healthy•schmealthy homemade ranch dressing

i really like ranch dressing.
my kids really, REALLY like ranch dressing.

but ranch dressing from the store is just scary.
it has all sorts of un-pronouce-able ingredients...
that alone is enough to scare me...
much less the fat and calorie count.

a while back, my best friend gave me a recipe for a dry ranch dressing mix.
this week, i used that mix, along with some raw milk and homemade yogurt to whip up a batch of fabulous ranch dressing.

now, i'll give you a little disclaimer.
it's not going to taste like store-bought ranch.
in my ever-so-humble opinion, it tastes even better.
but still, if you taste test them side-by-side, you're going to taste the slightly-sour yogurt-y taste in this recipe.
however, if you've been on a ranch dressing sabbatical (like me) because of the frightening ingredients in manufactured dressing, this will probably be heavenly nectar to you, satiating that ranch-dressing-crave.

{{all your ingredients are pictured here...nothing scary}}

Homemade Yogurt Ranch Dressing
2 cups homemade plain yogurt; thick, Greek style
½ cup raw milk
2 teaspoons dried parsley
1½ teaspoons fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon thyme

Dump all ingredients into medium-size mixing bowl and whisk together.  Pour copious amounts onto your salad and enjoy!



a few notes:
☛i use this method for making my homemade yogurt.  i also strain the yogurt (she also gives directions for this) for several hours to drain much of the whey off.  this gives me a very thick, Greek-yogurt-style consistency.
☛this recipe makes a rather thick salad dressing.  i like mine more of a dipping consistency...if you like yours more thin, add a bit more milk.
☛the recipe posted above actually uses *half* of the amount of salt called for in the original recipe.  i cut the salt back because, frankly, i don't miss it at all......and i retain water from just looking at salt.  so there's also that.  feel free to add more salt if you think it's needed.
☛i personally have not done so, but you could experiment with homemade mayo to give this dressing a bit more of a creamy flavor.......maybe half mayo/half yogurt? just a thought.
☛if you don't have access to raw milk, you could always make this with store-bought milk and plain yogurt.  it would still be healthier than the pre-bottled options...but really, the star in this show is the homemade yogurt.