Dairy Free Ranch Dressing [Vegan | Oil Free]
The dairy free ranch dressing is vegan, gluten free, and oil free. It is made with almond milk, cashews, seasoning, nutritional yeast, and herbs.
One serving (2 oz.) contains 105 calories, 4 g protein, and 7.6 g fat. The vegan ranch dressing is also high in B-vitamins and zinc.
The store bought ranch dressing contains dairy and often times unhealthy oils and sugar. Making your own salad dressing can be the healthier option.
The healthiest way to make homemade dressings is to use whole plant foods. You can make dressings with tahini, avocado, peanut butter, or cashews as your whole food fat base. Be sure to check out over 40 oil free plant based dressing recipes here.
Many vegan ranch dressings contain vegan mayo as the base. Vegan mayo is a processed food so I use cashews and almond milk as a creamy dressing base.
However, using whole foods might not give your the perfect ranch dressing taste but it is much healthier. If you really need the right ranch taste, you can use mayo instead.
How to make the dairy free ranch dressing
Todays dairy free salad dressing uses blended cashews and almond milk as a substitute for cows milk in the ranch dressing. I use the same base for my vegan oil free Caesar dressing.
For this you have to soak the cashews in hot water for about 10 minutes, then drain and blend with plant milk in a food processor or other powerful blender until creamy.
The vegan ranch recipe below is runny so it is best used to mix in a salad. However, if you want to thicken it up and make it a dip, simply reduce the amount of milk, or increase the cashews.
You can use 1 cup of cashews with 3/4 cup almond milk to make the dressing thicker. If you switch up the ingredients, note that the nutrition info will change. The dip is great for roasted potato wedges, raw veggies, or spread over burgers and sandwiches.
You can use raw unsalted cashews. If you can’t find them, simply buy the salted ones and rinse them off before soaking. I boil water in the kettle and pour it over the cashews. This helps them to soften quicker.
You can store this dressing for about 7 days in the fridge. The recipe below makes 8 oz. and you can simply store this in a mason jar. You can also split this into multiple 2 oz. jars for easy meal prep. Be sure to shake the dressing before use.
Dairy Free Ranch Dressing (vegan, oil free)
The dairy free ranch dressing is vegan, gluten free, and oil free. It is made with almond milk, cashews, seasoning, nutritional yeast, and herbs. One serving (2 oz.) contains 105 calories, 4 g protein, and 7.6 g fat. The vegan ranch dressing is also high in B-vitamins and zinc.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashews (raw)
- 3/4 cup almond milk (*see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/8th tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. dill dried
- 1 tsp. parsley dried
Instructions
- Soak the cashews in hot water for 10 minutes. If you can't find raw cashews, you can use the salted ones and rinse them off before use.
- Blend cashews, almond milk, garlic powder, onion powder, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth.
- If you like the thickness of the dressing, add the parsley and dill. Mix together and store in a mason jar. This makes 8 oz.
- You can split this into 4 servings and store in 2 oz. jars for meal prep, or take as needed. Store in the fridge up to 7 days. Shake before use.
Notes
* to make the dressing thicker reduce the amount of milk, or increase the amount of cashews
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 2 ozAmount Per Serving: Calories: 105Total Fat: 7.6gCarbohydrates: 6.7gFiber: 1.1gProtein: 4g
