How To Make Ranch Dressing Like in Restaurants

Sometimes you want a ranch dressing that doesn’t taste like it came from a bottle. Anyone looking to make it at home can stick with just a few simple ingredients to capture the creamy magic of restaurant style ranch dressing.

You might be disappointed to find that no matter what brand of store bought ranch dressing you try, whether it’s Kraft, Hidden Valley, Hellman’s or a store brand, it just does not match up to the ranch dressing you had at a certain restaurant. Here are some simple strategies to either help make your own ranch dressing or to locate what special ranch dressing your favorite restaurant is using.

• Look up a recipe, but realize you can achieve quite a bit by just keeping things simple. Focus on recipes that stick to basic ingredients. For example, most will center around sour cream, mayonnaise and buttermilk as the main ingredients. For spice and texture, you can add things like onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, as well as crackers or breadcrumbs for some texture. There are also simple ranch spice packets you can buy which all you have to add to are milk and mayonnaise.


• Go to the restaurant and either ask for their brand or the recipe they use, depending on whether they make their own dressing or not.


• Many restaurants will use some kind of store bought dressing. Brands that some restaurants serve include Ken’s ranch dressing as well as Newman’s Own, but ask the restaurant manager if the ranch they use is store bought.