# Thicken homemade ranch dressing



## pigskins

Hi all, first time user!

I made homemade ranch dressing recently (trying to make more homemade items vs. store bought) and it turned out very runny.  The recipe (which is on the Penzey's Buttermilk Ranch seasoning blend) is below.  I used a washed out salad dressing bottle that holds 2 cups so I doubled everything.  I did not have fresh buttermilk so I used an envelope of Saco powdered buttermilk and a cup of water (I think this is where I went wrong) to make the 1 cup of buttermilk.  I mixed everything in a blender.

Can I add something to thicken this?  Sour cream? More mayo?  Of course I'm worried about throwing off the taste...as a last resort I will start over but when I have right now is useless as a dip and pretty useless as a salad dressing.  Thank you all and I look forward to joining this community!!





[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, Times New Roman, sans-serif]*Buttermilk        Ranch*[/FONT] 
To make 1 Cup dressing, mix 1 TB.        seasoning in 1 TB. water, let stand five minutes, then whisk with 1/2 Cup       buttermilk and 1/2 Cup mayonnaise. Hand-mixed from: salt, bell        peppers, garlic, onion, sugar, black pepper, parsley, thyme, basil.


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## PrincessFiona60

I would add sour cream.

Welcome to DC!


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## pacanis

Well if you do have to start over, don't throw it out. It would probably be just fine for marinating chicken pieces in.


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## Kayelle

pacanis said:


> Well if you do have to start over, don't throw it out. It would probably be just fine for marinating chicken pieces in.



I agree, picanis.  It would also be great added to mashed potatoes to go with that chicken.  I sure wouldn't throw it out.

Welcome to DC, pigskins........you're gonna like it here.


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## pigskins

Thanks for the suggestions!  Funny you say that because when my wife went to use it, she poured some out and stopped and said "oh no did I grab the marinade?"

I realize homemade dressings can be thinner but this is like pouring milk from a jug.  For future reference is there something with the recipe that looks off?


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## PrincessFiona60

pigskins said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! Funny you say that because when my wife went to use it, she poured some out and stopped and said "oh no did I grab the marinade?"
> 
> I realize homemade dressings can be thinner but this is like pouring milk from a jug. For future reference is there something with the recipe that looks off?


 
I have the same Penzey's but haven't tried it yet.  Does the powdered buttermilk need to stand to thicken before using?


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## pigskins

PrincessFiona60 said:


> I have the same Penzey's but haven't tried it yet.  Does the powdered buttermilk need to stand to thicken before using?



No, not according to the package.  If you bought it make dressing let me know if you get around to trying it.  Even with real buttermilk, etc. to see how big of a difference there is.


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## Claire

Use a good yogurt instead of buttermilk.  Drain liquid from the top of the yogurt.  For some reason (I'm sure there's a food scientist out there) if you used a blender or such instead of just a spoon, it makes it thinner.  If you use a low fat mayo, it also might be thinner.  

You can also add the seasoning mix to the half-and-half buttermilk-may mix directly, eliminating the water.  If you do that, you need to let it sit overnight.  The water is just to re-hydrate the herbs in the mixture (yes, I use this mix, also their green goddess and green peppercorn mixes as well, all similar instructions).  If you make it the day before, you don't need the water.


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## pacanis

I wonder if you thinned out the mayo by using a blender... I'll bet.


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## PrincessFiona60

Claire said:


> Use a good yogurt instead of buttermilk. Drain liquid from the top of the yogurt. For some reason (I'm sure there's a food scientist out there) if you used a blender or such instead of just a spoon, it makes it thinner. If you use a low fat mayo, it also might be thinner.
> 
> You can also add the seasoning mix to the half-and-half buttermilk-may mix directly, eliminating the water. If you do that, you need to let it sit overnight. The water is just to re-hydrate the herbs in the mixture (yes, I use this mix, also their green goddess and green peppercorn mixes as well, all similar instructions). If you make it the day before, you don't need the water.


 
Good to know, Claire!  Thanks!

I'll let you know, Pigskins!


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## betterthanabox

I recently made my own ranch dressing. I used Hidden Valley and mixed it with 1.5 cups of greek yogurt and .5 cups of sour cream. It is delicious and last 2 weeks. It is also super thick and a great dip, as a dressing, it needs to be thinned a little.


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## pigskins

betterthanabox said:


> I recently made my own ranch dressing. I used Hidden Valley and mixed it with 1.5 cups of greek yogurt and .5 cups of sour cream. It is delicious and last 2 weeks. It is also super thick and a great dip, as a dressing, it needs to be thinned a little.



Hi Joy,

Did you use their dressing mix?  Ingredients below...some of the things I'm trying to avoid.  It appears to have buttermilk and milk solids and other "stuff" already in it...but I see you didn't use milk which probably made it nice and thick, great for a dip!!


*Ingredients:* Maltodextrin, Salt, Monosodium Glutamate,  Buttermilk Solids, Whey Solids, Garlic, Onion, Lactic Acid, Modified  Food Starch, Spices, Citric Acid, Calcium Lactate, Casein, Hydroxypropyl  MethylCellulose, Whole Milk Solids, Artificial Flavor, Guar Gum,  Calcium Sterate. No Preservatives


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## pigskins

Claire said:


> Use a good yogurt instead of buttermilk.  Drain liquid from the top of the yogurt.  For some reason (I'm sure there's a food scientist out there) if you used a blender or such instead of just a spoon, it makes it thinner.  If you use a low fat mayo, it also might be thinner.
> 
> You can also add the seasoning mix to the half-and-half buttermilk-may mix directly, eliminating the water.  If you do that, you need to let it sit overnight.  The water is just to re-hydrate the herbs in the mixture (yes, I use this mix, also their green goddess and green peppercorn mixes as well, all similar instructions).  If you make it the day before, you don't need the water.




I see someone else mentioned the same about using the blender.  That's what I get for trying to take the easy way out. 

Thanks for the great info!


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## taxlady

pigskins said:


> Thanks for the suggestions!  Funny you say that because when my wife went to use it, she poured some out and stopped and said "oh no did I grab the marinade?"
> 
> I realize homemade dressings can be thinner but this is like pouring milk from a jug.  For future reference is there something with the recipe that looks off?



I always use sour cream, not buttermilk, when I make ranch dressing. Mine tends to thicken the next day - to the point that I need to thin it. It can be thinned with a bit of regular milk or a small amount of some other liquid, like cider vinegar. Shaking it will make it thinner for a while, so careful how much liquid you use to thin it. It's thixotropic or pseudoplastic or a non-Newtonian liquid. I can't figure out which.


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## taxlady

pigskins said:


> I see someone else mentioned the same about using the blender.  That's what I get for trying to take the easy way out.
> 
> Thanks for the great info!



Since you used the blender, it got shaken a lot. It will probably be thicker tomorrow, even if you don't add anything to thicken it. See my previous reply.


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## pigskins

taxlady said:


> Since you used the blender, it got shaken a lot. It will probably be thicker tomorrow, even if you don't add anything to thicken it. See my previous reply.



I made it Saturday morning and today it's still milk.   I've got some sour cream so I'm going to try adding that later.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North

You can add a little corn starch into the mixture and let it sit.  As the corn starch absorbs the liquid, the dressing will thicken.  Add about 1/2 tsp. cornstarch per cup of dressing.  It won't alter the flavor either.  But it will need to sit for an hour or two in the fridge.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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## joesfolk

It's funny you should bring this up because I have just started using cream cheese mixed with powdered buttermilk in place of the buttermilk in my ranch dressing.  It is very thick and satisfying.   You might want to give it a try.  I whirl the whole thing up in the food processor with  the seasonings and mayo.  I'll never go back to the thin stuff.


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## msmofet

I make it fresh when I have buttermilk. It's very easy. I recently bought Saco powdered buttermilk but haven't used it yet.

*Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Dressing *

(I used a scale and weighed the buttermilk and mayo)

1 cup (8 oz) buttermilk and/or sour cream (can go 1/2 cup (4 oz) of each)
1/2 cup (4 oz) mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (sub dry )
1 teaspoon chopped fresh chives (sub dry chives or onion powder and/or garlic powder)

I used an empty washed out molasses bottle to make the dressing in. I put the empty bottle on the scale and zeroed it out. Add the buttermilk to the bottle then hit tare (to zero), then add the mayo. Remove bottle from scale and shake well. Add remaining ingredients. Shake till fully mixed. Adjust to taste.


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## pigskins

joesfolk said:


> It's funny you should bring this up because I have just started using cream cheese mixed with powdered buttermilk in place of the buttermilk in my ranch dressing.  It is very thick and satisfying.   You might want to give it a try.  I whirl the whole thing up in the food processor with  the seasonings and mayo.  I'll never go back to the thin stuff.



This sounds interesting!  Do you do a 1:1 substitution of cream cheese for buttermilk?


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## pigskins

Before I found the forums here I actually contacted Penzey's directly with my question, and they wrote back late yesterday afternoon and suggested adding sour cream until the consistency was where I wanted.  They too said it was probably the blender that caused the dressing to be so thin.


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## Zhizara

joesfolk said:


> It's funny you should bring this up because I have just started using cream cheese mixed with powdered buttermilk in place of the buttermilk in my ranch dressing.  It is very thick and satisfying.   You might want to give it a try.  I whirl the whole thing up in the food processor with  the seasonings and mayo.  I'll never go back to the thin stuff.



Can you give us measurements?


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## msmofet

pigskins said:


> Before I found the forums here I actually contacted Penzey's directly with my question, and they wrote back late yesterday afternoon and suggested adding sour cream until the consistency was where I wanted. They too said it was probably the blender that caused the dressing to be so thin.


 Maybe you can buy the Good Season Dressing kit with the bottle and make your ranch in that. Or use an old bottle like I do. I saved an empty molasses bottle. I use it to shake up cornstarch slurry, salad dressing and such.


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## Zhizara

msmofet said:


> Maybe you can buy the Good Season Dressing kit with the bottle and make your ranch in that. Or use an old bottle like I do. I saved an empty molasses bottle. I use it to shake up cornstarch slurry, salad dressing and such.



I saved a mustard bottle.  It has that smaller opening so you can squeeze from it. It's small, but easy to dispense.


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## msmofet

Zhizara said:


> I saved a mustard bottle. It has that smaller opening so you can squeeze from it. It's small, but easy to dispense.


 I like the big mouth so I can spoon stuff into it. I use the Good Seasons Cruet (it has a wide mouth for adding ingredients but a small hole in the cap for pouring) for thin salad dressing.


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## Zhizara

msmofet said:


> I like the big mouth so I can spoon stuff into it. I use the Good Seasons Cruet (it has a wide mouth for adding ingredients but a small hole in the cap for pouring) for thin salad dressing.



I was going to get the 4-pack with the cruet, but didn't because it didn't have the pretty vines all over it like it used to.  I was so disappointed that I just got a 4 pack to use as seasonings.  I love it in potato salad.


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## joesfolk

pigskins said:


> This sounds interesting! Do you do a 1:1 substitution of cream cheese for buttermilk?


 
I don't really use a recipe with this because sometimes I only make enough for a couple of days and sometimes I make a bunch. I start with about equal parts of mayo and cream cheese ,Say a brick of cheese and a cup of Mayo.    I add a tablespoon of the buttermilk powder to the cream cheese amd run it through the food processor until it's well mixed. Then I add the mayo and ranch seasonings to taste. (Be careful here because too much can ruin it.) I allow it to sit so the flavors can meld and if it is too thick I add a little milk. But for me it really can't be too thick...I love it that way. Hope this helps.


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