Made in about 10 minutes, this homemade chipotle ranch dressing is smoky, creamy, herbaceous and incredibly delicious! It’s packed with chipotle peppers in adobo sauce and lots of flavourful herbs. Use this creamy dressing on green salads, tacos, burritos and more!
It’s so satisfying when you can make a homemade version of something better than store-bought, don’t ya think?
What I love about this creamy chipotle ranch dressing is that it takes minutes to whip up and can totally be adjusted to your taste. Like more smoky heat? Add a little more chipotle peppers. Prefer more dill? Add more. You get the picture!
Once you make this homemade dressing, it’s sure to become a household favourite that you’ll want to make again and again (I know I do).
Ingredients
- Mayonnaise: Adds some fat and richness to the dressing.
- Sour cream: Add creaminess and tang to the dressing.
- Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce: These are what gives the dressing a lovely smoky flavour. You can typically find them in the grocery store right alongside canned pickled jalapeno peppers, flour tortillas, salsa and the like.
- Garlic: I like to use fresh garlic over garlic powder for an extra punch of fresh garlic flavour.
- Lime juice: Adds a little acidity to the dressing. Feel free to substitute with apple cider vinegar if you like.
- Onion powder
- Salt and black pepper: A classic to any dressing.
- Herbs: Dill, parsley and chives give this homemade dressing those classic ranch flavours. I’ve made this recipe with either fresh or dried dill. Both work, but I tend to prefer the dried dill over fresh here.
- Milk: Use, if necessary, to thin the dressing.
How To Make Chipotle Ranch Dressing
Here is an overview of how to make chipotle ranch dressing (full details are in the recipe card below):
- Place mayonnaise, sour cream, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, onion powder, salt and black pepper in a mini food processor.
- Process until combined.
- Now it’s time to incorporate the herbs. Add them to the processor.
- Process again until everything is just combined.
Tip: If you need to thin your dressing, you can add a little milk until you’ve reached your desired consistency. Remember, it’s better to add a little at a time (about 1 teaspoon) because if you add too much you may make your dressing too thin.
How To Use It
Whether you enjoy this recipe as a dressing, dip or sauce, it has so many delicious uses! You can use it to dress salads, as a dip for quesadillas or nachos, or as a condiment on burritos, tacos, burgers (I especially love it on fish burgers) and wraps. The possibilities are pretty much endless.
Storage
If not enjoying right away, store chipotle ranch dressing in a covered storage jar in the refrigerator and use within 3 to 4 days.
I tend to find it thickens once chilled, so if you need to further thin it out, add a little milk until you’ve reach your desired consistency.
If you make this chipotle ranch dressing, be sure to leave a comment below!
Chipotle Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup sour cream, I used 5% milk fat
- 1 to 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, depending on how much chipotle flavour you want (I like to use 2)
- 1 clove garlic, finely minced
- 1 teaspoon lime juice, or apple cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried dill (dill weed), or 1 tablespoon freshly chopped dill
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
- milk, if necessary to thin dressing
Instructions
- Place mayonnaise, sour cream, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, onion powder, salt and black pepper in a mini food processor and process until combined.
- Add dill, parsley and chives to the food processor and process until they're just combined. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, black pepper or herbs if desired. Tip: If you need to thin your dressing, you can add some milk until you've reached the consistency you like best. Remember, use a little at a time because you don't want to thin it out too much and dilute all those yummy flavours.
- Transfer the dressing to a storage jar, cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use. Enjoy within 3 to 4 days.Note: I tend to find that the dressing firms up a little once refrigerated. You can thin out with a little milk if necessary.
A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
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Tried this recipe?
If you do make this recipe, thank you!! It would mean so much if you could leave a comment below. Love to know how you enjoyed it, and it helps other readers too!
Valentina says
I’m never (ever!) without chipotles in adobo in my house. This dressing will go very quickly here. I love the addition of all of the fresh herbs. I’ll definitely be making a double batch. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
I know what you mean, they’re just so versatile and delicious!! Thank you, Valentina!!
David @ Spiced says
Well that timing is quite perfect! I actually went to a smokehouse near Asheville last weekend, and they had chipotle ranch dressing as an option along with several types of BBQ sauce. We grabbed some and ended up using it as a dipping sauce for fries. Holy cow was that amazing! Now I can reproduce that here at home…on the couch. 🙂
Michelle says
What a delicious way to amp up regular ranch dressing — I think my son would love this with some chicken wings!
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
Thanks so much, Michelle! I’m so happy to hear that, I bet it would be delicious with chicken wings. 🙂
Valentina says
I pretty much panic if I’m out of chipotles in adobo sauce. Best ingredient ever! This dressing is dreamy, Dawn. 🙂 ~Valentina
Dawn | Girl Heart Food says
LOL, it is such a flavourful ingredient, isn’t it? Thanks so much, Valentina!!