Name: Creamy Chimichurri Ranch
Prep time: 15 min
Total time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh garlic; ½ cup fresh parsley leaves; ¼ cup fresh cilantro leaves; ¾ cup mayonnaise (see Notes); ½ cup buttermilk (well-shaken, plus more to thin if desired); 1-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (to taste); ½ teaspoon dried dill; ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper; 2 teaspoons dried oregano; 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; ½ teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)

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A deliciously creamy ranch dressing, spiked with all the chimichurri flavor! I combined two of my favorite things for one of the best dressings I’ve ever tasted – herby, bright, and loaded with flavor, this chimichurri ranch dressing is delicious on salads, wings, or as dipping sauce for just about anything.

A mason jar of ranch dressing peppered with green specks from fresh herbs sits on a wooden cutting board, in front of a bright green salad and orange chicken wings.

🫙 What Makes This Recipe So Good

If you’re like me, then combining chimichurri with ranch dressing is one of those OH-MY-GOD-WHY-IS-THIS-NOT-IN-EVERY-RESTAURANT-EVER kind of pairings. It takes two of your favorite sauces, and it brings them together in a never-saw-this-coming-but-it-makes-total-sense sort of mash-up where each component is delicious all on its own but together they become this Captain Planet of deliciousness that can right all wrongs. Ok, maybe not like… ALL wrongs. Maybe more like one or two wrongs, like overdone wings or bland salads. Either way, it’s a really amazing blend of bright, herby, tangy flavors that you will absolutely LOVE.
Chimichurri ranch stores really well, so you can make up a batch at the beginning of the week and use it in meal preps or for various lunches or dinners throughout. Just refrigerate it in an airtight jar and it’ll keep for 7 days, give or take.
What can you use chimichurri ranch for, besides wings and salads? Oh, so many things. It’s super versatile, so it goes well with basically anything you would use traditional ranch for! French fries? Check. Baked potatoes? Check. Alongside fresh baby carrots and celery sticks? Of course. Zucchini chips, asparagus, grilled corn, yuca or rutabaga fries, chicken nuggets, cheese & sausage plates, roasted cauliflower… the possibilities are endless.

👩🏼‍🍳 Chef’s Tips

To thicken up your chimichurri ranch so it’s more of a chips-and-dip consistency than a dressing, just swap out the mayonnaise for sour cream. Full-fat is ideal, but any type of sour cream will work. I do this if I’m planning to serve it with tortilla chips or potato chips – the sour cream makes it more scoopable.
It’s totally optional, but if you’ve got the time, make your chimichurri ranch in advance and chill it until you’re ready to use it. That gives all the flavors time to really deepen and develop, making everything that much more vivid.
You’re completely in control of the consistency of the chimichurri ranch. If it’s too thick for your liking, stir in a little more buttermilk until you’ve got it as thin as you want it. Be careful not to add too much, though. You can’t take it back out, so you’d have to keep adding more of the other ingredients to balance things again.
The dressing will set up a little more in the fridge, so don’t be alarmed if you take it out and it’s thickened. If you want a thin, pourable consistency later in the week, just let it set out for 10-15 minutes so it can come to room temperature. You should see it thin back out as it warms. Whisking the mixture fairly well should also help it thin out again. If neither of those tactics help, whisk in a touch more buttermilk to get it where you want it.