this calculator.
