Today I have a ranch dressing recipe that you’re going to love! A while back my friend Kristina asked for an alternative to store bought ranch dressing. She wanted a healthier option to the ranch dressing she loves so much, but doesn’t like the low-fat versions. Well, I’m with her on that low fat thing… low fat is not good at all! But neither is the full fat, fully processed version of ranch dressing found on store shelves.

First things first, if you’re buying ranch dressing in a bottle sitting at room temperature on a shelf, it’s not real food. It’s able to sit on that shelf and not spoil because it’s so highly processed and preserved that you’re getting nothing but nasty white goop full of preservatives to top your fresh salad with. YUK! No thank you!

Rather than buying a bottle of ranch dressing with an ingredient list longer than your arm, try this simple homemade version that uses real food ingredients that will actually nourish your body.

Ranch dressing recipe

Ingredients

1 clove garlic minced
1/4 cup Italian flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh chives finely chopped
1 cup homemade mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream (you could even use homemade kefir that’s been strained overnight instead of the sour cream)
Milk (enough for desired consistency)
Salt (to taste)
Fresh dill (to taste) finely chopped

Note: for the sour cream and the milk, use full fat. Low fat dairy productsreplace the fat with sugar… that’s just wrong. Stick with full fat dairy because fat is good for your brain and body!

You can replace the sour cream with kefir, which ups the nutritional value of this whole food recipe because kefir is a probiotic. If you use a lot of ranch dressing, I would suggest doing this as a way to sneak in good-for-you probiotics to built your gut health.

Directions

Combine the first five ingredients in a wide mouth mason jar.
Once thoroughly mixed, add milk until you get the desired consistency.
Add dill and salt to taste.
Keep in refrigerator until it’s gone… probably about a day or two for those who love ranch dressing 🙂

Note: To save some time chopping the ingredients you can make this in a food processor. Simply add all the herbs and garlic to the food processor and pulse until everything is chopped up. Then add the mayo, sour cream / kefir, and milk and blend until combined to desired consistency.

Photo by: Whitney is licensed under CC BY 2.0