Ranch Dressing is easy to make, and I find it more cost effective to make our own. When you are only cooking for one or two people, buying condiments doesn't always make a lot of sense unless you are using them every day. Many condiments do have an expiry date, we switch up our meals often and try to rotate what we are eating so meals don't become boring and so we don't eat too much of one thing.
We made this Ranch dressing to use with Chicken Legs and created enough to use as a Salad Dressing and there is still a little extra for use on another day. If you have a well stocked Pantry, Spice Cupboard and Refrigerator, you can make this dressing on a whim and serve up the same day.
This post is all about the dressing and it's variations. I'll explain cooking the Chicken Legs in a different post within the next few days. Not everyone is going to use their own Homemade Sauces when cooking and Ranch Dressed Chicken Legs are wonderful whether you use these recipes or something you buy from the store.. Additionally, I'll give you a few substitutions for the Ranch Dressings which you can try out.
Note on Spices:
I'm frugal, but I like flavour. I'm a total Foody and do notice the differences in spices and how their flavours change depending on how they are dried or processed. Remember, I make most of my food from Scratch and even dehydrate my own produce for use in certain dishes. I also am very finicky about where I purchase Spices and the quality of them. I will make notes below so you can enhance your own dressings.
Dilly Ranch Dressing
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
Juice from Half a Lemon
1 Finely Diced Cloves of Garlic (Roasted)
1 TBS Dehydrated Onion Powder (See my notes on this!)
1/8 TSP Crushed Sea Salt
1 TSP Dry Mustard Powder
1 TBS Finely Diced Fresh Parsley
1 TBS Finely Diced Fresh Dill
1/4 TSP Crushed Black Pepper
Mix or whisk all of your ingredients together thoroughly and let set for at least 1/2 an hour prior to use.
All done.
That's how easy it is to make our own dressing.
A few other variations:
Basic Ranch Dressing
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Cream (10%)
Juice from Half a Lemon
1 Finely Diced Clove of Garlic (Roasted)
1 Finely Diced Clove of Garlic (Raw)
1/4 Small Sweet Onion, Roasted and Finely Diced* See Notes
1/8 TSP Crushed Sea Salt
1 TSP Dry Mustard Powder
1 TBS Finely Diced Fresh Parsley
1/4 TSP Crushed Black Pepper
Chipotle Ranch Dressing
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/2 Cup Cream (10%)
Juice from Half a Lemon
1 Finely Diced Clove of Garlic (Roasted)
1 Finely Diced Clove of Garlic (Raw)
1/4 Small Sweet Onion, Roasted and Finely Diced * See Notes
1/8 TSP Crushed Sea Salt
1 TSP Dry Mustard Powder
1 TBS Finely Diced Fresh Parsley
2 TSPS Ground Chipotle Pepper
1/4 TSP Crushed Black Pepper
Notes and Substitutions of Ingredients.
You can substitute the Fresh Cloves of Garlic with Garlic Powder, 1/4 TSP of Powder replaces one Garlic Clove. It will modify the final result on your dressing.
When using Dehydrated Onion or Garlic Powder. A Freeze Dried Powder may have a raw Onion or Garlic bite to it. A slow Dried Dehydrated Powder will have a smokiness to the flavouring. There is a difference and not all spices are processed in the same way.
To achieve a smokiness to your dressings, if you don't have slow dried Dehydrated Powders, you can roast Garlic and Onion in your oven. See link on Roasted Garlic. It's the same idea for Onion Slices and you can roast them at the same time. Keep the slices of Onion to 1/4 an inch thick and dice them after roasting. You will get that smoky Onion flavour without getting hit by pure raw Onion.
Use REAL Mayonnaise not a "Mayonnaise Style Dressing". You don't need to make your own Mayonnaise, but I highly recommend you use the good stuff..
Substitute Buttermilk and Cream with Sour Cream, Yogurt and even Kefir for variations on the recipes above. All will work well with these dressings.
The Dressings above are all fine to store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for several days Dispose of them of 4 days if not used.
I am writing out the recipe for the Chicken Legs as well as a couple Beet Cake recipes and will be focusing on some Fall Favourites, Pickles and Sausages for the next few weeks. If you are experimenting in your own kitchen or looking for ideas for meals, please feel free to check out my blog for other ideas as I catch up on writing what we have created over the last few months.
Please Enjoy!
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