LCHF Ranch Dressing

The most popular salad dressing in the United States hands down is Ranch. The problem with commercially prepared Ranch dressings is that they contain a lot of preservatives and other ingredients you probably do not want to consume, and they just have too many carbohydrates per serving. Again as I have mentioned in many of my articles, a few carbs may not mean that much, but if you are following a strict low carbohydrate diet, every carbohydrate counts. While Great Value Buttermilk Ranch dressing only has 1 carbohydrate per tablespoon, our LCHF Ranch dressing has only 0.3 carbohydrates per tablespoons, that's 66% less carbs. So if you are trying to follow a strict LCHF lifestyle, you can eat a whole lot more homemade LCHF dressing than you can a commercially prepared product.

If you just want to make your own dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix and you are not concerned about the carbohydrate count. Then check out my article on 'Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch'. However, if you are looking for a great LCHF Ranch dressing, then read on my friend.

Now there are two different approaches to making your own LCHF Ranch dressing. The primary difference is whether you use fresh herbs or dried herbs. I have made it both ways, but as I generally keep dried herbs on hand (either dried from my garden or purchased), I almost always use dried herbs in my Ranch dressing and many of my vinaigrettes as well. While it is true that fresh herbs have more essential oils and do taste fresher, I have found that most people have the necessary dried herbs and spices in their pantries. As dried herbs and spices are cheaper as well as being more shelf stable, I will be using these in this Ranch dressing recipe.

Homemade LCHF Ranch (Yield: 2 cups, 32 tablespoons)

1 cup LCHF mayonnaise or any mayonnaise with 0 carbs

1 cup heavy whipping cream (6.6 carbs)
1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley, divided
½ teaspoon dried dill, divided

¾ teaspoon garlic powder (1.5 carbs)

¾ teaspoon onion powder (1.12 carbs)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Splenda or other sweetener
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or a container in which your immersion blender will fit and process until smooth. You can use more or less whipping cream depending on how thick you like the your Ranch dressing to be. Refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving, although I find waiting 24 hours before using yields a better flavor. Keep in fridge for about 7 to 10 days if using homemade mayonnaise, up to 4 weeks for commercially prepared mayonnaise.

Total Recipe – Calories 2468, protein 7.6 grams, fat 271 grams, carbohydrates 11.1 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 77, protein 0.23 grams, fat 8.4 grams, carbohydrates 0.34 grams

Hidden Valley Ranch

Per Tablespoon – Calories 70, protein 0.2 grams, fat 7grams, carbohydrates 1 gram

The following are a few of the variations that I have made over the years. I am sure there are many other possible combinations so I encourage you to experiment and expand your palate.

• Bacon Ranch – Add 4 to 6 slices of crispy bacon chopped fine.
• Buffalo Ranch – Add 3 to 4 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce.
• Buttermilk 'Style' Ranch – Substitute ¼ cup sour cream for ¼ cup of LCHF mayonnaise.
• Chipotle Ranch – Add one chipotle pepper (smoked jalapeño) and one teaspoon of the adobo sauce. Remove the seeds if you wish as they contain most of the heat and do not attribute to the flavor of the dressing.
• Fiesta Salsa – Add ¼ to ½ cup of your favorite LCHF salsa.
• Santa Fe Ranch – Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of salsa verde (green chile salsa) or Hatch green chilies.

I find that when making any of the variations that have solid ingredients such as the 'Chipotle', 'Fiesta Salsa' and 'Bacon' ranch etc. That combining the ingredients in a pint mason jar and pureeing them with my emulsion blender before adding the mayonnaise helps give the dressing a smoother creamier texture.

Chef's Note: Just process the ingredients until well blended, you do not want to over process and end up with Ranch style heavy whipping cream. Or at least I do not think you want too…

Ranch Style Sour Cream Veggie Dip

I will be honest with you, most of the time we just use our LCHF Ranch dressing as a dip for vegetables when we make a veggie tray as we usually have some on hand. The consistency of the LCHF Ranch dressing is just about right as a vegetable dip. This following recipe really shines as a dip for chips as it is thicker and easier to scoop (for your friends who are not eating LCHF). Any of the additional ingredients used to make the dressing variations work just as well in the veggie/chip dip.

1 cup sour cream (7 carbs)
1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley, divided
½ teaspoon dried dill, divided

¾ teaspoon garlic powder (1.5 carbs)

¾ teaspoon onion powder (1.12 carbs)
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon Splenda or other sweetener (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and and mix until the herbs and spices are totally incorporated. Refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving, although I find waiting 24 hours before using yields a better flavor.

Sour Cream Variation

Total Recipe – Calories 459, protein 5.3 grams, fat 45 grams, carbohydrates 9.62 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 29, protein 0.33 grams, fat 2.8 grams, carbohydrates 0.6 grams

Greek Yogurt Variation

Total Recipe – Calories 114, protein 25 grams, fat 0.7 grams, carbohydrates 8.62 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 7.1, protein 1.56 grams, fat 0.04 grams, carbohydrates 0.53 grams

T. Marzetti Veggie Ranch Dip

Total Recipe – Calories 863, protein 7.8 grams, fat 86 grams, carbohydrates 15.7 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 54, protein 0.5 grams, fat 5.4 grams, carbohydrates 0.9 grams

The Ingredients

So why go to all the trouble of making your own version of Ranch dressing? I mean the commercial prepared dressings are convenient to use, and they taste good. Other than the carbohydrate count, the major concern for me is the ingredients that makeup most commercial dressings. Let's face it, Hidden Valley Ranch just has way to many preservatives and artificial flavorings. Yes, commercial dressings are shelf stable and will last for quite some time in your pantry, but at what cost? Making your own Ranch dressing gives you total control of what you consume. So let's examine the ingredents in both dressings.

Hidden Valley Ranch – Vegetable oil, water, egg yolk, sugar, salt, cultured nonfat buttermilk, natural flavors (milk, soy), less than 1% of: spices, dried garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate (msg), artificial flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, and calcium disodium edta as preservatives, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylaye, contains: egg, milk, soy. Gluten free.

Homemade LCHF Ranch Dressing – LCHF Mayonnaise, heavy whipping cream, parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, Splenda, white pepper, and paprika.

I know which dressing I would rather feed to my family. Anyway, just in case you want to experiment with some additional ingredients or change up the ratios, I have included the basic nutritional information for all the ingredients that are or can be used to make your own LCHF Ranch dresing and veggie dip.

Buttermilk (1 Cup) – Calories 99, protein 8 grams, fat 2.2 grams, carbohydrates 12 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6, protein 1 grams, fat 0.1 grams, carbohydrates 1 grams

Half & Half (1 Cup) – Calories 315, protein 7 grams, fat 28 grams, carbohydrates 10.4 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 20, protein 0.4 grams, fat 1.7 grams, carbohydrates 0.6 grams

Heavy Cream (1 Cup) – Calories 821, protein 4.8 grams, fat 88 grams, carbohydrates 6.6 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 51, protein 0.3 grams, fat 5.5 grams, carbohydrates 0.42 grams

Hellman's Mayonnaise (1 Cup) – Calories 960, protein 0, fat 160, carbs 0 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 90, protein 0, fat 10 grams, carbs 0 grams

LCHF Mayonnaise (1 Cup) – Calories 1633, protein 2.2 grams, fat 183 grams, carbohydrates 1.1grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 102, protein 0.14 grams, fat 11.4 grams, carbohydrates 0.06 grams

Sour Cream (1 Cup) – Calories 445, protein 4.8 grams, fat 45 grams, carbohydrates 7 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 23, protein 0.2 grams, fat 2.4 grams, carbohydrates 0.3 grams

Plain Greek Yogurt (1 Cup) – Calories 100, protein 17 grams, fat 0.7 grams, carbohydrates 6 grams

Per Tablespoon – Calories 6.25, protein 1 grams, fat 0.04 grams, carbohydrates 0.37 grams

Cost Analysis

Generally eating LCHF is somewhat higher in cost than typical a traditional American diet, but that is not always the case. When it comes to making your own Ranch dressing, you will find that the cost is somewhere in the middle of the pack when compared to commercially prepared dressings. The taste and quality of this homemade dressing is so far superior that the slight increase of cost is definitely worth it. Obviously prices will vary somewhat depending upon where you live. The prices I am quoting are from my local WalMart, as of September 2016, so take that into condsideration. So let's look at some of the numbers.

Great Value Ranch Dressing All Varities (16 ounces), $1.66

LCHF Ranch Dresing (16 ounces), $2.09

Hidden Valley Ranch All Varities (16 ounces), $3.11

So our homemade Ranch dressing is 21% more expensive than the Great Value Ranch dressings, but it is 33% cheaper than Hidden Valley Ranch. Like I said it is right in the middle of the pack when it comes to price.

Conclusion

Making your own LCHF Ranch dressing may not be the cheapest option when compared to similar commercially prepared Ranch dressings, however, having control of the chemicals or lack thereof that goes into the dressing that your family will consume is well....”priceless”. In addition, making your own ranch dressings and or dips gives you the ability to experiment with different flavors and textures and allows you to change them to suit you and your family's individual needs.

Let's not forget the most important reason to make your own LCHF Ranch dressing, and that is the carbohydrate content. The LCHF Ranch dresssing recipe in this article contains only 0.3 grams of carbohydrates per tablespoon compared to a store bought Ranch dresssing that contains 1 gram of carbohydrate per tablespoon (that's 66% less carbs). And I can gaurantee you that your own homemade dressing will taste twice as good as any you could buy. As always, if you have found this article interesting and valuable, we ask that you share it with your friends. Don't forget to send us a friend request on Facebook, or add us to your circles on Google+.

References:

Hidden Valley Ranch website, accessed 09/17/2016

Self Nutrition Data,Know What You Eat. website accessed 09/22/2016

Fat Secret website, accessed 09/19/2016

Calorie Count, There's Strength In Numbers website, accessed 9/23/2016

Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch

Around our house Ranch dressing is the king of salad dressings. At one time my grandson went through a phase in which just about everything he ate was coated in ranch dressing. And not just any ranch dressing, it had to be Hidden Valley brand. Now it is true that not all brands of ranch dressing taste the same, but for the most part, they are all similar in taste and ingredients. Because my grandson was so picky, and would not eat any other brand of ranch dressing I decided to save the empty bottle and I began to refill it with a cheaper brand. Yes, sneaky I know, but he never could tell the difference. Well, he never mentioned it if he did.

The problem was that even when we could find it on sale, I knew I could make a homemade version of ranch dressing that was quite a bit cheaper, even if I still had to keep refilling the 'Hidden Valley' ranch bottle with my homemade version to appease my grandson. Now there are two different approaches to making your own ranch dressing. The primary difference is whether you use fresh buttermilk (wet recipe) or a dry buttermilk power (dry recipe). I have made it both ways, but as I generally keep a container of SACO dry buttermilk powder on hand, if most often use the 'dry recipe' and use whole milk in place of the buttermilk. In addition to this being more convenient, the dry mix is more versatile as well as being quite a bit cheaper to make than buying the commercially available dry 'Hidden Valley' brand ranch mix.

There are many different recipes of dry ranch dressing mixes out here on the Internet some are more elaborate than others, but most have the same basic ingredients. I have made several different batches of dry mixes, and the following is my go to substitute for 'Hidden Valley' ranch style dry mix. Generally I just make a one time recipe equivalent to an individual store bought packet (1 ounce), but during the writing of this blog entry we are well into the holiday season which at my family gatherings means many veggie trays with ranch dip, Cajun Fire Crackers, and lots of ranch salad dressing. For that reason, I have included both a single portion packet recipe as well as a recipe for make your own powdered ranch mix in bulk quantity it you wish.

The Ingredients

So why go to all the trouble of making your own version of 'Hidden Valley' dry seasoning mix? I mean the commercial 1oz packets of the dry seasoning mix are convenient to use, and they taste good. In my case the two primary concerns is that first, I can control what goes into my seasoning mix, and secondly it is quite a bit cheaper to make. The fact that I think it tastes just as good or better than the store bought is of course an added bonus. So let's look at the ingredients used in both the 'Hidden Valley' ranch seasoning mix, versus or homemade version.

Hidden Valley Ranch – Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monsodium glutamate (MSG), lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, less than 1% calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xanthan gum, carboxymethycellulose, and guar gum.

Homemade Ranch Seasoning – Cultured buttermilk powder (includes sweet dairy whey and lactic acid), parsley, dill, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, sugar, white pepper, paprika, and monosodium glutamate (optional).

Now, I am not the monosodium glutamate (MSG) police. I have never known or met anyone who has an allergy to this flavor enhancer, but maybe you have or if you have concerns regrading the safety of it's use simply omit it from this recipe. Sometimes I use it in my mixes, and sometimes I do not. That's the beauty of making your own seasoning mixes, you have total control of the ingredients that you use.

Cost Benefit Ratio

As you can see, at my local Walmart 4 individual 1oz packets of the 'Hidden Valley' brand seasoning mix will cost you $4.58 ($1.15 per packet/oz), whereas 12 ounces of the SOCO buttermilk powder will cost you $4.48 ($0.37 per ounce). The 4 ½ teaspoons of dried spices that you have to add to the buttermilk powder to make 1oz of homemade ranch seasoning mix will cost you about $0.05 to $0.08 for a total of $0.42 to $0.45 per 1oz, a savings of $0.70 per ounce. So making your own ranch seasoning mix will save you approximately 61% versus buying the 'Hidden Valley' brand prepackaged mix. There is no difference in savings between making a single serving mix, versus the bulk mix, as the price of the ingredients is the same. Therefore I only make the bulk recipe during the holiday's or when I want to share with friends and family.

Homemade Ranch Dry Mix (Equal to a single serving packet)

2 tablespoons dried buttermilk powder
1 ½ teaspoons dried parsley, divided
½ teaspoon dried dill, divided

¾ teaspoon garlic powder

¾ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon Accent (MSG) (optional)
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika

• Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix thoroughly with a fork. Use as needed.

Dry Ranch Dressing Mix (bulk Recipe)

1 cup dried buttermilk powder
2 tablespoons dried parsley, divided
2 teaspoons dried dill, divided
2½ teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon Accent (MSG) optional
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

• Remove two teaspoon parley and ¼ teaspoon of dill and place in a small bowl off to the side. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a small food processor and pulse 4 to 5 times. All the mix to settle for a few minutes before removing it from the food processor.
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix together.

Ranch Dressing – Combine the milk and the single packet homemade seasoning mix recipe, or 3 tablespoons of bulk recipe mix with 1 cup of mayonnaise and 1 cup of whole milk until smooth. You could use more or less milk depending on how thick you like the your dressing to be. Refrigerate for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving, although I find waiting 24 hours before using yields a better flavor. The following are a few of the variations that I have made over the years. I am sure there are many other possible combinations so I encourage you to experiment and expand your palate.

• Bacon Ranch – Add 4 to 6 slices of crispy bacon chopped fine.
• Buffalo Ranch – Add 3 to 4 tablespoons Louisiana Hot Sauce.
• Buttermilk Ranch – Substitute buttermilk for the whole milk.
• Chipotle Ranch – Add one chipotle pepper (smoked jalapeno) and one teaspoon of the adobo sauce. Remove the seeds if you wish as they contain most of the heat and do not attribute to the flavor of the dressing.
• Fiesta Salsa – Add ¼ to ½ cup of your favorite salsa.
• Santa Fe Ranch – Add 3 to 4 tablespoons of salsa verde (green chile salsa) or Hatch green chilies.

I find that when making any of the variations that have solid ingredients such as the 'Chipotle', 'Fiesta Salsa' and 'Bacon' ranch etc. That combining the milk, seasoning mix, and additional ingredients in a pint mason jar and pureeing them with my emulsion blender before adding the mayonnaise helps give the dressing a smoother creamier texture.

Sour Cream Veggie/Chip Dip – Add one single recipe of your homemade seasoning mix, or 3 tablespoons of bulk recipe into 16 ounces of sour cream (or Greek yogurt). Add 1 teaspoon dehydrated onions and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before serving, although as with the ranch dressing, I find waiting 24 hours before using results in the best flavor.

I will be honest with you, most of the time we just use ranch dressing as a dip for vegetables when we make a veggie tray as we usually have one variety or another on had. The consistency of the ranch dressing is just right as a vegetable dip. This recipe really shines as a dip for chips as it is thicker and easier to scoop. Any of the additional ingredients used to make the dressing variations work well in the veggie/chip dip.

The Bottom Line

Making your own ranch seasoning mix is 61% cheaper ($0.45 versus $1.15 per ounce) than buying the commercially prepared 'Hidden Valley' ranch seasoning mix. Having control of the chemicals or lack thereof that goes into the dressing that your family will consume is well....”priceless”. In addition, making your own ranch dressings and or dips give you the ability to experiment with different flavors and textures and change them to suit you and your family's individual needs. I hope you and your family enjoy making your own ranch dressings and dips as mine does.