Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Last Updated September 28, 2024

Ranch. The quintessential American dressing and dip. It’s white and creamy, tangy, and flavorful from the herbs and garlic.

Many Americans use Ranch on everything from their pizza and chicken tenders to their vegetables and salads. Some feel very strongly about it, they must have it to eat certain foods. In Italy, I had some American friends who would always request big jugs of Ranch if anyone was coming over to visit them.

Once when I was in Austria in a supermarket, I saw some bottles of salad dressing, one of which was named “American.” Why of course, if in America we have Italian dressing, French dressing, then other countries would have an American dressing. And yes, it was white and creamy so I can only surmise that it was some version of Ranch.

I like Ranch, but have never really understood the hype around it. I’d rather eat my pizza and taste pizza rather than eat pizza and taste Ranch, you know? Especially when you look at the ingredients in a bottle of Ranch or even Ranch packets that you make at home, the ingredients are not the best.

That’s where homemade Ranch comes into play. Not only is it super simple to make, but you know exactly what ingredients are going into your dressing, and it tastes fresher and better. After making this, you may never go back to store-bought again!

Use Ranch on salads, as a dip for vegetables, and yes, even on your pizza or however you like it best! I just made a quart of this the other day and mixed some with Frank’s Hot Sauce as a dressing for some buffalo pasta salad, yum!

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Recipe from my mama

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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch

Makes about 1 quart

• 2 cups mayonnaise

• 1 cup buttermilk

• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives

• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

• 1/4 tsp finely chopped fresh dill

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a quart jar or container with a lid and shake well to combine.

2. Serve or refrigerate.

Yield 24

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

10 Min

Total time

10 Min

Print

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Homemade Buttermilk Ranch

Creamy, tangy, homemade Ranch is healthier than its store-bought counterpart and as simple as mixing together 7 ingredients.

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Ingredients

• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh chives
• 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp finely chopped fresh dill

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a quart jar or container with a lid and shake well to combine.
2. Serve or refrigerate.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

133.34

Fat

14.29 g

Sat. Fat

2.37 g

Carbs

0.64 g

Fiber

0.01 g

Net carbs

0.62 g

Sugar

0.6 g

Protein

0.51 g

Sodium

226.03 mg

Cholesterol

8.94 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 24 servings of approximately 2 Tbsp each.

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2024/9/20/homemade-buttermilk-ranch-dressing

homemade buttermilk ranch dressing, ranch veggie dip, creamy American dressing, tangy vegetable dip

snack, condiment

American

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Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Last Updated August 14, 2024

Thousand Island Dressing - you know it as the pinkish, sweet and salty dressing for salads, hamburgers, and various other creative uses.

What you might not know is what this salad dressing is made of, and that it is super simple to whip up at home with only 7 ingredients you very possibly already have on hand!

Essentially, Thousand Island Dressing is a mayonnaise and ketchup based dressing. Beyond that, there are many variations, although my favorite below features sweet relish and onions.

Where did Thousand Island Dressing come from?

Its origin is disputed, but two main tales originate in the Thousand Islands region, between northern New York and Canada.

One tale starts at Boldt Castle when George Boldt (Waldorf-Astoria billionaire) and his wife Louise were out on their yacht. Their chef forgot to bring a dressing for some greens and had to scrounge something up, which turned into Thousand Island Dressing.

Another tale stems from a recipe found in a restaurant in the same Thousand Islands area. The recipe appears to be what we know now as Thousand Island Dressing, but is simply called “Sophia’s Sauce”. Sophia and George Lelonde used to own the restaurant.

Wherever it came from, it blossomed in popularity, although honestly I never understood why.

Why Make Thousand Island Dressing? One Reason: Taco Salad

Thousand Island has always been a bit mysterious to me, I never much cared for it and I never gave much thought to what it was actually made of. I usually saw it in a bottle, and per usual with store-bought salad dressings, many of the ingredients weren’t ones I cared overly to be eating.

my tiny photo stager :)

However, despite having no strong feelings for Thousand Island dressing, there is one dish that I and my family love that Thousand Island is crucial to: Taco Salad. Yep, that’s right. I don’t even know how Thousand Island came to be “the” dressing for Taco Salad, as I’ve never heard of anyone putting it on their tacos. I’m not sure where the Taco Salad recipe in my family came from originally, but whoever made it up decided, oh let’s make a salad with all the components of tacos in it…what kind of dressing should we use? I know, Thousand Island Dressing! Naturally.

Taco Salad

Due to our love for Taco Salad and also our desire to eat whole foods and make things homemade, we decided to look in to making our own Thousand Island Dressing, especially since we don’t use it for anything else. I came across this recipe and we haven’t bought a bottle of Thousand Island since.

Find the recipe for Taco Salad here!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. Where possible, links are prioritized to small businesses and ethically and responsibly made items. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

Recipe Adapted from Simply Recipes

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Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing

Ingredients:

• 1 cup / 230g mayonnaise

• 1/4 of an onion or 1 small shallot, minced

• 2 Tbsp / 30g ketchup

• 2-3 Tbsp / 30g sweet pickle relish

• 1 tsp / 5g lemon juice

• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika

• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl, mix well.

2. Place in a jar or sealed container and store in the fridge.

Jenny’s Notes:

• Letting the dressing sit for a few hours or ideally a day or two really lets the flavors meld. It also can help to tame the onion or shallot a bit.

• Use more sweet relish if you like a sweeter and tangier Thousand Island, use less if you don’t want it as sweet.

• Mason jars make great storage containers!

Yield 12 servings. about 1 1/2 cups

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

10 Min

Total time

10 Min

Print

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Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Sweet and tangy homemade Thousand Island Dressing comes together in minutes with just 7 ingredients. It's tastier, healthier, and cheaper than its store-bought counterpart!

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

• 1 cup / 230g mayonnaise
• 1/4 of an onion or 1 shallot, minced
• 2 Tbsp / 30g ketchup
• 2-3 Tbsp / 30g sweet pickle relish
• 1 tsp / 5g lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl, mix well.
2. Place in a jar or sealed container and store in the fridge.

Notes

• Letting the dressing sit for a few hours or ideally a day or two really lets the flavors meld. It also can help to tame the onion or shallot a bit.
• Use more sweet relish if you like a sweeter and tangier Thousand Island, use less if you don’t want it as sweet.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

134.56

Fat

13.99 g

Sat. Fat

2.18 g

Carbs

2.15 g

Fiber

0.09 g

Net carbs

2.06 g

Sugar

1.68 g

Protein

0.24 g

Sodium

218.14 mg

Cholesterol

7.84 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on a serving of 2Tbsp.

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2024/2/25/homemade-thousand-island-dressing

Thousand Island Dressing, homemade, Sofia's Sauce, Salad Dressing

Condiment,

American

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Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs

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Homemade Italian Dressing

Last Updated September 6, 2024

Simple goodness: Arugula tossed with Homemade Italian Dressing

Have you ever thought to make homemade Italian dressing? I certainly hadn’t, until this summer, as it’s usually something I buy. Why bother making it homemade when it’s cheap and I really don’t use it that often? Except for pasta salad, and I’ve been allll about the pasta salads this summer.

First I wanted the classic creamy pasta salad (dressing made with mayo and mustard), then the Italian dressing pasta salad, then I started going off and making up my own, like this Greek Pasta Salad I posted a couple weeks ago. But you know what’s ironic? You can’t find Italian dressing in Italy. Italian dressing is very American. Italians dress their salads with a quality olive oil, salt and pepper, generally speaking. One time I was in Switzerland grocery shopping and saw American dressing. I’m American and had no idea what it was. It was creamy, maybe like Ranch? Haha. I was amused. I wonder if that’s how Italians feel about Italian dressing.

Being in Italy with no Italian dressing ready made at the store, I figured I would see if I could find a homemade recipe. Surreeee there are plenty on the interwebs! And easy enough ingredients, you probably have them all on hand, as I did. Olive oil, vinegar, some spices…I looked at several different recipes, looked up the ingredients for “classic” Kraft Italian dressing, and combined a few of them to create a bit of my own version. It’s tangy and got the job done! Success. Made a delicious pasta salad and had a bit leftover even to dress some regular ol’ salads.

It probably won’t taste exactly like the store bought version, but maybe better if you’re not a die-hard Kraft fan? Some of the ingredients listed on the Kraft Zesty Italian dressing are a bit vague, like “spice,” which can be hard to replicate, but the bright side is that you can control the quality and freshness of ingredients going into your dressing. Better yet, no preservatives at all!

Great for salads, pasta salad, marinades for all types of proteins!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, Jennyblogs may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. This helps to support Jennyblogs. For further information see the privacy policy. Grazie!

Recipe adapted from Kraft, Five Heart Home, and the Whole Cook

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Homemade Italian Dressing

Makes about 1 cup dressing

I clearly need to figure out how to attractively photograph liquids…and find my whisk. (Recently moved apartments.) But hey, forks work, too!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup / 168g extra virgin olive oil

• 1/4 cup / 60g red or white wine vinegar

• 1 tsp / 5g lemon juice

• 1 tsp / 7g honey

• 3/4 tsp dried basil

• 1/2 tsp dried oregano

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 tsp onion powder

• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 cup / 25g grated parmesan cheese, optional

Directions:

1. Whisk or shake all ingredients together; taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

2. Store in fridge, shake well before using.

Jenny’s Notes:

• This is one of those very versatile and very easily adjustable recipes, no one says you have to follow this one to a T! If you don’t have red or white wine vinegar, use what you have on hand. Even the olive oil can be switched out for what you have. While olive oil will give you the heartiest flavor, technically Kraft uses a bunch of rather junkier oils that don’t add much to the flavor profile (soybean, canola), but oils do tone the vinegar in dressings/vinaigrettes. The spices can be upped if you want a very zesty dressing, or you can add another teaspoon of honey to help tone it down a bit.

• You could also finely dice red bell pepper to add to this instead of the crushed red pepper, but that seemed like more work than I wanted to put in for this “whip up” type recipe. Plus, I like the touch of added spice, even if not original.

Yield 8

Author Jennyblogs

Prep time

10 Min

Total time

10 Min

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Homemade Italian Dressing

Homemade zesty Italian dressing is simple, uses pantry ingredients, and doesn't have any preservatives like store-bought versions.

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup / 168g extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup / 60g red or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp / 5g lemon juice
• 1 tsp / 7g honey
• 3/4 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup / 25g grated parmesan cheese, optional

Instructions

1. Whisk or shake all ingredients together; taste and adjust seasonings as desired.
2. Store in fridge, shake well before using.

Notes

• This is one of those very versatile and very easily adjustable recipes, no one says you have to follow this one to a T! If you don’t have red or white wine vinegar, use what you have on hand. Even the olive oil can be switched out for what you have. While olive oil will give you the heartiest flavor, technically Kraft uses a bunch of rather junkier oils that don’t add much to the flavor profile (soybean, canola), but oils do tone the vinegar in dressings/vinaigrettes. The spices can be upped if you want a very zesty dressing, or you can add another teaspoon of honey to help tone it down a bit.
• You could also finely dice red bell pepper to add to this instead of the crushed red pepper, but that seemed like more work than I wanted to put in for this “whip up” type recipe. Plus, I like the touch of added spice, even if not original.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

204.62

Fat

21.89 g

Sat. Fat

3.39 g

Carbs

1.58 g

Fiber

0.14 g

Net carbs

1.44 g

Sugar

0.75 g

Protein

0.98 g

Sodium

202.78 mg

Cholesterol

2.69 mg

Nutritional information is approximate. Based on 8 servings of 2 Tbsp each and includes parmesan cheese.

https://jennyblogs.com/blog/2020/7/26/italian-dressing

Homemade Italian dressing recipe, copycat Zesty Kraft Dressing, Greek dressing

Condiment

American

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @jennyblogsandbakes on instagram and hashtag it #jennyblogs

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