I’ve been making homemade ranch dressing for years, and it is so much more economical than buying that package mix with all the additives and preservatives.
Before I share the recipe with you, I want to tell you abou one of the tools I find necessary when cooking from scratch, and this one is important for making your own ranch dressing. That would be a good quality garlic press. Now you might not think that’s so exciting, but we use fresh garlic quite regularly. I’d say no less than 3 times a week and sometimes daily.
Back in 1999 I was having a lot of trouble keeping a garlic press around. They kept breaking. The plastic parts would break or even the metal parts would break. I was buying a new garlic press every 6 months or so. Then I asked some friends on an online list. A couple of them raved about their Zyliss Susi Garlic Press. It was pretty expensive for me back then, but I took their advice and bought one. I didn’t know at the time I was actually making an investment in a great product that would end up lasting over a decade! Amazingly, the price has stayed the same, it still costs $14.99 – so my cost each year has been $1.50!
And happily, I’m still using my garlic press, it still works perfectly. You can even toss the whole unpeeled clove into this baby and it works great. Actually that’s the easiest way to use it, because when you pull the skin out of the press it removes nearly all the garlic fibers that are left behind and you just have to rinse and it’s clean.
Last night we had chicken taco salad for dinner. I used my trusty garlic press to make the salsa, and the ranch dressing. Have I ever shared my homemade ranch dressing with you? I don’t think I have. Well, it’s about high time I did. It’s much more economical than buying the package mix, it doesn’t contain any unpronounceable ingredients, and best of all, no MSG.
Homemade Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup plain yogurt or sour cream or buttermilk
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon granulated onion powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
pinch of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
For best results, mix the ingredients together about an hour before using so the parsley flakes have time to soften.
You can also use buttermilk or sour cream instead of yogurt. It’s so easy to have all these ingredients on hand that I can make ranch dressing any time I want.
I’m still on the hunt for a can opener that will last for a decade or longer. I used to buy the Swing-a-Way brand, but even those are now poor quality. We bought a Kitchen-Aid can opener, but it lasted less than six months. I thought Kitchen-Aid was supposed to be high quality, but unfortunately that wasn’t our experience.
Well, now you know what garlic press to invest in.
Are you a fan of ranch dressing? Have you ever tried making your own? Will you try my recipe and let me know what you think of it?
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When I’m in my mother’s kitchen, we still use the garlic press she moved out with in 1975ish. It’s a great heavy duty metal garlic press, and I truly believe they just don’t make them like they used to.
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Im going to try your recipe out. And if you are looking for a good can opener, I highly recommend pamper chef’s can opener!
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
June 2nd, 2011 at 11:37 pm
@Stacy Jeannette, I hope you like my ranch dressing and thank you for the recommendation!
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