Kefir ranch? Yes! Making homemade ranch dressing is super simple and with the kefir you can help your homemade ranch keep longer in the fridge without spoiling.
What is kefir?
Milk kefir or dairy kefir is a fermented dairy drink made by inoculating milk with kefir grains. Kefir grains are the symbiotic culture that’s used to make kefir. You can make kefir with cow, goat or sheep’s milk.
Learn more about kefir by reading this post.
How does kefir help preserve ranch dressing?
Kefir is rich with healthy probiotic bacteria. Those good bacteria help keep food fresh longer by beating out the bad bacteria that break down and rot food. By using this probiotic fermented dairy in ranch, rather than plain milk, it helps preserve your ranch dressing.
How long will homemade kefir ranch last?
This dressing will still need to be stored in the fridge, and used up in 3-4 weeks. Still, this is keeping it fresh for way longer than when I’ve made ranch with regular pasteurized milk and it was spoiled and moldy in just over a week.
Keep in mind if it’s stored for a longer period of time the kefir ranch may separate. If that happens, just stir it back together before using it.
What does kefir ranch taste like?
Kefir ranch tastes pretty close to my regular homemade ranch recipe, with a little extra tang. Maybe a closest comparison would be with buttermilk ranch.
Really though, this stuff will be better than anything you can get in stores. It’s homemade! With real food ingredients! That’s something to celebrate. Make this dip or dressing for a gathering or potluck. It’s sure to impress your friends.
Difference between normal homemade ranch and kefir ranch
My normal homemade ranch recipe is made with some type of dairy. Sometimes I use coconut milk, cows milk or even buttermilk. This recipe just swaps the kefir for the dairy in the recipe.
This is my basic homemade ranch recipe. Read most below on swaps that I make to use what I have on hand and change things up a bit.
There are many ways people make ranch dressing at home. Some are homemade from scratch recipes. Some are assembled using store bought ingredients. For example, like when people get a packet of ranch seasoning and stir it into a store bought container of sour cream.
How to make kefir ranch dressing
Ingredients:
- 1 egg, room temp
- 1 cup neutral tasting oil (I use avocado oil here)
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of real salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 -1/2 cup kefir (sub coconut milk if you don’t have kefir)
- 1 – 3 Tablespoon of dried parley, or a small handful of fresh.
Equipment:
- Immersion blender (or food processor)
- Jar
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
Method:
- Place everything in a jar
- Blend with immersion blender
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, place everything except the oil in the food processor and slowly drizzle in the oil with the food processor running.
Tips for using your immersion blender
- Start at the bottom of the jar and turn on the blender.
- Slowly pull up as it blends, wiggling the stick blender a little bit as you pull up.
- Stop blending as soon as you cannot see the oil separated from the other liquid anymore.
- If you blend for too long, it can break the emulsion and the oil will again separate.
Watch the video
What if I don’t have an immersion blender?
If you don’t have access to an immersion blender (sometimes called a stick blender) like this one, you can use a food processor. I have this 14 cup Cuisinart food processor. An immersion blender is much cheaper, but definitely learn to use whatever you have first.
The benefit of the immersion blender is that you can just put everything in a jar and blend it super quick. With a food processor, you need to take a different approach. Start by placing all the ingredients in the food processor except to oil. Start the food processor and as it’s bleeding drizzle in the oil very slowly.
You can see how I use my food processor to emulsify in this video where I make garlic toum sauce.
How to use kefir ranch
Kefir ranch is great as a salad dressing, a dip for veggies and chips or in any recipe that you would use ranch in.
Dipping your pizza in ranch? That’s very ‘90’s of you. I’m not going to judge, have at it!
Swaps and customizations
It’s easy to make this recipe your own. Just follow this basic formula:
- 1 egg
- 1 cup oil
- 3 Tablspoons acid
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup something creamy
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Some spices and/or herbs
The egg can be chicken or duck.
The oil can be olive, avocado or even duck fat.
The acid can be any kind of vinegar: apple cider, white, red wine, champagne or kombucha vinegar.
Something creamy can be milk, cream, sour cream, coconut milk, clabbered milk or kefir of course.
Herbs and spices can be onion or garlic powder, parsley, cilantro, chives, pepper, chili flakes, oregano, dill or so many other herbs or combinations of herbs.
Since memorizing this basic formula I can make a quick ranch out of whatever I have on hand.
What if I don’t have kefir?
You can easily substitute the kefir in this recipe for any one of the following: full fat canned coconut milk, sour cream, milk, buttermilk or even yogurt. Each variety will yield a slightly different result, but all of those should be good.
Is this homemade kefir ranch thick?
You’ll notice in this recipe I use between 1/4 – 1/2 cup of kefir. This is where you can have some control over how thick your finished ranch is.
If you want a thicker ranch, like for dipping chips or veggies, use 1/4 cup of kefir in this recipe.
If you want a thinner ranch, like for salad dressing, use up to 1/2 cup of kefir in this recipe.
Keep in mind that the dressing will continue to thicken after it’s refrigerated, so what you see when you’re done blending isn’t actually what the final outcome will be, it needs to chill first.
Have you ever made homemade ranch dressing?
Is your recipe similar to mine? Let me know in the comments.
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Kefir Ranch: Make Homemade Ranch Last Longer in the Fridge
Equipment
- Immersion blender (or food processor)
- Jar
- measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
Ingredients
- 1 egg room temp
- 1 cup neutral tasting oil avocado oil used here
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of real salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 -1/2 cup kefir sub coconut milk if you don’t have kefir
- 1 – 3 Tablespoon of dried parley chives or cilantro
Instructions
- Place everything in a jar
- Blend with immersion blender
- If you don’t have an immersion blender, place everything except the oil in the food processor and slowly drizzle in the oil with the food processor running.
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