Last summer I began making my own ranch. The reason? I kept running out of the Hidden Valley because E loves it so much! I figured there had to be a recipe online somewhere that would be just as good as Hidden Valley.
I usually make a batch of this once a week, but in the summer when tomatoes & cucumbers are in season, I double it so I don’t have to make it every other day!
A few weeks ago, I thought about adding Greek yogurt to the mayo to see what would happen and if anyone would notice. They didn’t, so now I cut the mayo in half and use half yogurt to substitute.
Ranch Dressing: (Regular w/out yogurt)
1/2 to 1 cup mayo
1 tbls milk (or more to thin)
1 tbls red wine vinegar (or whey if you have it, this is the “tang”)
1 tea dried parsley
1 tea dried chives
1 tea dried dill
1 tea garlic powder (you could use fresh if you want)
salt & pepper to taste
I whiz this up in my Magic Bullet Blender, but you could hand whip it or use a regular blender for it.
Ranch Dressing (with Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup Greek style yogurt (the whey is drained)
1 tea dried chives
1 tea dried parsley
1 tea dried dill
1 tea garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
you may need a splash of milk to thin it. This depends on the consistancy of your yogurt
Whiz this up and you’re good to go. Now, I’m not saying this tastes EXACTLY like Hidden Valley, but it’s a pretty good substitute if you’re trying to move away from unpronounceable things in your food. I’m still using store bought mayo because I just don’t like the taste of homemade. I know, I know. It’s a work in progress!
Katie @ Kitchen Stewardship is hosting a salad dressing carnival. Won’t you pop over and read other ideas and recipes?
Feb 02, 2010 @ 09:52:35
Thanks for the recipes. Do you make your own Greek style yogurt? You were making your own yogurt. Do you have a recipe that you are willing to share? Please????
Feb 02, 2010 @ 13:46:01
Packie, yes, the yogurt is my own. I make regular yogurt. I put a half gallon of whole milk in my crockpot on low for 2.5 hours. Then I turn it off and let is sit for 3 hours, covered. After the 3 hours unheated mark (hour 5.5) I add 2 tablespoons of yogurt starter (yogurt from my last batch) for each quart, so 4 tablespoons all together since there are 2 quarts in a 1/2 gallon. I ladle this into quart canning jars, put the lid and put it in my oven with just the light on. I leave this for 10-12 hours or so, then put it in the fridge. I’ll drain the yogurt in cheesecloth to get yogurt cheese. If I’m making Greek style yogurt, I’ll add whole cream till it looks right. Whew, this took forever to type!
Feb 02, 2010 @ 13:56:02
Thank you. Sorry it took so long… I didn’t mean for you to go to a lot of work.
Feb 03, 2010 @ 08:05:14
No, it wasn’t a lot of work, I was just LOL at how much I typed and I could have typed so much more. I’m not very good at writing directions. I’m more of a hands on type of person.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 09:25:51
I must confess, I just bought a bottle of ranch dressing from the store. I looove ranch and have never been able to get homemade to taste quite as good as store bought (must be all the MSG and corn syrup solids). I’d like to try the yogurt based recipe, though. Maybe I can adjust my palate to get used to homemade.
Feb 04, 2010 @ 13:42:41
Emily, where I work they make their ranch “from scratch” which means they open the dry packets of the HVR seasonings mix. I had a salad last week w/that dressing and I have to admit, it was pretty darn good. I’m thinking like you, must be all those preservatives that give it such a good flavor! Darn science, fooling around with our tastebuds.
Feb 05, 2010 @ 14:27:27
This is really similar to mine, but I have been missing the red wine vinegar! I bet that will help a ton, can’t wait to try it!
Katie
Thank you so much for linking up!