Buttermilk Jalapeno Ranch Dressing

An upgrade to the classic staple

Raise your hand if your garden is chock-full of jalapenos this summer and you’re running out of ideas to use them. Now, raise your hand if you don’t keep a garden, but always have a jalapeno or two bouncing around the bottom of your crisper drawer just begging to be used. Thankfully, this recipe for Buttermilk Jalapeno Ranch Dressing should sort both groups out. It blends up in 5 minutes or less and is a delicious upgrade to the classic creamy salad staple.

Is this dressing super spicy?

No. Despite being a chili pepper, jalapenos actually rate fairly low on the Scoville scale, with much of their capsaicin found in the rib and pith of the fruit (which is removed for this recipe). The jalapenos give this dressing a small kick of spice, but the base of creamy buttermilk, Greek yogurt, and mayo keep this dressing pretty mild for the average adult palate.

Consistency

I generally use either a homemade mayo in this dressing or a clean, low-sugar version like this one. These are both much thinner in consistency than your average classic jiggly jarred mayo, and as a result, produce a dressing with a thinner consistency that you can properly drizzle and toss throughout your greens.

If you’d like to thicken this recipe up to use as a dip, you can try a few different things:

• Immersion blend an additional egg yolk into your dressing
• Cut the buttermilk down from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup
• Add a pinch of xanthan gum. Start with no more than 1/8th tsp and increase as needed, blending well after each addition.

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What to serve this Buttermilk Jalapeno Ranch Dressing with

• Classic salads like this BBQ Chicken Salad
• Swap out the classic Caesar dressing on this Caesar with Spicy Roasted Chickpeas, Jammy Eggs, and Avocado
• Taco bowls. Try this on top of my Pressure Cooker Barbacoa Beef layered over cauliflower rice and sauted peppers.
• Serve it on the thick side as a dip for crudites. I love it with raw celery, carrots, cucumber, peppers, and tomatoes.
• Swap out the sauce on these Smashed Potatoes with Lemon Dill Cream Sauce and drizzle to your heart’s content.
• Swap the classic mayo for a smother of this dressing on turkey sandwiches
• Use it as a dipping sauce for Crispy Oven Fried Fish

A note for special diets

This Buttermilk Jalapeno Ranch Dressing is grain-free, gluten-free, low-carb, and friendly for Keto diets at only 1 net carb per serving.

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