Here’s a fact for you: Texans love ranch. And since I’m a Texan I think I would know.
I just figured that it was a United States thing…I mean, who in their right mind wouldn’t eat ranch on french fries, pizza, mozzarella sticks, and other varied fabulously fried foods?
Then I moved to Colorado. And got the weirdest stares when I asked for ranch on the side with my nachos and pizza. You would have thought I’d turned purple and farted out loud.
Yes, I just said “farted” on the blog. What of it?
Anyway, I quickly learned that ranch is not quite as prevalent as I had once thought. This foreign land called Colorado can be weird sometimes 🙂
Here’s another fact for you: I hate mayo. Now granted it’s a main ingredient in ranch dressing, but the flavor is covered up with all sorts of delightful herbs and garlic. However, if I have a chance to skip the mayo and have avocado instead I’m taking it. It’s green. It’s health food. I win.
HOMEMADE AVOCADO RANCH DRESSING
- 3-4 very ripe avocados, pit removed and flesh scooped out
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I prefer using Greek yogurt to sour cream most of the time, although I would say that in this recipe they are interchangeable. Just use what you have!)
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced very finely or grated on a microplane
- 1 bunch chives (about 1/4 cup chopped)
- 1 bunch parsley (about 1/4 cup chopped)
- 3-4 sprigs fresh dill (about 1 Tbsp chopped)
- 1 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
- 1-2 Tbsp pickle juice (just trust me…you want this)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to taste
Now if you have a food processor or a blender you’ve got it made; if not, then you have a lot of mashing and chopping and whisking to do! Combine all ingredients in a food processor, only using 1/2 cup of the buttermilk to begin with. You can use it to thin it out if you prefer, but I would recommend just doing 1/2 a cup to begin with before you start evaluating how much more to use. You can always add but you can’t take out! Process or blend until completely smooth, stopping and scraping down the edges as necessary. Check for seasoning and adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve on salads, with pizza, nachos, or any number of assorted fried foods or fresh produce.
Hey, I won’t judge. Even if you do turn purple and fart at the dinner table!
How long does this dressing keep? Does it oxidize and turn brown? I really want to make this as a sauce for Andie’s BBQ chicken egg rolls.
Thanks!
mine kept for about 3 days. it does oxidize a little bit, but doesn’t change the flavor or texture at all!
Heather, this looks and sound amazing! Avocados are a weakness of mine!! Can’t wait to try it.
Mmmmm, sounds perfect for a bbq 🙂 Can’t wait to try it!
I love ranch dressing…I’m always asking for it instead of honey mustard when I order chicken fingers at restaurants and I’ve only lived in Ohio and Arizona. Combining avocado with ranch sounds amazing! The perfect summer dressing for…everything 🙂
I have to agree with you, ranch is a perfect accompaniment to a lot of delicious food.
I love homemade and restaurant style ranch. I have friends who are exactly like you in that they order a side of ranch with everything. No one in CA looks at them funny. haha. Must be Colorado…
BTW, I want that salad for dinner tonight. Looks so tasty!
Love the addition of the avocado. I have never even thought to make my own ranch before. DUH! 🙂 It looks so much fresher than your average ranch! I can’t wait to give it a try with all my farmer’s market herbs.
I love ranch dressing, and this looks much healthier than the usual version. Thank you!
This is flipping brilliant! I love it!! I cannot wait to make it 🙂
True fact: Last night at a pizza place in Rehoboth Beach, we were offered ranch with our pizza and the table next to us was loudly telling “fart stories”. Haha, You’d think we were in Texas. But still, I’m not too much of a Northern girl to think that salad looks delicious!
Did you say pickle juice?!? 😉
Oh yes, yes I did 😉
Avocado and ranch… that is awesome! I love ranch, too, and I put it on everything that you just named above. 🙂
Ok, I wasn’t going to head over here when I saw the word ‘ranch dressing’ in my goog reader because I utterly despise it…but then you had one little seemingly insignificant word: avocado. SOLD! This looks wonderful and I am also soooo glad it doesn’t contain mayo! 🙂
This looks delicious! I’m a die hard rancher as well, on everything. And don’t you worry, the ranch thing should catch on soon. I’m from Kansas and it’s all the rave here.
dressing made with yogurt + buttermilk = awesome. adding avocado? genius!
I love how food preferences change from state to state. When I first left Vermont for college in Utah I used to always call sub sandwiches “grinders” . I’ve since learned that outside Vermont and maybe New Hampshire, NO ONE calls them grinders.
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve been looking for a good avocado dressing recipe for a while, and this looks like it could be the winner.
Yesssssss to this recipe. Yes. And boo to anyone who doesn’t understand that ranch sauce can be used as a dipping sauce for ANYTHING. Duh.
I love you even more for saying farted on your blog. 🙂
And avocado + ranch sounds like a great flavor combo. Yum!
this looks awesome! I love avocado and ranch, and this is a much healthier version too! 🙂
Heather….LOVE this dressing. The perfect dip for everything!
I eat ranch on all of those things too! I get weird stares here in Michigan. Maybe I should move to Texas!
I have no idea what ranch is, but, this avocado ranch sounds delicious! I adore avocado, and all those ingredients together probably make a great salad/burger dressing!
I actually HATE ranch, although that’s completely based off bottled Kraft stuff. This actually looks good and worth a try. Especially with Avocados!
I’m typically not a ranch fan, but I remember trying it on pizza in gradeschool and liking the combination.
Adding avocado just might do the trick! 😉
I love ranch dressing! This looks amazing!