The Clean Sauce Shelf

The one everyone asks about. Thick enough to dip, loose enough to pour.

What's in the bottle. A typical bottle of shelf-stable ranch is built on soybean or canola oil, then held together and preserved with MSG, disodium phosphate, phosphoric acid, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, and 'artificial flavors.' None of that is there to make it taste better. It is there so a bottle can sit in a warehouse for a year. The herbs are usually dried and a little dusty. Homemade takes ten minutes and tastes like an actual garden.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup avocado-oil or olive-oil mayonnaise (or the Clean Mayo in this book)
• 1/2 cup sour cream or whole-milk Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup cultured buttermilk, plus more to thin
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh chives, finely chopped
• 2 tsp fresh dill, finely chopped (or 3/4 tsp dried)
• 1 small garlic clove, grated (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt, to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Grate the garlic into the lemon juice in a medium bowl and let it sit 2 minutes. The acid softens garlic's raw bite.
2. Whisk in the mayonnaise and sour cream until smooth.
3. Whisk in the buttermilk a splash at a time. Stop at about 1/3 cup for a dip; use the full 1/2 cup or more for a pourable dressing.
4. Fold in parsley, chives, dill, onion powder, salt, and pepper.
5. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes. The herbs bloom and the flavor goes from good to bottle-beating. Taste and adjust salt before serving.

Yield: About 1 1/2 cups (twelve 2-tbsp servings)
Storage: Refrigerate in a sealed jar up to 7 days (or until the buttermilk's date, whichever is first). Stir before using. Do not freeze.

Swaps & tips

• Dairy-free: use plain unsweetened cashew or coconut yogurt and 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk plus 1 tsp lemon juice in place of buttermilk.
• No buttermilk: stir 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice into 1/2 cup whole milk and wait 5 minutes.
• Spicy ranch: add 1 tbsp of the Sriracha-Style Hot Sauce in this book and a pinch of smoked paprika.
• Ranch seasoning jar: mix 2 tbsp dried parsley, 1 tbsp dried dill, 2 tsp each garlic and onion powder, 1 tsp dried chives, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. Use 1 tbsp per recipe when fresh herbs aren't around.

Download the printable ranch card (PDF)

Wondering what's in the bottle you already own? Scan it with the free Clean Crave app and it will flag the ingredients and point you to a clean swap.