Dairy-Free Ranch Dressing Recipe

For a long time, after I went dairy-free, I had to go without Ranch dressing altogether. I couldn't find anything in the grocery store that acted as a fair substitute, and I didn't have any idea how to make it have that wonderful "ranch" flavor. (The mix packets seemed to contain either gluten ingredients or dairy ingredients.)

Then I ran across some stuff at Fred Meyer grocery stores called "California Seasoning Blend" (made by Kroger). It has only four magical ingredients, and none of those ingredients are diary or gluten.

Amen brothers and sisters! Just what I needed!

So I experimented with this seasoning until I came up with a yummy GF/DF substitute for ranch dressing. And here it is:

Ingredients:
1/4 cup soy milk
squeeze of lemon juice
3/4 cup GF/DF mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. California Seasoning Blend
dash of pepper to taste
extra dash of garlic if you like yours heavy on the garlic

Directions:
1. Mix the soy milk and lemon juice to create DF buttermilk. I start with a little squeeze of lemon juice and keep adding more until it tastes and looks like buttermilk, more or less.
2. Blend this with the mayonnaise until it reaches the consistency of salad dressing. Add more mayo if you like your dressing thicker. Less mayo if you like your dressing thinner.
3. Add seasonings and taste. If you have a sweet tooth, you may wish to add a dash of sugar. I prefer a little more zing to my Ranch dressing, so I add a bit of cracked black pepper and a little extra garlic.
4. Spread over salad or use as a dipping sauce.

Makes one cup of Ranch-style dressing.