Avocado Ranch Dressing
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Published Jul 17, 2020, Updated May 16, 2022
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This vegan avocado ranch dressing is unbelievably creamy and loaded with herby flavor. It’s the perfect healthy replacement for regular ranch when topping salads or as a dip for veggies.
To be honest, ranch has never been my dressing of choice. Catalina (or French) was my absolute favorite growing up, and to this day, I still lean toward sweeter dressings like honey mustard. That said, I do love a savory dressing every once in a while and I know that pretty much everyone adores ranch, so this little recipe had to happen.
I have to admit that while doing recipe testing for this post I realized that I’m more of a ranch fan than I originally thought. Maybe my tastebuds have changed or maybe it’s because this homemade version tastes waaaay better than the store-bought ranch I remember from childhood. Either way, I’m not mad about it.
Avocado Instead of Mayo
Most ranch dressings start with a base of mayo, sour cream and buttermilk, but I knew from the get-go that I wanted to skip those things. I opted for Almond Breeze almondmilk with lemon juice to replace the buttermilk, along with avocado and olive oil to replace the mayo and sour cream.
The result is a delicious, herby dressing that’s just as creamy, if not creamier then regular ranch. It’s seriously the best!
Another great thing about this avocado ranch dressing (and ranch dressing in general) is that it’s super versatile and can be used in a variety of ways.
How To Use This Dressing
- as a dressing on a traditional salad
- drizzled over cooked veggies
- as a dip for veggies, cauliflower wings or pizza
- as a sub for mayo with chicken or tuna salad
- as a sauce for fajitas, tacos or burritos
So many options. You may need to make a double batch!
More Salad Ideas
- How to Build a Healthy Meal-Sized Salad
- 6 Healthy Homemade Salad Dressings
- Healthy Store-Bought Salad Dressings
More Dressing Ideas
- Blueberry Tahini Dressing
- Garlic Tahini Dressing
- Peanut Dressing
- Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing
- Basil Vinaigrette
- Healthy Poppyseed Dressing
- Healthy Caesar Dressing
- Raspberry Vinaigrette
Be sure to check out my healthy salad dressings as well as my favorite healthy store-bought salad dressings.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below.
Avocado Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 medium avocado
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dijon or stone-ground mustard
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, basil or dill (pick your favorite)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a high-powered blender and process until smooth and creamy, adding more almondmilk if the dressing seems too thick. Once the texture is to your liking, taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed.
- Pour the dressing in to a container for serving. Use over salad, cooked veggies or as dip. Dressing should keep for 1-2 days in the fridge. Make 3/4 cup.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can you make this without the garlic? If you think it will really miss that flavor, anything else I can substitute?
I think garlic adds a great flavor to the dressing, but I think it would be okay (and plenty flavorful) without the garlic.
Just curious why you put maple syrup in virtually every dressing recipe. I usually use most every recipe as an idea for my own adaptations and since I abhor maple syrup I will find an alternative or simply leave it out, but just wondered about the reasoning behind it. Is it simply as a sweetener? You must LOVE maple syrup. Just curious.
Hey Mary, You can totally leave out the maple syrup if you prefer! I just like the touch of sweetness it adds. 🙂
Delicious and so tasty and beautifully creamy without the use of dairy! Yay and thank you!!
Yay!! So glad you enjoyed this dressing, Virginia! Thanks for trying it and for coming back to leave a comment and star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂
Hi Brittany: I am surprised it took me this long to try this recipe. It is a keeper!
Ahh yay!! So glad you finally got to try this dressing, Jema. So glad you liked it! Thanks for coming back to leave a comment + star rating. I so appreciate it. 🙂
Hi, Just curious if this could be made without the EVOO to lighten it up since the avacado has alot of fat already.
I haven’t tried it without the EVOO, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Maybe try blending it up without it, taste and see if you feel the need to add the olive oil for extra creaminess. Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
I made this recipe tonight to use as a salad dressing. It was absolutely delicious. Up until tonight, my husband has only liked ranch dressing, but he loved this recipe as much as me. If I could give it stars, I’d give it 5 out of 5. Thank you!
Can I leave out the maple syrup? I’m doing LCHF and I want to avoid extra sugar. If I omit the maple syrup, how would that affect the nutrition info?
Yup! You can leave it out and the new nutritional info will be 68 cals, 4 grams of carbs and 0 grams of sugar. Everything else stays the same. 🙂
Gog to try the dressing. I will try it with water and almonds themselves plus what you have in the recipe already. Thanks. Are you familiar with Dr. Fuhrmann and the recipes he has for salad dressings? They are great.
Thank you! Survey taken! <3
thank you for the giveaway. I took the survey