Homemade Ranch Dressing and Dip

Homemade ranch dressing is very easy to make and tastes so much better than the store-bought kind.  Ranch is of course delicious on salads, but it is also great on as a dip for veggies, pizza, sandwiches, and even hard-boiled eggs. Give it a try!

Homemade Ranch Dressing and Dip

½ c. sour cream or milk kefir

½ c. mayonnaise, preferably homemade*

Heaping 1 Tb onion powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove minced garlic

3 Tb dried parsley

2 Tb finely grated Parmesan

½ tsp celtic sea salt

¼ tsp pepper

Yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir, optional

1-2 Tb flax oil**, optional

Combine all ingredients and stir well.  For dressing, add a little yogurt, buttermilk, or kefir to thin to desired consistency.  Chill for at least 1 hour, or preferably 3 hours.

Tasty Tip: The onion powder is key to this recipe.  If, after being chilled for a few hours, the dressing doesn’t taste quite ranch-y enough, add more onion powder.

Preservation Tip: Using homemade mayo helps the ranch keep longer, not that it stays around long at our house anyway. Regardless, it will last for at least a week in the fridge.

*If you're using store-bought mayo, try to avoid soy and preservatives.  The kind we used to buy is Hain’s safflower mayo.

**Only a small amount of flax oil is needed as it is very high in omega 3's. Make sure you buy flax oil that is refrigerated, as the high omega 3 content makes flax oil go rancid easily. Also, keep your flax oil refrigerated and never heat it.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist, Fight Back Friday at Food Renegade, Pennywise Platter at The Nourishing Gourmet and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop!