Spicy ranch dressing

Ingredients

• 160 g American mayonnaise or good-quality plain mayonnaise
• 90 g sour cream
• 55 ml buttermilk
• 20 ml American vinegar-based hot sauce
• 8 g fresh chives
• 6 g fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 g fresh dill
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp fresh yellow lemon juice
• 2 pinches fine salt
• 1 pinch ground black pepper

Method

1. Finely chop the chives, flat-leaf parsley, and dill. The herbs must be dry to the touch before they go into the dressing, or they will dilute the texture and dull the flavor.
2. In a bowl, whisk the mayonnaise and sour cream until you have a smooth, glossy, homogeneous base, with no small grains of cream visible on the sides.
3. Add the buttermilk gradually, whisking gently. The dressing should become supple and thick enough to hold on a spoon, but fluid enough to flow slowly.
4. Add the hot sauce, lemon juice, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Whisk until the color is evenly pale orange.
5. Add the chopped herbs and fold them in with a spatula so they do not get crushed. The dressing should remain creamy and green-flecked, with a clear aroma of herbs, mild garlic, and vinegary chili.
6. Taste and adjust only if necessary: add more hot sauce for vinegary heat, more buttermilk to loosen it, or more salt if it tastes flat. The desired balance is creamy, tangy, herbaceous, and distinctly spicy.
7. Cover and let rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour. This rest matters: the garlic, onion, and herbs hydrate, the dressing thickens slightly, and the heat rounds out.
8. Serve chilled in a small bowl or as a thick drizzle with chicken wings, crudités, potatoes, burgers, fries, or grilled meat. Stir briefly before serving if the surface has loosened slightly in the cold.

Nutrition

Per serving

Energy

240.2 kcal

Protein

1.48 g

Carbohydrate

2.97 g

Fat

24.99 g

Fibre

0.78 g

Calcium

7.19 mg

Iron

0.41 mg

Magnesium

4 mg