This Vegan Ranch Dressing is easy to make and so full of flavor! Enjoy it on a salad, as a dip or anyway you like to eat ranch dressing 🙂
This post was originally published on 4/9/15, today I am republishing it with new photos and text.
Raise your hand if you love ranch dressing! I used to be pretty addicted to it (I.e I put it on all the things) but these days I mainly just use it on my salads or for dipping vegetables in. This Vegan Ranch Dressing Recipe is easy to make, super creamy and so full of flavor.
I have tried a lot of store-bought vegan ranch dressings over the years and I haven’t had great luck with any of them. They usually have a strange taste or texture and it gets expensive trying new brands out all the time. For that reason I decided to make my own and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!
What You’ll Need For This Vegan Ranch Dressing Recipe
- Cashews – cashews are the base of a lot of creamy vegan sauces. You use raw cashews and boil them for about 20 minutes or soak them overnight to get them nice and soft before blending them up.
- Vegan Mayo – I know some people are put off by vegan mayo, but I use it all the time and don’t have an issue with it. In fact, I prefer it over regular mayo. If you don’t want to use vegan mayo, you could sub plain vegan yogurt.
- Vegan Buttermilk – I make this by mixing together plain almond milk and a little apple cider vinegar and letting it sit until it becomes curdled.
- Fresh Herbs and Lemon Juice – Fresh herbs can be expensive but I feel like they really give this vegan ranch dressing the freshness that it needs. You can sub dried herbs, but it will taste a little bit different.
- Cucumber – A little bit of cucumber really gives this dressing a refreshing taste, unlike most store-bought versions I have tried.
- Spices – I add onion powder and garlic powder instead of fresh because I don’t want the ranch dressing to have too strong of a garlic flavor.
How To Make Vegan Ranch Dressing
There are a few steps, but this recipe is very easy to make!
- You start by either soaking the cashews overnight or boiling them for about 20 minutes. If you boil them, I would recommend letting them cool before using, so you aren’t making warm ranch dressing. You also want to add the apple cider vinegar to the almond milk and let it sit until curdled, about 20 minutes.
- Next, you add the cashews, almond milk, vegan mayo, cucumber, lemon juice, and spices to a high speed blender and blend until a creamy sauce has formed.
- Lastly, add the fresh herbs in and mix until combined. If you like, you can blend the herbs up but it will make the dressing green and seemed more like a green goddess dressing to me than ranch dressing. Pour into a jar and enjoy!
How To Store Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Refrigerator – This Ranch Dressing Recipe is best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It’s fresh without the preservatives of store-bought dressing so I would recommend only storing it for up to 5 days.
- Freezer – You can freeze this ranch dressing. I would recommend freezing it right after you make it in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and you will probably need to give it a good stir before using.
Enjoy other vegan sauce recipes here:
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The Best Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Total Time: 15 mins
- Yield: 3 cups 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This Vegan Ranch Dressing is so creamy and flavorful! It’s perfect for dipping veggies in, putting on salads and much more!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup plain, unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/4 cup raw cashews soaked overnight or boiled for 30 minutes
- 1 1/2 cup veganaise, I used reduced fat
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 heaping cup chopped cucumber, peeled first
- 3/4 teaspoon onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
- 2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
Instructions
- Add the almond milk and apple cider vinegar to a cup and let sit for 5 minutes, until curdled. Then add the soaked cashews, almond milk mixture, veganaise, lemon juice, cucumber, salt and onion and garlic powder to a blender. Blend until you have a creamy mixture with no lumps, about 1 minute.
- Transfer dip to a large bowl and mix in the fresh herbs. You want to make sure they are chopped very finely.
- Enjoy as a dressing on salads or a dip for vegetables. Makes about 3 cups.
Notes
See above for storing tips.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Category: Dip, Vegan
- Method: Blender
- Cuisine: American
WOO HOO! This stuff is fabulous! Since it’s so hot right now, I usually eat a cucumber for lunch along with the rest of my green smoothie from breakfast. I’m eating the rest of the cucumber I used to make the ranch! You knocked this one out of the park! My boyfriend will never know the difference. (Hehe) Thank you so much for sharing this!
Yah! I’m so glad you like it!! 🙂
Hi Izzy…Love this version. Been vegan 16 years and I always have homemade dressing on hand. I prefer oil free dressing. I became extra courageous while making it tonight and reduced the veganaise to one third and then added one third Follow Your Heart sour cream and one third plain silk yogurt. Wanted to let you know it’s super yummy in case you’re ever running low on veganaise. My kids like it very smooth so I throw mine in the Nutri-ninja so it’s perfectly creamy. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It’s our favorite!
I’m so glad you and your kids like the dressing! I love that you got courageous with your experimentation and glad to hear it turned out well! 🙂
This recipe sounds really good, I’ve tried half a dozen other recipes and they all failed, the problem is I’m highly allergic to cashews. 🙁
What can I use in it’s place, perhaps cannellini beans or white kidney beans, do you think I could replace those for the cashews.
Thank you, hope to hear from you soon
Can you eat almonds? You could try using slivered almonds that have been soaked in water or white beans would probably work too. It would change the taste a bit, but I think it would still taste good 🙂
Thank you, YES I love almonds and can tolerate them very well. Will give that a try
Awesome! I hope you enjoy!
I am super new to the vegetarian life (l month no meat) slowly moving in a vegan direction and this ranch is amazing!!! Ranch is like comfort food to me and I was so surprised with how much I love this!! Thank you so much!!
I’m so glad you liked it! It’s like comfort food to me too, haha 🙂
Has now become a ‘staple’ recipe in our fridge with four kids in the house.
Awesome! I was just thinking I needed to make a batch of it! 🙂
I’m newly vegan, and I’m so excited to try this recipe! Curious- how long does this stay good for in the refrigerator? Thanks!
Hi Heather, I probably wouldn’t keep it much more than about 5 days 🙂 I hope you enjoy it!
Hello, This is a wonderful, tasty recipe. I’m not getting it eaten fast enough, though, and I’m worried about it spoiling. Can the Ranch be frozen?
Hi Nancy! Hmm, that’s a good question! I’ve never frozen it myself, but you could try freezing a little and see how it defrosts. I would think it would work but I can’t say 100% for sure.
OMG OMG OMG. FINALLY my vegan itch has been scratched. …been veg over 2 yrs and the only cheats: cheese pizza with/and/or and and and RANCH. LOL I put a clove of fresh garlic and a chunk of onion for the chives, added a T of nutritional yeast and zucchini in place of the cuke (just b/c i didn’t have one). I didn’t use the whole amount of mayo either (b/c i will prolly eat this whole recipe myself in a matter of days! –don’t tell!) Used dried herbs except basil, again all i had on hand. But who cares?! You have blown my vegan mind with this. Love. Love. Love. nom nom nom…
Hi, Mama Lo! That’s so great to hear!! I’m so glad you finally got your ranch craving! Ranch has always been a favorite of mine so I know how you feel! So glad you liked it! 🙂
how long does this ranch dressing keep for?
Hi Ryann, I would keep it in the refrigerator for no longer than a week 🙂
Im using dried herbs. What would your suggestion be as to the amount?
Hi Kate, I would try halving the amounts since dried herbs can sometimes have a strong taste and then adjust if needed 🙂
My husband is allergic to almonds and is in the market to find a ranch he can have that is vegan. Would substituting coconut milk work?
Hi Jenny, Coconut milk might give it a slightly sweet flavor. I would recommend using rice or hemp milk instead, but coconut milk would probably still taste pretty good!
Hi. Just letting you know I love this recipe! I was trying to cut the cost on it even more so I used the Trader Joes vegan mayo and dry herbs (half the amounts). Tasted awesome and maybe $5 for all those ingredients. Also, since I used dry herbs I was able to just pulse them in the vitamix at the end instead of transferring to a bowl. Easy preezy. Thanks so much for this recipe.
Hi Meghan! That is so nice to hear! That is good to know that it still tastes good with dried herbs because fresh ones can be expensive sometimes! So glad you liked it 🙂
Hi! First time making this and I love it! Any idea if it freezes well? I definitely have too much for just me :). Thanks!
Hi Finley! So glad you loved it! I haven’t frozen it myself (I guess I eat a lot of ranch dressing, haha!) but I think it might work pretty well. It just might need to be mixed pretty well once you thaw it out. Let me know how it goes if you try it 🙂
I defrosted it earlier this week and it came out great! A quick whisk was all that was needed :).
I’m so glad it worked! Thanks for updating me! 🙂
As I was sitting here eating my salad with Ranch dressing, I googled How to make vegan ranch dressing”.
Your site came up and here I have found the answer to my question in a matter of seconds. Thank you for making this version and including the recipe.
cheeers!
Haha, that is funny! And I sign that you need to make it 🙂 I hope you enjoy it if you get around to trying it!
How long will this keep for? I just made a batch and usually label with an expiration date. Thanks!
Hi Desiree! I think about 5-6 days would best 🙂