Add this dairy-free healthy ranch dressing to salads, chicken, potatoes, and more!
Today is my Whole30 day 10 and I feel AMAZING. Not even exaggerating. My bloating has gone away, I have much more energy, I’m in a better mood, and I’m not craving sweets all the time like I used to. It’s crazy how ridding your body of harmful foods can make you feel so much better. It really shows that eating real foods helps your overall health. I’m going to share a post about my Whole30 experience in a couple weeks with more details!
That being said, you can still enjoy delicious food too. I don’t feel deprived at all. Some meals we’ve had include stuffed peppers with cauliflower rice, tilapia with baked potatoes, turnip risotto (from Inspiralize Everything), roast with veggies, and buffalo chicken salads with this ranch dressing.
Yes, that’s right. You can have ranch dressing on Whole30!!! There’s actually a recipe for ranch dressing in It Starts With Food, a book written about the program, but I didn’t love it, so I decided to share my own version. Have you ever read the back of a bottle of ranch dressing? It makes me cringe a little. Here’s what’s in it: Vegetable Oil (Soybean and/or Canola), Water, Sugar, Salt, Nonfat Buttermilk, Egg Yolk, Natural Flavors, less than 1% of: Spices, Garlic*, Onion*, Vinegar, Phosphoric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Modified Food Starch, Monosodium Glutamate, Artificial Flavors, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid and Calcium Disodium EDTA added to Preserve Freshness, Disodium Inosinate and Guanylate. *Dried.
Yeah, no thanks. I think I’ll make my own.
The dressing starts with Whole30 mayo, which is made out of egg, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and olive oil. You add the olive oil slowly to the rest of the ingredients in a blender and it miraculously forms a thick mayo. If you don’t feel like making the mayo, Primal Kitchen actually makes a Whole30 compliant mayo. You can get it on Amazon or Thrive Market (We LOVE the chipotle lime mayo, too. The jar in these photos are actually leftover from that). Once you have your mayo, you add some vinegar and spices and that’s it! I store mine in a mason jar in the fridge (I use these for everything) and it usually lasts us the whole week. Notice I said usually 🙂
It takes a little more effort than just picking a bottle of ranch up off the store shelf, but this homemade healthy ranch dressing is 100% worth it.
Healthy Ranch Dressing
Cook: | Yield: About 2 cups | Total: |
Add this dairy-free healthy ranch dressing to salads, chicken, potatoes, and more!
You'll Need...
- For the mayo:
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup + 1 cup light olive oil
- For the ranch:
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley*
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
- To make the mayo, add egg, lemon juice, mustard, salt, and 1/4 cup of olive oil to a blender or food processor and blend well.
- While the blender or food processor is on, slowly add the remaining 1 cup of olive oil in a very thin stream until you have a thick mayo.
- Add all remaining ranch ingredients and blend until mixed well.**
Additional Notes
*You can use fresh herbs instead. 1 teaspoon dried herbs = 1 tablespoon fresh herbs.
**If you prefer a thinner dressing, just add more vinegar.
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Alexa says
I cannot WAIT to make this and pair it with my buffalo chicken cakes! I can eat everything in the recipe! *yay!*
Ashley Cowles says
I hope you love it!!! I typically use Greek yogurt to make dairy recipes healthier, but I discovered homemade mayo when doing Whole30 and I’m obsessed.
Sydney says
Looks great, I’m excited to try it! Any idea how long it stays good in the fridge?
Ashley Cowles says
Thanks Sydney! 🙂 Well, I have some in my fridge right now that has been in there for more than two weeks. It smells and tastes just fine. I’m not sure how “safe” it is, though, but the only thing I can imagine getting bad in it is the egg.