Matcha Is The Luxurious Upgrade You Need For Ranch

Ranch has a reputation as a humble dressing and dip, intended as no more than a quick-fix and tasty sidekick for vegetable dunkers and pizza crusts. But ranch lovers know that this is one sauce that deserves a place center stage. A luxurious upgrade is the perfect way to give ranch a little limelight, and the ingredient that's right for the job is none other than matcha.

If you're a little shaky on the ins and outs of matcha, it's essentially a ground or powdered version of young green tea leaves. It has its origin in China, but is a storied part of Japanese culture and has subsequently found widespread embrace stateside. Matcha has a soft, vegetal grassiness to it, as well as a savory undercurrent and slight nuttiness. These qualities will play alongside ranch's herbaceous character, as well as its creaminess (matcha is a well-established match for creamy products like ice cream, baked goods' icing, and more).

The tang of ranch is also a good complement to the nascent nutty quality of matcha, deepening the dressing/dip while enlivening the green tea powder. The simplest method for incorporating matcha is to get some powder (available online and at many grocery stores) and to whisk it into your ranch dressing or dip until it is evenly distributed and the mixture is bright green.

Store-bought ranch can be delicious and will work well for this upgrade. However, making your own ranch can produce more interesting results and ones that more precisely fit your taste preferences. Begin with this buttermilk ranch recipe; it's a foolproof starting point that utilizes herbs like parsley, dill, celery seed, and crushed red chili flakes. You can also use this recipe for homemade ranch powder, which could be a natural spot to add dry matcha. Sprinkle this mixture over nuts, dust potato chips with it, or over popcorn.

A ranch-matcha salad dressing is another way to employ this luxurious mixture to electrify some leaf greens. Mix some kale or arugula, chopped avocado, and halved cherry tomatoes with your zesty matcha ranch dressing — the pepper of the rocket and the creaminess of the avocado will add balance to this simple salad. You can also reposition the dressing as a drizzle and put a dribble of the matcha-ranch combo over this avocado toast recipe, or it can work as a side with these air fryer French fries. Both matcha and ranch are more versatile than you'd think, and with a hack this easy, both are ripe for experimentation.