Homemade Jalapeno Ranch Dressing is Versatile, Healthier, & Spicy

The theme for this month’s Recipe Redux is Salad Dressings in the broad sense of the term and includes condiments and spreads. My favorite salad dressing of all time is one that my household eats almost on a daily basis. It is Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing, a homemade “ranch-style” dressing with a healthier iprofile and jalapenos to add a little zing.

As you can see, the homemade version has the least calories and total fat by far, as well as the least amount of sodium per serving. It is also the cheapest among those listed. The homemade dressing uses Greek-style yogurt which gives it slightly more protein per serving than the others and helps make a thicker dressing. Regular yogurt can be used instead but a thinner dressing with less protein will result.

Here are the raw ingredients:

Green onions, garlic, jalapeno peppers, lowfat buttermilk, reduced fat mayonnaise, Greek-style yogurt, pepper, and paprika.

Everything gets put into a blender or food processor.

I usually store my dressing in an empty 2-liter soda bottle.

Carlene Helble - Carlene's Figments: Roasted Eggplant Pepper Schmeer

This salad dressing in my husband’s favorite -- and mine, too. It is so versatile. You can use it on tossed green salads, as a dressing for tuna, egg, or chicken salad or coleslaw, or as a sauce served with cooked chicken breasts or salmon fillets, or even as a marinade for chicken breasts before grilling.

Here it is with tuna salad:

and coleslaw:

How does this Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing compare with store-bought ranch dressings?

Ranch is a popular variety of salad dressing. I found 21 choices of ranch dressing in one supermarket and over 40 choices in a second! However, most store-bought salad dressings contain a lot of fat, sodium, and some have added sugars, artificial colors and preservatives.

Here is a comparison of my homemade Jalapeno Ranch Dressing with 4 other similar store-bought dressings. All are for 2 tablespoons of dressing.

	Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing (featured here)	Litehouse Dressing & Dip Jalapeno Ranch	Marie’s Salad Dressing Creamy Ranch	Naturally Delicious Dressing Chipotle Ranch	Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Dressing Creamy Classic Ranch
calories	26	120	180	150	80
total fat	1.4 g	12 g	19 g	15 g	7.5 g
saturated fat	0  g	1 g	3 g	1 g	1.5 g
sodium	47  mg	220 mg	150 mg	220 mg	290 mg
protein	2  g	0 g	1 g	0 g	1 g
total cost	$10.64	$3.49	$3.49	$2.99	$3.29
no. of svgs	56	13	12	16	14
cost per svg	$0.19	$0.27	$0.29	$0.19	$0.24

Click here to download the Jalapeno Ranch Salad Dressing recipe.

Be sure to check out these other blogs featuring healthy salad dressings, condiments, and spreads.

Deanna Segrave-Daly - Teaspoon of Spice: Sicilian Relish
Cherie Schetselaar - Grain Crazy: Fry Sauce
Elizabeth Jarrard - Don't (White) Sugar-Coat it: Spicy Tahini Dressing
Kara Lydon - Peace, Love, and Food: Edamame Hummus
Kat Lynch - Eating The Week: Citrus Sesame Avocado Dressing
Emma Stirling - The Scoop on Nutrition: Recipe Redux Kitchen Garden Salsa Verde
Emma Cutfield - The Hearty Heart: Go-Go-Goji: Blood Building Salad Dressing
Lisa @ Healthful Sense: Sweet Peanut Sauce & Dressing
Regan @ The Professional Palate: Ponzu Sauce
Danielle Omar - Food Confidence RD: Recipe Redux: Your New Favorite Vinaigrette
Stephanie Howard - Give Them Something Better: Creamy Garlic Feta Dressing
Nicole Ferring Holovach - Whole Health RD: Mapple Salad Dressing
Kristen @ Swanky Dietitian: Italian Vinaigrette Artichoke Dressing
Ann Dunaway Teh - Eat to Nourish, Energize & Flourish: Thai Basil Peanut Pesto
Kristina @ Love and Zest: Spiced Pumpkin Dip
Meg @ Meg's Food Reality: Sweet Potato Hummus
gretchen | kumquat: dairy-free ranch dressing
Everyday Tastiness: Pistachio Butter
Alysa Bajenaru - Inspired RD: How to Roast Garlic & a Recipe for Roasted Garlic Hummus
EA Stewart-The Spicy RD: Creamy Triple Pepper and Kale Dip
Liz Weiss & Janice Newell Bissex - Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen: Garden-Fresh Tomato & Avocado Salsa

Jessica Fishman Levinson - Nutritioulicious: Butternut Squash Cream Cheese Spread