This ranch dressing is dairy free, contains no junky oils, and comes together in minutes with only 3 ingredients!
Best Dairy Free Ranch Dressing (Paleo Friendly and Whole30 Compliant)
Every person has their condiment of choice. Some people like to drown each bite of their eggs and steak in ketchup. Others like to slather everything from morning frittatas to evening pizza in Tabasco. There’s the mustard people, the Sriracha people, the mayo people, and the apple cider vinegar people. While I enjoy all those fabulous sauces from time to time, there’s one condiment that is MINE. I am a banner-waving, button-wearing, proud ranch dressing enthusiast.
Store-bought ranch dressing is full of vegetable oil (we know to avoid because of rancidity and an unbalanced Omega-6/Omega-3 profile), sugar, and nonfat buttermilk. While grabbing a bottle of the famous vegetable dip is easy and appealing, I’m here to tell you that you CAN make it from home and that it’s easy. as. pie.
Does Ranch taste like Mayo?
While it may have some underlying flavors similar to mayo (because that is the base of the dressing, afterall), between the additions of lemon juice and dried dill, the dressing itself does not have an overwhelmingly mayo-y taste.
Whole30 Ranch Ingredients
You only need three really simple ingredients here:
- Mayonnaise – the base of this dairy-free ranch dressing is mayo — you’ll need about 2 cups here.
- Lemon Juice – to thin the mayo and brighten the dressing, you’ll need a ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice. This is equivalent to the amount of juice from about 2 juicy lemons.
- Dried Dill – 1 tablespoon of dried dill weed really brings the classic ranch dressing flavor!
How To Make Ranch Dressing
The process is incredibly easy: you’ll just add all of the ingredients to a bowl or jar and whisk until fully combined and smooth.
How do you make ranch dressing from scratch without buttermilk?
It’s so easy! You’ll just add the mayo, lemon juice, and dried dill to a bowl and whisk until combined — no buttermilk (and no fussy instructions) needed!
Serving Suggestions for Whole30 Ranch Dressing
If you’re a ranch-lover, you KNOW that ranch can literally go on anything. And if you aren’t a ranch-lover, you probably know someone who is, and that someone probably puts it on *all* of the things. This homemade, 3-ingredient ranch dressing can go on anything you’d use normal, store-bought ranch on. Here are a few recipes that we think are especially perfect for a good ole ranch finish:
- Pizza Ranch Chicken Casserole
- BBQ Ranch Meatloaf-Stuffed Tomatoes
- BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings
And, of course, ranch is always a delicious dipping sauce for crunchy veggies, chicken tenders, and pizza!
How to Store Dairy-Free Paleo Ranch Dressing
Your homemade ranch can be stored in an airtight container (a mason jar works great!) in the refrigerator.
How long does homemade ranch last in the fridge?
This homemade dressing will last for about 1 week in the fridge. Plenty of time to slather it on all of the things you can think of!
How do you thicken ranch dressing?
Because the base of this easy ranch dressing is mayonnaise, it really doesn’t need any thickening at all. The lemon juice thins out the mayo to the perfect consistency.
Dairy Free Ranch Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
- 2 cups avocado oil mayonnaise
Instructions
- Whisk all ingredients together until fully combined.
Nutrition
This is so much better than the first homemade ranch I tried!
What can I use in place of the egg? I am allergic to them?
I don’t have a tested egg-less mayo recipe, but I recommend doing a google search! I’ve also tried (and enjoyed) Sir Kensington’s egg-less mayo.
Paleo ranch!?!?! Ranch is one of my favorite sauces (foods…). This is a super simple recipe that I am going to have to try tonight.
It did have a but of a mayo taste I added an avacado a garlic glove some onion powder an extra half a lemon n some cracked pepper! Still good n super easy thanks!!
How long dies it lady in refrigerator.
I’d say about a week!
I’m more concerned with my aversion to the IDEA of eating raw eggs than anything in these recipes. Is there a way to make a paleo/whole 30 creamy dressing without using raw eggs?
There is, it requires a few tricks (from what I understand) with flax seed. Primal Kitchen Foods is coming out with an egg-free mayo that is STELLAR! I got to sample it at Expo West. It’s excellent.
I love making mayonnaise and I’m looking forward to making this ranch dressing recipe. But I use pasteurized liquid egg whites instead of raw eggs (5 T liquid egg whites = 1 whole egg). I find that the difference in consistency is minimal and it lasts longer because it doesn’t contain raw egg. Also, it’s easy to make smaller quantities – just use less liquid egg whites. Some turmeric or yellow mustard can be added if you don’t like the whiter color of mayo made without egg yolk.
Definitely going to try this! It looks and sounds like a dream.
Hello. I am making this recipe for just myself and there is no way I can eat 2 cups of ranch dressing in a week. If I cut the recipe in half can I use just the egg white/egg yolk? If so, which would you recommend?
Hi Whitney. We haven’t tried to cut the recipe in half, but if you were I would only use the egg yolk to make sure the emulsion happens. You could also try to make it as is and freeze some. If you give that a go, we recommend defrosting it slowly – don’t try to heat it up as that will break the emulsion. I find that the ranch will last as long as the expiration date on the eggs you use also!
For anyone who is having issues with the taste of olive oil being super strong, add Apple cider vinegar. I found a lot of ranch recipes that used this vinegar and thought I might as well try it. I had used extra light tasting oil and it still tasted SO much like the oil. I kept adding apple cider vinegar little by little and BAM, oil taste gone! Now it also has a little bite like ranch does.
Thanks for the tip Danielle! And thank you for trying it 🙂
Can you freeze any of this at all? I will never go through all of this in one week? Thanks!
Hi Danielle! We haven’t tried to freeze it, so we can’t speak if it would work or not. If you give it a go, we recommend defrosting it slowly – don’t try to heat it up as that will break the emulsion. If you try please report back and let us know how it goes!
How many calories are in one tbsp of this dressing?
Hi Michelle, I do not know how many calories are in one tablespoon of this dressing. You could enter all the ingredients into a website/app (like MyFitnessPal) to figure out the breakdown per serving though. Hope that helps.
FYI. Most of the light olive oils are cut with cheap canola or vegetable oils as well. Even a lot of the big brand ones that are just regular EVOO still cut theirs down with veggy/canola oil. Almost all real olive oil is bottled in dark glass bottles to protect from oxidation. That isn’t 100% a sign that it is pure olive oil but helps narrow it down. Clear bottles, even if it happens to be pure will likely have a lot more oxidation from light just sitting on the store shelves.
You are so right! We discussed this on a podcast episode and you can find it here: https://fedandfit.com/2015/03/30/ep-13-the-truth-about-olive-oil-with-tony-kasandrinos/
I like to use avocado oil for making homemade mayo as it has a mild flavor, but is still produces a great result and is full of healthy fats as well!
Is consuming a raw egg in this recipe not a concern? Just curious. Thanks!
Hi Lauren, good question! There are some risks (percentages of which are all debatable) associated with consuming raw egg. I buy local, pasture-raised eggs which tend to have less risk of disease compared their mass-produced cousins. It’s still a personal choice. It is also said that if you let the egg and lemon juice commingle and come to room temperature together, the citric acid “cooks” the egg in a similar fashion to the lime juice in shrimp ceviche. Hope that helps!
Made this tonight. Delicious! I used it on a roast beef spinach salad. Would be delicious with a little horseradish. Gonna use it on salmon this week too!
Love that idea Adrienne! So glad you liked it, thanks for trying it out!!
This is a great ranch recipe, I’ve tried a few and I love how easy this one is. I used avocado oil and it was excellent !! Although it didn’t get as thick as I was hoping it was still awesome though. Thanks for sharing !!
Thanks for trying it Lacey!!