Turn Ranch Dressing Into The Ultimate Party Dip With One Easy Addition

From marinating chicken to seasoning burgers, ranch dressing and ranch seasoning packets have a wide array of applications. It's hard to deny the allure of tangy buttermilk and sour cream, savory garlic and onion, and flavorful herbs like chives, parsley, and dill. Whether you're using a store-bought ranch dressing or making our favorite buttermilk ranch dressing recipe, ranch is a classic go-to dip for any type of gathering. Ranch tends to be less polarizing than blue cheese dip, and it's already perfectly seasoned and ready to serve by just pouring it into a bowl and setting it next to some crudités. However, depending on the recipe or the manufacturer, plain old ranch dressing can have a consistency that's too thin and not ideal for dipping. Luckily, there's an easy addition to turn ranch dressing into the ultimate thick party dip: avocado. 

Avocado thickens a dip in a way that few other ingredients can without having a noticeable or detrimental impact on either taste or texture. With its fairly neutral flavor, avocado is a perfect pairing for creamy ranch dressing. You can choose your own textural adventure by keeping the avocado chunky by mashing it lightly with a fork, or working it into a smoother paste and folding it into ranch dressing for a more homogenous dip. A similar alternative to adding plain avocado as a dip thickener would be to add guacamole, be it homemade or store-bought. 

Since an avocado contains a lot of healthy fat, you'll need to up the seasonings when adding it to a dip. The ranch avocado dip will likely need more salt and acid to cut through the richness of the avocado. However, if you're adding guacamole, which is usually already seasoned with salt and lime juice, make sure you taste the dip when mixing with ranch before adding more seasonings so you don't go overboard and wind up with a salty mess.

After you've thickened up the regular ranch with avocado or guacamole for perfect dipping consistency, you could always give it a spicy twist that would compliment the avocado by adding fresh chunky salsa or a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce. A spicy ranch guacamole dip would be perfect to serve with blue corn tortilla chips or even tortilla chips seasoned with lime for an extra kick. 

If you're vegan, dairy-free, or simply being mindful of guests with those dietary restrictions, you could swap classic ranch for this vegan tahini ranch dressing recipe and add avocado from there. Fluffy flatbreads, crispy sea salt crackers, or any number of fresh vegetables would make a wonderful pairing for any avocado ranch combo. No matter how you serve the dip, it's hard to go wrong with a mixture of two culinary heavy hitters like ranch dressing and avocado.