Homemade ranch dressing? I'm in!

I love ranch dressing. Love. Like as much as I love popcorn. Yes, that much.

When I started to become a label ingredient reader, there were a lot of ingredients that I couldn't pronounce on the bottles of ranch dressing. I'm to the point now where if I can't pronounce an ingredient, I don't purchase it. I could go the organic ranch route, but it's pretty pricey and couldn't bring myself to pay $5 for a small bottle.

I could also have switched to the oil based dressings. But I just can't bring myself to cross over the dressing fence to the other side. Maybe the greens are tastier on the oil side, but I'm perfectly happy on my side with my ranch.

Enter homemade ranch dressing. Um, yes please!! I can pronounce all the ingredients and actually know exactly what is going into it. Perfect! I found this recipe while reading one of my favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats. She's one of my go-to gals for many recipes. I knew I had to try this ranch dressing and try it I did. Now it's half gone. To make it on the "healthier" side, I used all organic ingredients. And I found an organic light canola mayo that uses expeller pressed oil (oil straight from the nut) instead of a modified type of mayo. Turned out fantastic.


Ranch Dressing
courtesy of Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
¾ cup mayonnaise (I use light)
¾ cup sour cream (I use light)
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. lemon juice
¼-1 cup buttermilk (I use the full cup)
1 small bunch chives
Small handful parsley
1 clove garlic, chopped
½ tsp. kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Combine all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor starting with ¼ cup of the buttermilk and blend for 10 seconds. Check the consistency and taste and blend in additional buttermilk as desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Note: For all those asking how long this keeps, I don’t know exactly since I’m not a food scientist. I would imagine as long as any of the separate components might keep in the refrigerator. Mine kept at least two weeks before we had used it all.