One taste of this deliciously tangy and oh-so-creamy vegan ranch and you’ll be hooked! Cashews and a handful of ingredients blend together in seconds, giving you the perfect pizza dip, burger spread, or salad dressing.
The best cashew ranch dressing
In my family, there’s no arguing that vegan ranch is the best. dressing. EVER! Both the kids and adults love it.
One batch of the Best Homemade Vegan Ranch doesn’t last long in my house because the creamy and tangy flavors are completely irresistible. It’s always being spread onto veggie burgers, used for dipping on pizza night, and drizzled over salads. It’s also perfect with buffalo cauliflower!
You’d think a dressing that tastes this good would involve many different steps. Nope! All you have to do is blend the cashews, vinegar, and savory seasonings together, then enjoy. Indulge in the cashew ranch dressing all week long, whether it’s drizzled on a cobb salad, used for dipping veggies, or added as a finishing touch on a Hawaiian BBQ pizza!
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Raw cashews – Soaked and blended cashews transform into a thick and creamy cashew cream. I use it as the base in many recipes, like this ranch dressing, vegan sour cream, and heavy cream substitute because the rich texture is so close to real dairy. While cashews are the very best option here, raw slivered almonds might work as a substitute.
- Water
- Rice vinegar – This is a tangy ranch dressing, so vinegar is a must! Feel free to use white vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or more lemon juice instead.
- Lemon juice – Or replace it with more vinegar.
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dill – Fresh or dried. If you don’t love dill, replace it with parsley.
How to make vegan ranch
Place the cashew pieces in a heat-proof bowl and pour very hot or boiling water over top. Leave them to soak for a few minutes.
Drain the water, then add the soaked cashews to your blender along with the rest of the ingredients (except the dill). Blend until smooth.
Add the dill and pulse a few times to just combine. Serve the vegan ranch right away or store it for later.
Serving suggestions
There isn’t a wrong way to enjoy vegan ranch dressing! It’s good as a:
- Dip: With carrots, celery, and cucumber, buffalo cauliflower wings, vegan mozzarella sticks, potato wedges, or tempeh sausage pizza.
- Spread: On veggie burgers, wraps, and sandwiches.
- Dressing: For loaded green salads, grain bowls, and pasta salad.
- Finishing touch: Drizzle the ranch over a cooked pizza, vegan sloppy joes, or roasted vegetables for extra flavor.
Frequently asked questions
- Can you make it without nuts? Yes! You can substitute 1 cup of vegan mayo for the cashews and water, if desired. Just mix everything in a bowl and you’re good to go!
- How long does it last? The dressing will last for about 1 week when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- Can you freeze ranch dressing? It freezes okay, but the texture might not be as creamy and smooth when it thaws. Quickly blend the thawed dressing to bring it back to normal.
Want more vegan sauces and dressings?
- Vegan Caesar Dressing
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Dairy Free Alfredo Sauce
- Vegan Blue Cheese Dressing
- Vegan Tartar Sauce
Vegan Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashew pieces
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- juice from 1 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1/4 cup fresh dill OR 2-3 teaspoons dried dill*
Instructions
- Soak the raw cashew pieces in hot water for 5-10 minutes. I heat up water in my electric kettle and pour it over the cashews to soak.
- Drain the cashews and add to your blender. Add the remaining ingredients except the dill, and blend until very smooth.
- Now add the dill, and pulse a few times to combine. You don’t want to blend the dill or it will end up very green.
- Serve on salad or with fresh vegetables for dipping. This will keep for up to a week in the fridge. It will thicken in the fridge, just thin out with water until it reaches the consistency you prefer.
Notes
- If you don’t care for dill, you may substitute with parsley (1/3 cup fresh chopped small, or 2-3 teaspoons dried).
- For Sriracha Ranch, add 2-3 teaspoons Sriracha, or to taste when blending.
- Without nuts – Substitute 1 cup of vegan mayo for the cashews and water. Simply whisk everything in a bowl and that’s it!
Quick, easy, delicious! I skipped soaking the cashews because I was in a rush, but next time I’ll soak them to make this even creamier.
So glad you like it!
Hi! This looks delicious! But I don’t eat cashews anymore for health reasons. Do you think macadamia nuts or pinenuts would be a good replacement? Any suggestions? Thanks!
I bet macadamia nuts would work quite well but I have never tried it. If you can have almonds, raw slivered almonds would be a good choice, even sunflower seeds would work. Pine nuts may work. Thanks!
Simply delicious, all I could ask for in a ranch dressing, vegan or otherwise.
So happy you liked it, thank you!
I’ve been looking for a good, quick & easy ranch recipe that doesn’t start with “Add one jar of vegan mayo” for a veganized version of the Ranch Chicken Wrap they serve at “Polar Treats” in Ketchikan, Alaska, and you just hit the nail squarely on the head! Thank you!
If you’re wondering about the wrap, it’s grilled breast of chicken (I’ll obviously be using tofu here), julienned red onion, finely chopped Roma tomato, jasmine rice, either sprouts (my favorite) or chopped Romaine lettuce, and ranch dressing – not a lot, just enough to make it creamy and accentuate the flavor, then wrapped up in a warmed herb-garlic tortilla. SO good!!!
I’m glad it came out well! What you made sounds delicious.
Delicious!!! This will be a staple dressing. I love the powdered garlic and onion in the recipe- I’ve used fresh garlic in the past and it can get a little too pungent so this works better! Can’t wait to use it tomorrow with buffalo cauliflower and tofu bites.
Sounds delicious with the buffalo cauliflower and tofu bites!
Hi Nora!
I absolutely looove your blog and your recipes.
Related this recipe, could we substitute rice vinegar with for example apple vinegar instead?
Thank you so much! Yes, no problem at all! You could even just use white vinegar, or more lemon juice.
What can I use instead of lemon juice? Thank you
Apple cider vinegar should work quite well.
I am shocked at how much this tastes like ranch from a bottle! Thank you for this recipe. My toddler loved it too 🙂
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed the ranch, I think it’s way better tasting than the vegan ranch you can buy. 🙂
This dressing is the bomb-diggity!!!!!
We made this with dill from the garden and used a Vitamix. We’re amazed at how good this is! It can be a dip or dressing- it’s thick when cold, so if using as a dressing, water could be added. It turned out green because I blended up the dill with everything else. So good!!
This is a life changing recipe! There are so many vegan ranch recipes out there, but none of them have so few ingredients or are as simple as yours, and yet this is the one that tastes the best! Thank you so much! Even the omnivores devoured it. I didn’t even add the vinegar (I had forgotten and then tasted it and it was so good I just didn’t add it). I can’t wait to try your meatball subs with stretchy cheese!
I’m so happy you loved the ranch! Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy the meatball subs and cheese.
Is there a better way to make this creamier? I love the flavor but it’s very grainy. Thanks!
Hi Elizabeth! Do you have a high powered blender, such as a Vitamix? If you use a regular blender, it will be grainy, unfortunately. But with a high powered one it will be super creamy no problem.
This is soooooo good! I recently became vegan and I missed ranch so much, but not anymore! I used fresh dill(because I love dill) and the flavor popped! It was quick, easy, and yummy!! Thank you so much ?
Thank you! I love dill too and can’t get enough!
I just made the ranch dressing and it is absolutely delicious as a dip! I will thin it a little bit if I use it as a dressing. Thank you so much for sharing it. I can’t wait to try some of your other recipes.
I’m so glad I’ve found your site. I’m doing a 30 day detox and dairy is out. I will be making you ranch and queso this weekend. Reading all the positive reviews I’m sure I’m going to love them. I could find a dairy free sour cream recipe. Do you have one?
I’m glad you my site, too! 🙂 I do have a dairy free sour cream recipe, here: Cashew Sour Cream. Hope you enjoy the recipes!
Seriously, I’ve been looking for a homemade, simplisticvegan ranch and THIS IS IT!!! Thank you so much! I love it!
Glad you love the ranch, it’s so good!!
Great recipe !! Made this tonight and everyone loved it more than the store bought vegan ranch that we buy! I added a tad more water because we like it smoother for salads. But I’m super happy with it! Do you think it would work if I froze it in blocks and then defrosted a few blocks when I needed to use them?
I’m so happy you enjoyed this ranch, I absolutely love it! I think it would freeze well, but I haven’t tried it myself.
Great recipe! Very flavorful and easy to make. A much healthier and more compassionate version of original ranch dressing. Works great for a veggie dip. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! It makes a great dip or salad dressing!
I made this for Thanksgiving to use with the veggie tray. Absolutely Amazing! Everyone that tried it, loved it!!
Definitely a 5 star recipe…I did use half dried dill half dried parsley because I have a niece that isn’t fond of too much dill.
Thank you!!!
So glad you enjoyed the vegan ranch! Thanks so much.
This ranch dressing is great!!
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoy it!
Hi Nora I’m so glad I found you I just moved in with my daughter she is vegan I’m not ,I’m cooking and love your recipes I have made several and they are all great (maybe I will become vegan) I do need. my cheese not much but a little thank you for helping cook for my daughter ?
That’s so wonderful Helen! I’m happy to hear that you are enjoying the recipes, even if you aren’t vegan yourself. 🙂 Thank you!
How long can this be stored for?
About a week in the refrigerator.
Would cashew butter work instead of grinding the raw cashews? And if so about how much?
I don’t really think it would work the same and I haven’t ever tried it myself, but maybe you could try about 1/2 cup of cashew butter instead of the raw cashews. If it seems too watery, then add more. But again, just guessing I’ve never tried it so the results may not be as good!
It worked! I’m sure it would be better with the raw cashews but it worked. 3/4 cup of cashew butter and I cut the salt because the cashew butter was salted. Will definitely make it again with raw cashews. But it works for tonight lol!
Can you use white vinegar or red wine vinegar instead of rice vinegar? I have all the ingredients except the rice vinegar.
Yes you could use either of those!
What about apple cider vinegar? do you think that will be stronger? I can’t remember what rice vinegar is like. Thank you!
I have used apple cider vinegar and it works well, too. 🙂
I made this and it was straight water, nothing to get smooth or add dill to!
Ok, so in full disclosure of a Pinterest fail, it helps when you actually add the cashews that were still draining in the sink!!!!
Ha ha! I’m glad it worked out!
LOL….sounds like something I would do, thanks for coming back and clarifying. I won’t be afraid to try it now….
this turned out really good! No modifications.
Woo hoo! 🙂