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If you’re looking for a deliciously easy homemade salad dressing recipe, Bri’s Better-Than-Ranch Dressing is just what you need! It’s far more flavorful than storebought ranch and fits into a THM S, low carb, or keto meal. Use it on tossed salad, in a coleslaw, or as a dip for veggies or chicken tenders!
My husband and I thought this flavor-packed homemade ranch dressing was the perfect texture for drizzling over salad or baked spaghetti squash. I’m personally not a big fan of super thick dressings because they don’t coat my lettuce leaves and I get some bites of salad that are mostly dressing and some bites that have no dressing at all! This dressing has a moderate thickness; feel free to adjust the water in the recipe to make it what you like!
Click here to pin this recipe!
Success Tips:
- Duke’s Mayo (the full-fat kind with the yellow lid) is a good storebought mayo option without sugar. I’m sure you could also make your own as well, and that would be even more optimal because storebought mayos often contain oils that aren’t the best. If you make your own mayo with an on-plan oil like olive oil or use a storebought mayo made with just avocado oil and other simple on-plan ingredients (Primal Kitchen has one like this), the dairy-free version of this dressing is actually a Deep S!
- Add some sriracha for a spicy ranch option!
- The only “odd” ingredient in this dressing is a small amount of THM Super Sweet Blend to add a teensy bit of sweetness to balance out the flavor profile. To make this a no-special-ingredients recipe, use your favorite locally-sourced low-glycemic sweetener to taste! Just a pinch should do the trick. Taste and adjust.
Serving Suggestions:
- Use this dressing in tossed salads with all your favorite THM S toppings,
- on shredded cabbage (love me some red cabbage!) as a coleslaw dressing,
- tossed with sliced cucumbers for an easy ranch cucumber salad,
- drizzled into low-carb cold cut “sandwiches,”
- as a dip for veggies,
- as a dip for the fried mushrooms on page 127 of Necessary Food,
- as a dip for these Panfried Chicken Strips,
- or drizzled over baked spaghetti squash!
My Tupperware shaker containers make homemade salad dressings a breeze to make!
Check out the notes section of the recipe below for answers to FAQs as well as a dairy-free homemade Ranch dressing option!
Coming soon…
A delicious Chocolate Custard Chia “Tapioca” similar to this Vanilla Custard Chia “Tapioca” but dairy free (and chocolate, of course), as well as a Sweet & Tangy Barbecue recipe that will make your mouth water!
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STARTING THM
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MY RECIPE INDEX
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RECIPE INDEX BY FUEL TYPE/ALLERGY/THEME
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PERFECT BARBECUE SAUCE RECIPE
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RASPBERRY ITALIAN VINAIGRETTE
- 1 ¼ cups mayonnaise
- ½ cup reduced-fat (or full-fat) sour cream
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
- 1 teaspoon each onion powder, parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon each dill weed, oregano, black pepper
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon THM Super Sweet Blend
- Combine all the ingredients in a bowl or shaker container and whisk or shake well. If it's too thick for your liking, add a dash of water. (Or if you want a really thick dressing/dip, use a little less water.) Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. (The flavors will settle out a bit.) Store in fridge in an airtight container/bottle. Shake before using.
- I enjoy this dressing in a regular tossed salad as well as on shredded cabbage as a coleslaw of sorts! You can toss it with sliced cucumbers for an easy ranch cucumber salad. You can also use it on low-carb wrap cold cut “sandwiches” or for dipping veggies, fried mushrooms, or chicken tenders. I also enjoy it drizzled over baked spaghetti squash.
-You could probably substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream.
-I’m not sure how long this will keep in the fridge, but it’s never gone bad on me. Mine is usually gone within 2 weeks. If it smells funny or starts growing mold I would throw it out. There are no preservatives in this recipe, unlike storebought dressings, so it probably won’t keep indefinitely.
-Add some sriracha for a spicy ranch option!
-Nutrition calculated per 2 tablespoon serving made with reduced-fat sour cream and Duke’s Real Mayonnaise.
ALLERGY INFO:
-Gluten Free (use non-contaminated ingredients)
-Nut Free
-Dairy Free Option: Since mayo is traditionally dairy free, I made a simple dairy-free ranch dressing by omitting the sour cream. The dressing was a little thicker than I needed it to be so I added a dash of water. Worked great! If the flavors are too strong for you without the sour cream you can dilute the dressing a little with more mayo and water. Make sure to use a mayo that is dairy free. According to my research, most are, but not all. (In case you're wondering, I added the sour cream in the recipe above for just a little extra creaminess and to stretch the calories a bit more. The dairy option has a slight edge in my opinion, but I was really happy with the DF version as well.)
You can pin this recipe here:
This is by far the best Ranch Dressing I’ve ever made. Thank you Briana!
Never really understood the attraction to Ranch Dressing, but my Granddaughter likes it with veggies, so I tried yours….. needless to say, Grammy had to make another batch! I could eat this with a spoon!! I have never had Ranch on a salad before, but oh my it’s delicious! Thank you!!
Yay! That’s so great to hear!
Ended up making a full Briana Thomas spread for Easter! Your peanut butter cheesecake and strawberry delight. Then I needed some ranch (bringing a salad and the family we’re meeting with loves ranch) and I don’t like the one in the THM book so I tried yours and it’s yummy! I had just made a failed batch of the THM book mayo so I used that, omitted the water (since the mayo was runny), and whole milk Greek yogurt since I was out of sour cream. Kept all the rest the same as your recipe- put it in the blender since I still had the mayo in it and it’s the perfect texture. Thanks as always! We’ll see what the ranch lovers think 😉
Haha…way to improvise!
Briana, I cannot have vinegars or anything citrus so no lemon juice or lime juice. Will this work and still be flavorful if I omit? Or can I use lemon zest (I can have that)? I’ve learned there are not really any dressings out there minus those two ingredients and I’ve given up on trying to eat salad or raw veggies anymore. Technically I’m not supposed to use mayo either because of those two ingredients but oh well.
I’ve never tried the dressing without the vinegar, but just play around with it! If I were you I would omit the vinegar, add a little lemon zest, and replace some of the mayo with more sour cream and see how it tastes. From there you can bump up some of the other flavors if needed to make it more flavorful. 🙂
I only made a half recipe of this because I am always, always, ALWAYS disappointed in any homemade ranch I’ve made thm compliant, and i despise wasting ingredients. Oh my word, girl, this is one of THE BEST ranch’s I have ever had! And I’m that girl that can drink the ranch at some restaurants. And I’m so happy the dairy version (the one i made) is also Deep S compliant! Thank you for creating this recipe!
Yay! I’m so glad to hear you liked it so much!
Is there a dairy-free version, or not?
Yes, check the bottom of the Notes section of the recipe.
Bri, great Ranch recipe! Super yummy
This is absolutely spectacular! Made only 1/2 batch the first time and just got done making a full batch. I added 1 teaspoon of sriracha to it this time. Yummy! Love that it’s pourable:)
I’m still on the hunt for the perfect homemade ranch so I can’t wait to try this. For the herbs I assume you use dried herbs?
Yes. 🙂
This says Serves: 2 cups. What serving size is the nutritional information based on, 2 TBSP?
Thanks for sharing your recipes, I really enjoy them!
Just found my answer, sorry, I missed this:
Nutrition calculated per 2 tablespoon serving made with reduced-fat sour cream and Duke’s Real Mayonnaise.
I’m glad you found what you needed!
This is amazingly good! Our family loves Ranch dressing and uses a lot! This was a fresher, less heavy taste. My kids tasted it and immediately asked me to make pizza…so they could dip it in this Ranch dressing. I used half the amount of water but would probably use the full amount next time. I also would probably skip the sweetener next time, unless I was using it to make cucumber salad. I start my morning off with your cookbook each day. Thank you yet again for blessing my life with your talents.
I’m so glad you and your family liked it! <3 Thanks so much for reporting back and telling us how you did it!
I much prefer home made Ranch dressing so I’ll be giving this one a try. Thanks so much.
You bet! I hope you enjoy it!
extra shout out for mentioning DUKE’s mayo!!
I am so glad you are putting the nutrition info on your recipes now. You have many good recipes that can be used for low-carb or keto. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it’s useful!
I used low fat cottage cheese in place of mayo and sour cream….delish!