This homemade buttermilk ranch recipe is exactly what we’ve been looking for in a ranch. It’s lightly tangy, bursting full of fresh herb flavour, and tastes exceptional on pizza and veggies.
Table of contents
I don’t know what happened to food in the last 10 years, but I cannot for the life of me find a ranch that my husband and I like with pizza. We used to love getting ranch with pizza when we were in our first years of university and for some reason we’ve been craving it!
After years of being disappointed every time we tried a new ranch, I finally decided to make my own homemade ranch – and oh boy why didn’t I do this earlier?
Not only is it incredibly delicious, but then we skip all the ingredients typically in ranch at the store: Vegetable Oil, Water, Sugar, Salt, Egg Yolk, Modified Milk Ingredients, Ground Mustard, Phosphoric Acid, Vinegar, Dried Garlic, Dried Onion, Xanthan Gum, Sorbic Acid, Modified Corn Starch, Sodium Phosphate, Disodium Inosinate & Guanylate, Calcium Disodium Edta, Spices, Natural And Artificial Flavours, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrine, Silicon Dioxide, Phospholipase.
Bleh. Plus we could pull an opened bottle out of the back of the fridge after a year and it was still ok… I prefer my food to actually go bad, thank you very much.
Cultured vs Traditional Buttermilk
Of course I decided if I was going to make it, I was going to go all out and use fresh buttermilk for the best flavour. Store bought is so thick and acidic.
Store-bought buttermilk is cultured, which means they have added bacterial cultures to the milk to produce a thick, tangy product. This is typically what you will find in stores.
*If you use store-bought, decrease the added acidity in the buttermilk by 1 tbsp*
Traditional buttermilk is created as a by-product of butter-making whereby the cream fat separates from the liquid through intense churning. It is much thinner and less-acidic, which is perfect for us to thin out the ranch and add a light burst of acidity.
This gives us more control over the final acidity of the ranch. If you add more buttermilk to thin, it won’t become so acidic that you have an unbalanced ranch. Add the final tbsp of lemon juice once the consistency is just slightly thicker than desired.
How to Make Buttermilk Ranch
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, and 2 tbsp of the buttermilk.
Once mixed together with no lumps/separation, stir in the pickle juice, dill weed, chives, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Whisk well to fully incorporate and let it sit for 10 minutes.
After it has rested, stir again and check for consistency, acidity, and salt. I added a pinch more salt, the 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice and another tbsp of buttermilk. Stir again and taste. If you’ve reached your desired acidity, serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
I found it tasted even better the next day but will be ready to consume after first sitting for 10-15 minutes. It does thicken up slightly as it sits, so keep this in mind!
Enjoy! Serve with your favourite pizza (We love it on our Traeger Pepperoni Pan Pizza), as a salad dressing, or a dip for fresh veggies.
Homemade Buttermilk Ranch
Ingredients
Method
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, mayonnaise, and 2 tbsp of the buttermilk.
- Once it's mixed together with no lumps/separation, stir in the pickle juice, dill weed, chives, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Whisk well to fully incorporate and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- After it has rested, stir again and check for consistency, acidity, and salt. I added a pinch more salt, the 1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice and another tbsp of buttermilk. Stir again and taste. If desired acidity is reached, serve immediately or cover and refrigerate.
- I found it tasted even better the next day but will be ready to consume after first sitting for 10-15 minutes.
- Enjoy! Serve with your favourite pizza (We love it on our Traeger Pepperoni Pan Pizza), as a salad dressing, or a dip for fresh veggies.
