Vegan, Nut-Free Ranch Dressing
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After posting my Creamy Italian Dressing recipe, several of you have asked for a nut-free, vegan salad dressing recipe.
Most vegan salad dressings are made from cashews (a very healthy and slimming option unless you’re allergic to nuts). If you look for a tree-nut-free salad dressing on the internet, you’ll come across those made with silken tofu, a lot of oil, hemp seed, or Vegenaise.
I didn’t want to use Vegenaise because I didn’t want the vinegar (an ingredient we try to avoid) or the heavy load of oil. Hemp isn’t my favorite, so I avoided that option. I lean toward a whole-food diet, so I wanted to avoid a dressing with lots of oil. And I’ve tried a few recipes made from tofu and they’re pretty good, but I was thinking a soy-free dressing may come in handy for those who have a soy allergy.
Nut-free, Soy-free Vegan Ranch Dressing
So here it is – a nut-free, soy-free (low-oil, hemp-free) vegan ranch dressing. This healthy salad dressing is also free of high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, and monosodium glutamate (ingredients found in store-bought dressing).
Vegan, Nut-Free Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
- 2 cups water
- 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk - (I like almond milk, but if you want this to be nut-free, use another non-dairy milk.)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar - (such as turbinado sugar)
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 tablespoon dried dill weed
- 1 teaspoon dried chives
- 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
Instructions
- Place sunflower seeds and 2 cups water in bowl and place in refrigerator for at lease 8 hours or overnight.
- Transfer soaked sunflower seeds to colander and rinse with fresh water.
- Place soaked sunflower seeds in blender.
- Add remaining ingredients except parsley, dill, chives, and dried minced onion in blender. Blend until very smooth and creamy.
- Scrape down sides of blender, replace lid, and blend again. A heavy-duty blender works best to get the sunflower seeds smooth and creamy. Other blenders tend to leave a little bit of graininess in the dressing.
- Add remaining ingredients and pulse just until mixed.
- Chill before serving. (This will thicken slightly in the frig.) Keeps in the frig for about 5 days.
Notes
>> One quick request: if you like this recipe, please leave a rating and a comment. Ratings help more people find these healthy recipes!
Healthy Dressing
This healthy, vegan ranch dressing is an excellent source of vitamin E, thiamin, niacin, and folate and makes a fabulous dip for veggies or a super dressing for a green salad or a great substitute for regular, fattening ranch dressing to use with anything you normally eat with ranch.
More Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes
Check out my other healthy salad dressing recipes.
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Sounds good. I like the idea of using sunflower seeds. I believe I’ll make this next time I have salad. Thanks.
I hate to say this, but this isn’t actually a nut free. Shelled subflower seeds, such as these ones you’re using, are actually called “sunflower nuts” and sometimes even “sunflower kernels”. But they are in fact considered a nut. :-/
Hi Molly,
Thank you for your comment. Maybe I should have called this tree-nut-free. My aim was to create a salad dressing for those with an allergy to tree-nuts. Most people with a tree-nut allergy can eat sunflower seeds without a problem.
Molly, doing any amount of research will show that sunflower seeds are not nuts, and do not fall into the nut family.
I’d love to know your source.
I am so excited I found your blog. This past year I found out I have multiple food sensitivities and I love ranch. Thanks to your recipe I can now recreate my favorite recipes! And top my mashed potatoes with your ranch! Thanks 🙂
Hi Christina,
I’m so happy you found it too! Food sensitivities can be a challenge. I hope some of my recipes are a help to you.
Enjoy : )
Jennifer
Do u think it will work making this oil free?
Hi Tammy,
I’ve made my Creamy Italian Dressing recipe without oil and we really like it a lot, but this one we prefer with the oil. However, if you wanted to give it a try, it does “work” without it – just doesn’t taste as good.
Hope this helps.
Jennifer
Just made it and it’s so lovely! Added a bit of kale too and it’s really yum! I love that it’s got a bit of oil for taste and texture, but not so much that you’d worry about the fat content. Thanks so much!
Kale! That sounds good! Thanks for the idea. So glad you liked the dressing, Gina. 🙂
Just made this morning and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! Just transitioning to clean/vegan eating and was a bit sad to leave my traditional ranch behind, but I believe this will make an excellent replacement 🙂 I like the idea of adding kale, which I will probably try next time! Thanks for this recipe!
I’m right there with you, Britt. Ranch and Creamy Italian were my favorite, and veggies and baked potatoes weren’t the same without them. But between this recipe and my Creamy Italian Dressing, I don’t miss the store-bought bottled dressings at all.
Glad you liked it too. 🙂 Thanks for your comment.
If I have neither cashews nor sunflower seeds in the house, do you think it would work to substitute a low fat mayonnaise? I know it has some of the store-bought “junk” but just trying to make something low fat with ingredients I have in the house.
I’ve never tried using mayonnaise, but I’m thinking it wouldn’t work. The blended sunflower seeds produce a different texture and taste than mayonnaise.
If it helps, you can order sunflower seeds from Amazon and they will be delivered to your door. (I like Amazon because I hate grocery shopping.) : )
I’m very excited to try this recipe! Curious though on how much it yields and how long it lasts? We are ranch eating fools!
Thanks!
Hi Erynn,
This recipe makes 2 1/2 cups of dressing and will keep in the frig for about 5 days. Hope you enjoy!
Jennifer
Do you think pine nuts would work instead of sunflower seeds?
I haven’t tried pine nuts in this dressing, but I don’t think the taste would be right. You could replace half of the sunflower seeds with raw cashews.
Jennifer
Hello Jennifer,
I am just about to try this recipe and I read the note at the beggining that says we cannot include it to any other recipes collection, online or offline, without prior written permission.
I’m a bit confused, I found your recipe through Pinterest so I ‘pinned’ it to my board. Is that ok?
Also I would love to share it with friends on Facebook, can I do that?
Thanks, I’ll wait for your answer before doing anything.
Asaliha
Hi Asaliha,
Thank you so much for checking first. 🙂 That’s very considerate of you. Yes, you absolutely may pin any of my recipe photos to Pinterest with a link back to my original recipe. And you can click the Facebook icon at the bottom of any of my recipe posts, which will post a photo of my recipe with a link back to my blog for the actual recipe.
Many recipe creators prefer that you not reprint their recipes, but rather send others to the original source, since their recipes represent many hours of hard work.
Also, Google penalizes sites when they see duplicate content on the web, and this makes it more difficult for readers to find the original recipe using a Google search.
If you’re interested, you can read about my recipe-use policy here or you can see my FAQ here.
Thanks again! I hope you enjoy the salad dressing.
Jennifer
I was looking for a vegan ranch dressing to go with a buffalo chickpea salad and stumbled across this. I am glad I stopped looking because this is amazing and spot on the way I like my ranch to taste. I made is exactly as written and wouldn’t change a thing! Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper.
You’re very welcome, Andrea. I’m so very happy that you liked it! 🙂
Can this recipe be frozen? We can’t get through 2.5 cups in 5 days. But my Vitamix doesn’t blend small quantities (if I were to half it).
Hi Angeline,
We’ve frozen this dressing and the results are not great, but satisfactory. It’s best to leave the herbs out until after you thaw it. Also, you’ll need to mix it really well after it thaws.
Another option is for us to come over and help you eat it. 🙂 We put it on everything from potatoes to rice to steamed broccoli to bread to cabbage to beans. We can finish up a recipe in a day!
Sarah (Jennifer’s daughter)
Made this tonight and it is really good! Recent plant based converts and I love ranch dressing. This will be a staple in our house.
So happy to hear this, Tammy! Thanks for your comment.
Thank you so much for this recipe, Jennifer! This is the first basically oil-less vegan dressing I have really liked. I made it for a veggie dip today for a special event and everyone loved it, including my picky husband! Thank you again!
You are so welcome, Emily! So great to hear everyone loved it!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I am a new vegan convert and my diet does not allow vinegar. So hard to find a dressing I could use. I haven’t tried it yet but looking forward to it.
I’m so happy you found this recipe! If you’d like more vinegar-free salad dressings, all of my salad dressings are vinegar-free. Our favorite is the Creamy Italian.
I hope you enjoy!
Jennifer
would coconut milk work fine too instead of almond milk. i happen to have coconut milk
Hi Kayla,
If you are ok with a bit of coconut-y flavor, it works great!
Jennifer
Honestly, I wanted to like this. But it’s just another not very good vegan ranch.
Hi Jennifer.
Why do you avoid soy?
Hi Memrie,
Actually, I don’t avoid soy. But I had some requests for a soy-free, nut-free dressing for those who have soy and/or nut allergies, so that’s why I developed this one.
Jennifer
Realllllly Watery! Is suspected with the amount of liquid but even after being in fridge not thick enough. I’m going to add some cashews to see if I can thicken this up.
Hi Theresa,
I’m really sorry this didn’t turn out good for you. I’m a little stumped since I’ve made this hundreds of times and have never had it turn out watery. I hope you’re able to get it to your liking by blending in some cashews.
As a side note, I developed this recipe as a response to requests for a nut-free, vegan salad dressing. But if you’re ok with nuts then you would probably love my Creamy Italian Dressing. It’s the most popular recipe on my blog.
Jennifer
Can i use unsalted roasted sunflower seeds?
I’ve never tried roasted sunflower seeds, but I don’t think it would work. You need the creaminess that the raw seeds provide.