Eva’s Raw Vegan “Better Than Ranch” Dressing
36Piggies! it's official. I have a serious girl crush on the delightful Eva Rawposa and Venita Hale from Uncooking 101. Those HBR piggies who tried Eva's "better-than-tequila" margarita have felt the love! Those of you who haven't had a chance to see what all the fuss is about, check out her amazing RAWkstar recipes on her raw recipe blog and indulge. There is something for everyone, from really simple "blend and pour" recipes (which we piggies LOVE) to more detailed salads and other delicious healthy meal ideas. But her raw recipes all have one thing in common: they are made with healthy live whole foods and enzymes, and are bursting with flavour and nutrition. I have tried a TON of the raw recipes off this site and it really IS "uncooking101!" Some of my favourites are the delectable raw vegan lobster mushroom bisque, creamy butternut squash soup with garlic creme, blueberry pecan pie and the raspberry coconut parfait. All of which can be made in your blender! She has a TON of the best Vitamix recipes! OH! My snout is twitching and my tail is wiggling with pure raw emotion. (Insert happy piggy dance here!) YUMMO!
Today I am sharing Eva's AMAZING "Better-Than-Ranch"dressing because it is absolutely TO DIE FOR! It is a bold title, but it delivers on it's promise. Piggies, you will be returning to this raw ranch dressing trough again and again. This is one of those raw recipes that will become like a little black dress in your culinary closet -- it works for most occasions and never goes out of style. Now I don’t know about you, but I cannot stand pre-packaged salad dressings. I like to dress up, not dress down! This home made salad dressing is fresh, free of additives and preservatives, and really does tastes better than store-bought ranch dressing. I will admit that there are some wonderful, natural, organic dressings available at health food stores. However, I never get excited about anything on a grocery store shelf that I can make better myself. And there is nothing better than serving up an easy salad, having people comment on how yummy the dressing is, and being able to say that you made it from scratch. As opposed to grabbing for the ubiquitous, boring bottle of a generic “Fat Free Plus” variety that clogs most fridge doors.
This quick, basic raw vegan ranch dressing and dip is incredibly versatile. If you follow the recipe exactly, you will have a delicious rich thick creamy raw vegan dip to serve with veggie chips and raw veggie sticks. Just chill in a sealed container for a couple of hours and allow to thicken. Although I gobbled it up straight out of the blender and it was fantastic! You know my partiality to the "blend and scoff" approach. This dip certainly beats the dairy laden, colon clogging, “run of the mill” “pots of slop” on offer at generic grocery stores – that even we pigs can’t stomach! If you add 1/2 cup - 1 cup of water (as much as you need for the desired consistency) you can thin this dip out to create a delicious raw creamy salad dressing. I put it over some raw shredded veggies last night for dinner and was in piggy Heaven! Eva also says it is amazing on raw burritos and vegan sandwiches, On My…I just cannot do this dressing justice. Just make sure you give yourself at least two hours to soak the cashews and the dates to hydrate them. But I also made it without doing this and it was still AMAZING for those of you who forget or don't have time.
This raw salad dressing is perfection as it is. But feel free to put your own signature on this home made salad dressing. Just like our favourite black dress, accessorise it, blend it with your own style, and you have a winner that matches your personality every time. You could add more garlic to give it a bit more of a zing. You know how partial I am to a garlic hit. Feel free to add more fresh herbs. I just kept blending and tasting until I got my perfect piggy blend. This vegan salad dressing is one of those fantastic gluten and dairy free recipes that is also soy free and sugar free. This is great option if you are looking for allergy free recipes.
I must admit, that just like mayonnaise, I have never been a fan of ranch dressing. Those of you who have been following me know that I am not really a condiment person in general. I have never really liked ketchup, mustard or relish. As I said in my raw vegan mayo post, "I was a plain Jane, lost in the condiment kingdom." Having said that, I absolutely love Eva's raw vegan spin on this classic favourite. It is probably because it satisfies the cream dreamer in me without having to "coat-check" my colon! It has become one of my favourite Vitamix recipes. Give this raw ranch dressing spin in your blender and you will not be sorry. This is one the best Vitamix recipes, blender recipes, raw vegan recipes, healthy recipes you will ever make! I could go on and on! This quick easy recipe is a stunner, a winner, and not to be missed!
This recipe published here with permission from Uncooking 101.
Eva’s Raw Vegan “Better Than Ranch” Dressing
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked in filtered water for 2 hours and drained (soaking is optional)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2 dates soaked in 1 1/2 cups of filtered water and then pitted
- 1/2 cup date soak water (disgard the rest of soak water or add it to a smoothie)
- 2 - 4 large cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp red onion
- 1½ Tbsp Herbamare
- 1 Tbsp fresh continental parsley chopped finely
- ½ tsp fresh dill chopped finely
- 1 Tbsp green onions chopped finely
- Place all ingredients in your blender (I use a Vitamix) except the fresh herbs into your blender and puree until smooth and creamy.
- Stir through the herbs.
- If using as a dip, place mixture in an airtight container and chill for about 2 hours to congeal and thicken before serving.
- If you're like me and can't wait, the "scoff and devour immediately" approach is s'blended too!
- If using as a dressing, add about 1/2 cup - 1 cup of filtered water to thin out.
This recipe published here with permission from Uncooking 101.
Piggy Cooking Tips
selecting and storing raw cashews
“Raw” cashews are widely available in pre-packaged bags as well as bulk bins. Always purchase from a supplier where there is a high turnover to ensure freshness and quality. Look for plump cashews that are uniform in colour. Avoid the limp and shrivelled ones. Cashews should smell nutty and sweet. If they have a sharp or bitter smell they have gone rancid. To preserve the precious oils, store cashews in a sealed glass jar in the fridge for up to six months. Always soak cashews before using to remove the enzyme inhibitors and make them more digestible.
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Piggy Grunts!
Add Your Gruntthis could be great as a salad dressing…nutritious dressing!
Yes! This is a FANTASTIC salad dressing when you thin it out. I actually prefer it that way :)
Hey Piggy Alex =)
This dressing IS S’BLENDED!
I will be featuring more of my favourite websites and blogs in the coming months as part of my new “Trough Swap” series coming to my new site this week.
I am really excited about it!
Looks fantastic! I think I could eat that for a whole lunch…with an endless supply of raw crudites. Yes, yes!
All I can say about this dressing is….WOW! I just made it to put on a salad for a pot luck today and WOW! I will check out more of Eva’s recipes and her site. Thanks again for sharing so many fantastic easy recipes.
WOW is right! Eva ROCKS!
So happy to share these amazing recipes and so glad you checked out Eva and her fantastic site! LOVE LOVE LOVE her!
Excuse me for asking but what is ‘herbamare’ ? it’s an ingredient called for in the better than ranch dressing. :)
Sorry, Herbamare is a proprietary blend of dried herbs by the Swiss naturapath A Vogel. It is widely available in health food stores and is absolutely delicious!
Hey Piggy Suzabelle! Add in 1/2 the quantities of lemon juice and apple cider vinegar and then add more to taste. You want might to add in some more filtered water to thin it out too. I found it a bit full-on the first time I tasted it. But know that if you thin it out and pour it over a salad it is DIVINE.
Piggy Stacy, Herbamare is a proprietary blend of dried vegetables and herbs from A Vogel. It is like a salt/flavour alternative that you can find at all heatlh food stores and some mainstream grocers.
Hey Piggy Lindsey,
It is best to soak the dates for at least a few hours to hydrate them. But I made this in a hurry the other day and only soaked them for two hours and the dressing was delicious.
You only need to soak the dates for about 1/2 an hour to two hours.
My son is sensitive to the cashew family (cashews, pistacchios, mangoes), is there another nut or other food that we could use to substitute the cashews? I’d love to make a Ranch-style dip to send in his school lunchbox. He’s sensitive to legumes (except peas and lentils), dairy, corn, soy, wheat, peanuts, watermelon, beef, chicken, salmon, tuna, sole celery, and asparagus. I’m new to all this and I only have one week before school starts, yikes! Help, please!
Hey Piggy Suni
Oh, your son sounds like my niece!
It can be so challenging to find something but we can work around it!
Can he tolerate fresh coconut meat or macadamias? You could make a vegan ranch style dip with those?
I will shoot you a private email and we can chat about some more options for school snacks :)
oh my goodness! i nearly ate the whole batch in one sitting. thank you for such a great recipe!
Hey Tracee,
Isn’t that recipe A-MAZING! Hard to quit eating!
Check out more of Eva’s recipes.
She is wonderful :)
Can you use anything else other then the cashews in this recipe? Trying to avoid using so many nuts and fresh coconut meat is not my favorite. Thanks
Hey Dianne,
You could use tofu as the base for this dressing.
It won’t be raw but you will get a similar flavour and consistency.
Do the cashews make a big difference in taste? I just made this and used tofu - waaaayyy to acidic. I ended up washing my salad off and using store bought ranch. I would like to try this again but I don’t want to waste the cashews as they are sooo expensive in my area
Hey Dianne,
To make this less acidic start with just a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar and a teaspoon of lemon juice and keep adding to taste until you get the flavour you want. This dressing is better with the cashews.
This was great…yes a little acidic…bytes loved it….I couldn’t wait to chill ate it on my kale salad..yum
Yes! This has a little bite to it! LOL!
I love to water it down a bit and it is DEELISH!
Hey Michelle,
I have made it both ways.
I have blended the green onions and also stirred them through.
I like blending them better for depth of flavour.
Enjoy :)
This is such a great ranch…second batch Ive done so far… Love it with kale
Yes! LOVE this with kale too :)
So glad you are enjoying this!
I was just curious what the nutritional value is such as the calorie and carb break
Hey Kali,
As I am not a nutritionist, I do not list nutritional profiles for my recipes.
You can punch the ingredients into Cronometer or Nutrition Data and found out all of this information.
I hope this helps.
It would be helpful to know how much this makes and what the nutritional data would be on this recipe.
Hey Dana.
Because I am not a nutritionist or dietician, I don’t post nutritional profiles on my recipes. Sorry about that. But, you can plug the ingredients into third party software like nutrition data or cronometer. I hope this helps.
This is AMAZING!!!!!
I know! I LOVE this recipe!!!! Thanks Eva :)