Low Cal, Fat Free Ranch Dressing Recipe

Well, I was very pleased with myself for coming up with a brilliant idea of making my own ranch salad dressing that was virtually fat free and low in calories.  I was tired of trying the different prebottled dressings that are low in fat, and since I like different kinds of ranch dressings, but often the low fat versions aren’t very flavorful, and you can just forget about the fat free versions having any good flavor whatsoever, I figured why not try to make my own.

It’s really easy to have a base, because Hidden Valley (who makes a great ranch dressing), makes a powdered version of their ranch dressing that you just have to mix with a few basic ingredients and you have your own “home made” ranch.  The cost is a little over a dollar for a packet, and you get a whole bottle of dressing.  I also bought the cruet for the Good Seasons Italian dressing mix, along with two packages of the Good Seasons zesty italian dressing powder, since I like to use those once in a while too, so I had the perfect bottle for my ranch dressing when I was done  mixing it a in a bowl. It’s much nicer to dispense out of, and holds the perfect amount for future use.  Plus it looks nice.

Here’s how I modified the recipe.  The recipe for the Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix calls for you to add 1 cup of mayonnaise and one cup of milk.  Instead of using regular, full fat versions, I used low fat mayonnaise, which contains very little fat – I use the Hellmans low fat mayo which only has like 1 gram of fat per serving or something like that.  I used skim milk, although I probably would have used 1% instead but we accidentally bought skim the last time we went shopping, but that makes it even more low fat.

I also added t cloves of crushed garlic and two tablespoons of parmesan cheese, which added about 40 calories and barely any fat at all.  So, all the ingredients in this low fat ranch dressing were virtually fat free, making this a very low fat, but much more tasty dressing than what you can buy in bottles.  Plus I feel like it tastes more natural.  I don’t taste all those preservatives and funny sort of chemical tastes that you often get in bottled dressings.

The good news is that once it sits a few days in the fridge, the garlic, ranch and parmesan cheese flavors really come out, and it’s much tastier than it was when you first made it!  You don’t need much either, it’s very thick and the flavor quickly covers each lettuce leaf individually – very savory!