Name: Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing
Prep time: 10 min
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients: ½ cup olive oil mayonnaise; ¾ cup lowfat buttermilk; 1 whole ripe avocado, peeled and pitted; ½ teaspoon minced garlic; 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice; ¼ cup water; 1 teaspoon dried dill (or 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh); ½ teaspoon onion powder (or 1 tablespoon finely minced fresh chives); 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce; Splash of hot sauce (I use Louisiana); ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper

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This creamy avocado ranch dressing is 100% made from scratch and 100% filled with the ranch flavor we all know and love, with the addition of creamy avocado and a hint of lime!

Truth: I've never been much a ranch dressing gal. I don't like thick creamy stuff on my veggies. But I've recently had a slight change of heart, and can totally deal with small amounts of creaminess for dipping crudite in and drizzling on top of one of my favorite easy weeknight meals - tostadas (recipe coming soon)! And even if you don't like ranch, it's good to have a homemade recipe version in your back pocket because lots of other people like it and there are plenty of occassions where a good ranch dressing is just the thing!

Making a homemade dressing or dip will take your game up to the next level in a lot of ways. Dress up a store bought veggie platter with it. Or put it in your kids lunch box in hopes that it will entice them to eat their carrot sticks. Or use it to jazz up a frozen pizza or leftover grilled chicken. Homemade ranch is extra special!

Ingredients for Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing

Nothing too fancy....just:

Olive oil mayo - always in my fridge for when the pimento cheese or avocado ranch cravings strike...but only for those things. Not a big mayo gal. You can sub this for Greek yogurt if you're into the yogurt dressing thing.
Lowfat buttermilk - always in my fridge for weekend pancakes and waffles. You can make your own if you like by adding 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of whatever milk you like and letting it sit for a couple of minutes before adding to a recipe.
Avocado - it gives the prettiest pale green color to this ranch and makes it have such a creamy body and texture!
Lime juice - this will add a hint of tanginess and keep your dressing nice and green for a couple of days.
Dried spices - we could use fresh, but really, who has fresh dill in the dead of winter when you want some homemade ranch? If you have fresh dill and chives, by all means, use them! Otherwise, we are going with pantry-friendly dried onion powder, dried dill, and pre-minced garlic. Because SIMPLE.
Hot sauce - a dash of hot sauce in your ranch is the perfect thing to balance the flavor without anyone knowing that it's in there.
Worcestershire sauce - again, another flavor enhancer that may just be the "secret ingredient" to making your ranch taste amazing!

How to Make Avocado Ranch Dressing

No big secret here. Put it all in a blender and let er' rip!

Once you get over how easy and cost-efficient it is to make your own avocado ranch (sorry, Whole Foods!), why not try it on this pretty veggie platter? Or serve it on a salad with this Simply Perfect Roast Chicken. I know it would be divine on these Quinoa and Chicken Stuffed Poblanos or this BLT Naan Pizza. Bon appetit!

Are you ready to try this Creamy Avocado Ranch Dressing? I’m so excited for you to try this recipe. Once you get the chance to make it, please let me know how it turns out for you! Leave a comment and rate the recipe below. This will help me with the creation of future recipes! I’d also love to feature your creation in my monthly newsletter, so you can upload a photo to Instagram or Twitter with the tag @sweetcayenne5 to be featured!