Ranch Dressing without Buttermilk

This dairy free ranch dressing is made without buttermilk. It perfect as a dressing on salads, wraps, burgers or as a dip for veggies, fries, chicken wings, onion rings, chicken fingers, hushpuppies, and more.

Ranch dressing is one of my favorite dressings.  

I love its creamy and slightly tangy flavor that seems to go with just about anything.  

The one thing I find annoying about it though is that it is dairy, so I made this ranch dressing without buttermilk and sour cream.

Don’t worry, it is just as creamy as the original!

Instead I use buttermilk made from coconut milk and mayonnaise. The original ranch dressing actually called for mayonnaise not sour cream anyway.

Instead of buttermilk this recipe calls for coconut milk and lemon juice or vinegar for tang.  

Don’t worry the coconut flavor is very mild if you taste it at all.

While you could use fresh herbs if you’d like I recommend using dried.

Dried herbs last longer than fresh herbs allowing for the dressing to last longer too.

This recipe makes only one cup of dressing because I find it to be a much more manageable amount.

I rarely need more than that even when serving a number of people.

However, it can be easily doubled, tripped, or even quadrupled if desired.

History of Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing was originally created by a man named Steve Henson while spending a few years in Alaska.  

Then, in 1954, he and his wife opened a dude ranch in California named Hidden Valley Ranch.

There they served it to customers and it became so popular they began selling the dressing and seasoning mix for customers to take home and add their own buttermilk and mayonnaise.  

Eventually they began mass producing their dressing and by the early 1990’s it was America’s best selling dressing.

WHAT IS BUTTERMILK?

Buttermilk was originally the liquid left behind after churning butter out of cultured cream. 

Traditionally, the milk was left to sit to allow the cream and milk to separate. During this time, naturally occurring lactic acid bacteria fermented the milk and turned it into buttermilk, making it tangier and thicker than regular milk.

However, modern buttermilk is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to milk to ferment it.

How do You make dairy free buttermilk?

Making dairy free buttermilk is easy.

All you need is 1 cup of dairy free milk and 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Then let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes while the milk sours and curdles a bit.

Voilà dairy free buttermilk!

This recipe makes the buttermilk with coconut milk for extra creaminess. However, you can also make buttermilk with almond milk and buttermilk with oat milk.

In fact, if you want to use one of these buttermilks instead of the coconut milk one I make here, go for it!

Does the mayonnaise change the flavor?

Nope! Not at all.

First of all, the original ranch dressing included mayonnaise in it, so if anything, this is actually more authentic than using sour cream.

Also, I’ve used mayonnaise in all kinds of recipes including for grilling and I’ve never found it to give a taste.

Ranch dressing vs sour cream

Ranch dressing is a creamy salad dressing typically made with buttermilk, mayonnaise, and herbs, while sour cream is a dairy product with a tangy flavor often used as a condiment or ingredient.