Jalapeño Ranch is perfect as a dressing, dip or sauce. It has a thick sour cream base, and is lightened up with fresh cilantro and lime juice and a hint of spice. This stuff is highly addictive!
If you’re looking for something milder, I highly recommend our Avocado Ranch which is loved by kids and adults. Jalapeño ranch has a kick to it and is perfect as a dip for Potato Wedges, drizzled over Shrimp Fajitas, or your favorite salad.
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Jalapeño Ranch Recipe:
Jalapeño ranch has a simple list of ingredients with amazing fresh flavor with a perfectly creamy (non gritty) consistency. It is seasoned to perfection and better than any store-bought dressing. It also keeps really well in the refrigerator for up to a week and only gets better with time as the flavors meld.
How to Make Jalapeño Ranch:
Good news! This is the easiest recipe. All you need to make it is a food processor, a good blender or magic bullet. You simply combine all of the ingredients and blend until creamy and smooth. We seed and roughly chop the jalapeno and cilantro but it really is just a blend and serve type of recipe.
Serve Jalapeño Ranch Dressing on:
- Mexican salad
- Burrito bowls
- Caesar Salad – for a twist on classic Caesar
Serve Jalapeño Ranch Dip with:
- Fresh vegetables
- Tortilla Chips
- Potato Wedges
- Quesadillas or taquitos
Drizzle as a Sauce over:
There are so many practical reasons excuses to make and consume Jalapeño Ranch. It really is lip-smacking good. Make this once and you will want a steady supply in your refrigerator.
Jalapeño Ranch Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
- 1 jalapeno, Seeded and chopped (2 Tbsp)
- 2 tsp lime juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Combine all dressing ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, blender or magic bullet and blend until creamy and smooth (about 30 seconds).
Nutrition Per Serving
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
I have this on repeat! Love it, use it with all my meal preps!
My mom is on a low sodium diet. Can you or have you substituted the sour cream for yogurt before?
Hi Stacie! I have not but some of my readers have reported good results using Greek yogurt.
I am sitting here on a cool, rainy day with my laptop on my lap just scrolling through some of your videos….I love doing this. We love the jalapeno sauce you get at Chuy’s when they bring your chips out to the table, this looks very similar. I can’t wait to try this!!! Love all your videos too Natasha, you are so good at explaining things so even an average cook like me can understand it.
I hope you love it, Denise!
where does the ranch come in??? It says creamy jalapeno ranch??
Hi Jenni! This is a different version of ranch dressing. It has a sour cream base, garlic, and onion- all of which are important for the flavor profile of ranch but instead of using parsley, dill, or chives, we use Cilantro, Jalapeños, and lime. If you want a more traditional ranch flavor, you can try our other recipe for homemade ranch dressing.
This recipe was amazing ….made as written except I didn’t have fresh jalapeño’s so used pickled jalapeños and used my immerser blender to mix….so easy and delicious
Glad that you enjoyed this recipe, Donna!
Is it possible to store this in the refrigerator for a short period of time? How long do you think it would last?
Hi Ashley, it keeps really well in the refrigerator for up to a week and only gets better with time as the flavors meld.
What is the portion size (measurement) for 1 serving of this dressing?
Hi Lindsey, this is for 6 people (4 Tbsp each serving)
Salty and turned out too thin.
No spice.
Not a good recipe.
Hi Chad, if your jalapeno ranch is not spicy, it could be due to a bland jalapeno – not all jalapenos are spicy. Also, it should be thick enough to dip a veggie in it and also not too thick that it could be used as a salad dressing. Adding too much lime juice or using a runny sour cream (such as Canadian-style sour cream) can make it runny. I hope that helps.
Such a zesty and versatile recipe! I used whole milk Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and a big, heaping spoonful of jarred hot jalapeño slices since we were out of fresh jalapeños. Still turned out great, and we’ve been using it to jazz up wraps for quick and flavorful lunches/dinners. It’s especially good on a wrap with deli turkey, romaine, sharp cheddar, pickled onions, avocado, tomato and cucumber. 🙂
Hi Nicole! That sounds amazing. I’m so glad you love the recipe. Thanks for sharing.
This is so good. I used 3 jalapeños. Also didn’t have a full cup of sour cream so I added a couple of Tbs of mayo. Also no fresh cilantro so used dry. Chopped my peppers course and let the food processor do it’s thing. Will triple recipe next time.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Nancy!
Just made this! Made it vegan by using vegan sour cream, which is thicker than dairy sour cream. I had to add about a tsp of soy milk to get it to blend. But boy is it good!! Thank you for the recipe! I know I’m going to be using this recipe a lot!
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Kathleen! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Can you substitute coconut yogurt instead of sour cream?. I can not have dairy.
Hi Regina! I have not tested it but I think it would be fine. 🙂
Hi Natasha, my name is Maks. I am 11 years old. I made your jalapeno ranch secretly so my mom did not see that I made it. today for lunch we had some of your chicken inchildas and the homemade salsa
Hi Maks! That’s great! Thank you for sharing that with me. I hope they were enjoyed! 🙂
I did try this last night for Chicken Fajitas and i added avocado it was so delicious 🙂 love all your recipe.
Sounds delicious! So glad you enjoy my recipes.
Oh my goodness! This jalapeño Ranch dressing/dip is sooooo good! Thank you!
You’re welcome, Donna! Happy to know that you love it.
my jalapeño was past its prime so I substituted 1 jalapeño in adobo sauce. It was delicious.
I’m sure if made with the jalapeño it would be just as delicious.
Hi Trudy, good to know that the substitutions that you used worked just fine. Thank you for your good comments and feedback! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe.
Made this for an 8 person dinner (doubles the Cobb Salad). The Jalapeno Ranch dressing was such a hit, not salad left and they were dipping the meat entree in the dressing. Sooo good.
That’s wonderful, Bill! Thank you for the feedback. I’m so glad it was enjoyed!
I have not gotten to the point of making the shrimp fajitas, but I just made the jalapeno ranch recipe. Goodness! This stuff is the bomb!!!! Can’t wait to drizzle it over the fajitas
So so good! I’m so glad you agree Cris!