How do you take a great salad and make it into an out of this world good salad? That’s easy – you simply have to add one mind-blowingly good salad dressing. That’s exactly what you’re going to be getting with this recipe today. It will show you how to make a healthy avocado ranch salad dressing with no oil, no eggs, and no mayo.

Since you won’t be using any kind of oil, eggs, or mayo, you’re going to have to get a little bit creative when making this dressing. The first step to doing that is to use a single medium-sized avocado that has been halved and pitted. Avocado will give you that thick and creamy texture that you’re looking for in a salad dressing, on top of numerous great benefits for your health.

The reason that avocado offers up so many great health benefits is because it’s one of the most nutrient-dense fruits out there. It’s absolutely loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and it even provides you with an outstanding amount of disease-fighting antioxidants as well. (1)

Another common ingredient used when making homemade salad dressings like this one is buttermilk – a fermented dairy drink that’s left behind from cultured butter. As with many types of fermented beverages, buttermilk is an excellent source of probiotics, which are essential for maintaining a proper balance of your gut flora and fauna. (2) In addition, buttermilk is also a great source of potassium, selenium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B-12, E, and K.

The next ingredient used when making this homemade dressing is one that will surely delight anybody who loves their dressing to have a nice and tangy hint – white wine vinegar. If you’re unfamiliar with white wine vinegar, it’s simply white wine that has been fermented and oxidized so that it becomes acidic. The process also gives the vinegar a subtle fruity flavor that blends amazingly well with the rest of the ingredients used in this recipe.

Moving along, you’ll need to add in two of my very favorite ingredients to use in tandem with one another – green onions and garlic. Both onion and garlic are members of the Allium family, and because of that, they each offer similar great benefits for your health.

Green onion is loaded with antioxidants and other compounds that have been proven to reduce blood pressure, help protect against cancer, and even help to control blood sugar levels. It’s so good for your health that one study even claimed that making sure to include both garlic and onion in your diet could literally be a matter of life or death. (3)

That’s exactly why I love using both garlic and onion together in so, so many recipes. Again, the garlic provides nearly all of the same great health benefits as the green onion, along with also offering up some additional benefits all on its own. Two of the major reasons why I try to make sure to eat garlic on a daily basis are because it helps big time with boosting your immune system while also helping to relieve chronic inflammation. (4)

That last point is especially important because with recent advancements in medical research, and a greater understanding of the effects of unchecked inflammation within the body have revealed a definitive link between inflammation and disease. (5)

Most importantly of all though, especially when it comes to this particular recipe – the combo of green onion and garlic adds a one-two punch of potent flavor to your ranch salad dressing that you’re going to go absolutely crazy for.

In addition to the green onion and garlic, you’re also going to need to add in a single tablespoon of dried chives as well. Chives are another member of the Allium family, and as such they’re another incredibly nutrient-dense ingredient. They offer up plenty of essential vitamins, minerals, and even more antioxidant goodness for your salad dressing.

Finally, you’re going to also be using another pair of ingredients that always results in a winning combination – ¼ cup each of fresh dill and fresh parsley. Each of these savory herbs adds even more essential nutrients and antioxidants into the mix. I absolutely love using both dill and parsley in a huge amount of recipes, especially considering that studies have revealed that culinary herbs and spices both play an important role in the prevention of diseases like cancer. (6)

When it comes time to actually make your avocado ranch salad dressing, all you’ll have to do is take all of the above ingredients and place them into a blender. Blend them together until it forms a nice, smooth mixture before you season to taste with a bit of salt and black pepper. With that out of the way, you’ll be all set to enjoy this scrumptious dressing with your favorite salad. I must say, this ranch dressing goes amazingly well with some of our featured salad recipes – I highly recommend mixing and matching!

Also, in the event that you’re not exactly a fan of ranch salad dressing, I thought I would also give you guys some added recommendations for some of my other favorite homemade salad dressing recipes. Here are a few goodies from around the web that you should definitely check out:

Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing (The Chunky Chef)
The Best Balsamic Vinaigrette (A Spicy Perspective)
Cobb Salad Dressing (Low Carb Maven)
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing (Kitchen Treaty)
Honey Mustard Dressing (Savory Simple)

Before we wrap things up, I just wanted to throw out a few additional tips and pointers if you’re planning on making this salad dressing. It’s nothing major – just a few simple tips to help you get the most out of the recipe. So without further ado…

How Does Avocado Ranch Dressing Compare to Store Bought Brands?

Unsurprisingly, as with pretty much all of our recipes, you’re far better off making your own homemade salad dressings instead of shopping for store bought brands like Kraft.

As a matter of fact, you can check the stats out for yourself. Even just a quick peek at the ingredients list in a bottle of Kraft Classic Ranch dressing reveals ingredients like MSG, xanthan gum, disodium inosinate, and other unnatural additives that are added in order to extend the shelf life of the dressing.

Compare that to this particular recipe that uses nothing but 100% real whole food ingredients. Just about everything that goes into making this avocado ranch dressing provides some sort of benefit for your health.

How Long Does Homemade Salad Dressing Last?

Somewhat related to the point above about how most store bought brands of salad dressing feature additives and preservatives with the intention of extending the shelf life, you may be wondering how long your batch of homemade salad dressing will last you.

The good news is that since this recipe doesn’t include typical dressing ingredients like oil, eggs, or mayo, there’s nothing really that you have to worry about going back quickly. So long as you properly store your dressing in the fridge (in an airtight covered container), there’s no reason that the dressing can’t last up to four weeks.

With that being said, if you notice that your dressing starts to give off a funky odor, I would recommend that you immediately discard it and then whip up a fresh batch.

Is Avocado Ranch Salad Dressing Keto-Friendly?

It’s safe to say that not all homemade salad dressings can be considered keto-friendly. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve checked the nutrition label on bottles of dressing only to find that it contains way more carbs and/or sugar content than I would have expected.

Fortunately, this avocado ranch salad dressing is indeed 100% keto-friendly. The majority of the ingredients used to make the recipe are high in healthy fats while being nearly totally carb-free. There might be trace amounts of carbs split between the herbs, but it isn’t nearly enough to knock somebody out of ketosis.

As always though, it’s going to be up to you to keep track of all of your daily macros. Even minimal amounts of carbohydrates can add up over the course of a few meals per day.

Can You Use Avocado To Make Other Kinds of Sauces?

Using avocados to make salad dressings ends up producing fantastic results, so it’s only natural to wonder if you can also use avocado to make different kinds of sauces.

Good news – not only is it possible, but quite often the results ends up being just as good as this salad dressing recipe.

Print Recipe