This is the best vegan ranch dressing that will take your salads and cauliflower buffalo wings to the next level. Its cashew cream base is perfectly seasoned with flavorful herbs. It only contains minimal ingredients and comes together in less than 10 minutes. Keep this in your fridge to encourage yourself to eat more salads.
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I honestly can’t get enough of this vegan ranch and its creamy texture. It has been a staple in my fridge for years. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to share it with you!
❤️ Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s easy to make, healthy, delicious and dairy free
- Kid friendly recipe
- Made with easy-to-find ingredients that you probably already have in you pantry.
- Works well as a dip for vegetables or as a delicious salad dressing.
- Oil free and has zero cholesterol.
- You can make this in less than 10 minutes.
🧂 Ingredients and substitutions
I love that this creamy ranch is made up of simple ingredients.
- Raw cashews – make sure to use raw cashews and not roasted. The flavor of raw cashews is a lot more mild and works better for this recipe.
- Unsweetened oat milk – or whatever plant milk you have. I don’t recommend soy milk or almond milk as I’ve found they leave a weird after taste.
- Apple cider vinegar – you can also use lemon juice
- Salt and black pepper
- Onion powder and garlic powder
- Dried dill – fresh dill and fresh herbs will taste amazing in this as well, if you have them on hand.
- Dried parsley – fresh parsley is also amazing.
👩🍳 Expert tips
- When the ranch has been sitting in the fridge, it tends to thicken up. Give it a good shake or add a splash of water.
- Soaking the cashews makes them easier to blend, which will create a smoother dressing
- To quick soak the cashews, boil some water and pour the water of the cashews in a coffee mug. Let them soak for 10 minutes. No need to soak overnight.
- Make a big batch of this each week to have a delicious salad dressing ready to go. This will encourage you to eat more salads throughout the week.
🥄 Directions
- Add cashews to a large mug and pour some freshly boiled water over them. Let them soak and soften for 10 minutes. This helps them to blend easier, especially if you don’t have a high speed blender.
- Drain the cashews and add them to your blender. Add in all of the ingredients minus the herbs. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the ranch into a mason jar and add in the herbs. Add a lid and shake to combine.
- Store in the fridge.
🥗 Serving suggestions
- This is an amazing vegan salad dressing, like for this crunchy rainbow salad.
- This ranch dressing makes a great dip for your favorite fresh veggies like carrots, celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflower.
- My favorite way to eat this is to drizzle it over vegan pizza! I know, super American thing to do! It was my favorite food combo when I was 14.
- Dip some tater tots in this!
- This also goes amazingly well with vegan wings or on these buffalo cauliflower tacos.
❄️ Storing
This will last in an airtight container or airtight jar in the fridge for 5-7 days. I love using a mason jar with a tight fitting lid.
I haven’t tried freezing this yet, so let me know if you try it and how it turns out.
❓ FAQ’s
If you’re allergic to nuts, it’s very easy to make a nut-free vegan ranch dressing.
Instead of cashews, just use:
1 cup of raw, soaked sunflower seeds (if seeds are ok for you)
Or 1 cup of hemp seeds (if seeds are ok for you)
Or ½ package of silken tofu. If you end up using tofu, just use half the amount of liquid that the recipe calls for.
You can also make a nut free ranch using vegan mayonnaise.
Mix a ½ cup of vegan mayonnaise with vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh herbs or dried herbs and a dash of water if you want a thinner dressing.
This homemade vegan cashew ranch comes out amazingly creamy. I would even say it tastes even better than ranch. It has all of the flavors that you expect in a ranch dressing. It has a delicious balance of creaminess, tartness, saltiness and is flavored with herbs like dill and parsley. The onion and garlic powder really help the flavors to pop.
Since this ranch is made from raw cashews and not oil, it’s a lot healthier than store bought bottle ranch. Cashews have a lot of health benefits because they contain a lot of minerals and vitamins. It’s also cholesterol free and you can adjust the amount of salt in it if you’d like to eat less salt.
♨️ More great recipes to try
If you loved this recipe, leave a 5 ⭐️ rating on the recipe card and comment below!
📖 Recipe
Creamy vegan ranch dressing
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 cup water or unsweetened and plain oat milk
- 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried dill
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (freshly ground is best)
Instructions
- Boil some water and pour boiling water over the cashews. Let soak for 10 minutes. Then drain.1 cup raw cashews
- In a blender, blend the soaked cashews with water or unsweetened oat milk, salt, onion powder and garlic powder and apple cider vinegar.1 cup raw cashews, 1 cup water or unsweetened and plain oat milk, 2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Blend until smooth
- Stir in dried parsley, dill and black pepper.½ teaspoon dried dill, ½ teaspoon dried parsley, ½ teaspoon black pepper
Notes
- When the ranch has been sitting in the fridge, it tends to thicken up. Give it a good shake or add a splash of water.
- Soaking the cashews makes them easier to blend, which will create a smoother dressing
- To quick soak the cashews, boil some water and pour the water of the cashews in a coffee mug. Let them soak for 10 minutes. No need to soak overnight.
- Make a big batch of this each week to have a delicious salad dressing ready to go. This will encourage you to eat more salads throughout the week.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Jennifer Jarosiewicz
Creamy and full of flavor! Easy to make, simple ingredients and cheaper than store bought!
Maria
So glad you loved the recipe, Jennifer!