12 Store-Bought Ranch Dressings, Ranked Worst To Best

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Ranch dressing recently made headlines when visitors from other countries came to America for the FIFA World Cup, and left so obsessed with the condiment that the TSA had to issue official warnings about packing it into carry-ons. For anyone who's still uncertain, ranch dressing is an exclusively American condiment, crafted from a rich dairy base and generously seasoned with various herbs and spices, which can change slightly depending on the specific recipe used by any given brand. People regularly use it as a salad dressing, or as a delicious dip for fresh vegetables or buffalo chicken wings. You can even use it as a way to quickly elevate wraps, sandwiches, and more. But, in the midst of the ranch craze, it becomes painfully obvious that you need to buy the very best dressing if you want to satisfy that craving.

Figuring out the best ranch dressing doesn't have to be challenging — especially since I've already done the work for you by personally taste-testing 12 options you can buy in your local grocery store. I judged each product based primarily on taste and texture when tasted on its own, without alterations, using my food industry background and other relevant experience. You can find my full methodology at the end of this article, if you're interested. For now, let's get into store-bought ranch dressings and perhaps help you discover your new favorite.

Based on my relatively few experiences with the Price Rite brand, I don't think I'd ever choose to buy its products if I wasn't doing a ranking — it came in dead last in my ranking of store-bought mustard brands, and its ketchup left me disappointed too. Unfortunately, this ranch dressing joins the ranks of Price Rite disappointments. The consistency was very runny, to the point that it was reminiscent of water. Flavor-wise, this has an earthy flavor profile, more like dirt than herbs, with an underwhelmingly light dairy base. Heavy artificial notes further marred the flavor, and finished ruining my experience.

A two-tablespoon serving has 100 calories, 11% of your day's sodium, and zero sugars. Ingredients include water, soybean oil, distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, salt, egg yolk, buttermilk, phosphoric acid, modified food starch, xanthan gum, monosodium glutamate, dried garlic, dried onion, natural flavor, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, spice, disodium phosphate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't buy this dressing again, nor could I be tempted to use it if you offered it to me. You're better off making your own ranch at home, or purchasing literally any other option from this list.

You can get a 16 fl oz bottle of Price Rite Ranch Dressing for $1.99 at Shoprite.

Wholesome Pantry is Shoprite's organic-based private label, and it usually offers me a better experience than its Bowl & Basket counterpart. Except lately, I've had a short string of disappointments that have left me wondering if the brand's product quality has gone downhill. This Wholesome Pantry Organic Ranch Dressing was only the most recent of those, with a runny consistency only slightly better than Price Rite's. Honestly, this just tasted like milk that had been left near some herbs, rather than actually having them incorporated. Moderate artificial notes joined the underwhelming flavor profile, which did nothing to help here.

Two tablespoons of this dressing contains 130 calories, 12% of your day's sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. The recipe consists of soybean oil, water, distilled vinegar, cane sugar, egg yolk, salt, natural flavor, onion powder, garlic powder, corn starch, yeast extract, lactic acid, xanthan gum, lemon juice concentrate, spices, and natural flavor.

I wouldn't buy this ranch again, nor could you tempt me to use it again by offering it to me. In fact, you'd be better off just dumping milk on your salad instead, because at least then the flavor would be devoid of any artificial tones.

You can buy a 12 fl oz bottle of Wholesome Pantry Organic Ranch Dressing for $3.99 at Shoprite.

The Good & Gather Organic Ranch Dressing comes from Target's private label brand, and it was honestly nearly identical to Wholesome Pantry's rendition. Predominantly, it tasted like milk marred with moderate artificial tones, and had a thinner consistency than I would have preferred. The only difference (and the reason this ranked higher) is that the earthiness was a little more pronounced, rather than tasting like it'd been in the room with the ranch.

A two-tablespoon serving of this ranch has 120 calories, 11% of your daily sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. Ingredients listed include organic canola oil, water, organic distilled vinegar, organic cane sugar, organic egg yolks mix, sea salt, lactic acid, organic autolyzed yeast extract, organic concentrated lemon juice, organic corn starch, organic cultured dextrose, organic garlic powder, organic maltodextrin, organic milky type flavor, organic onion powder, organic parsley flakes, organic spices, organic yellow ground mustard seed, and xanthan gum.

I wouldn't buy this again. I also wouldn't eat it again if someone else offered it to me, and think you should stick to any of the top three or four products in this ranking instead.

You can get an 11.8 fl oz bottle of Good & Gather Organic Ranch Dressing for $3.29 at Target.

There are certain things I like to shop private labels for, and even prefer those options over brand-name products. Based on this list, ranch dressing just isn't one of those, since the vast majority of private labels fell at the bottom of my ranking. Market Pantry is another of Target's private labels, and once again the flavor profile was overly milky. Thankfully, the artificial notes were mild, and the texture was a bit thicker, so as to be more in line with what I was expecting. Mild earthy notes streaked the dairy base, with a zestiness so faint it'd be easy to miss.

A two-tablespoon serving of this ranch has 130 calories, 11% of your day's sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. Ingredients include vegetable oil, water, sugar, salt, egg yolk, buttermilk, distilled vinegar, natural flavors, spice, dried garlic, dried onion, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't buy this ranch again, nor do I think I could be tempted to eat it again if offered to me by someone else. There are significantly better brands that aren't much more expensive, so I recommend choosing one of those.

You can buy a 16 fl oz bottle of Market Pantry Ranch Dressing for $2.49 at Target.

I'm a huge fan of Aldi and its extensive line of private label products. I adore its Friendly Farms Greek Yogurt, and there's an abundance of Aldi cheeses I think are well worth buying. But this Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing? Not a hit by any means. The flavor and consistency were nearly identical to the Good & Gather option — mostly milky, mild earthy notes, and a faint zestiness, with an almost-thick-enough texture. But this option did have only faint artificial tones, which I could have overlooked if the base flavor was a little more robust or complex.

A two-tablespoon serving of this ranch has 130 calories, 11% of your daily sodium, and no notable sugar. Ingredients include vegetable oil, water, sugar, egg yolk, salt, buttermilk, natural flavors, spice, dried garlic, dried onion, distilled vinegar, phosphoric acid, yeast extract, xanthan gum, modified food starch, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbate, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't purchase this ranch again, but it is the first dressing on this list I would use again if it was offered to me by someone else. I'd hesitate to do so, but at least this option was a little better than plain milk.

You can buy a 16 fl oz bottle of Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing for $2.15 at Aldi.

This Walden Farms Ranch Dressing was honestly one of the most disappointing options on this list. Not because it was the worst tasting, but because based on appearance alone, it gave me the highest hopes. One thing I will give this ranch is that it wasn't another copycat of everything else with only slight differences. There was a strong tang, punctuated by moderate milky tones and faint earthy notes. Thankfully, there were zero artificial tones, but the consistency was kind of silky rather than creamy, which I wasn't the biggest fan of.

A two-tablespoon serving has zero calories or sugars, along with 6% of your daily sodium needs. Ingredients include water, cellulose gel, white distilled vinegar, erythritol, corn starch, salt, natural flavors, xanthan gum, lemon juice concentrate, onion, garlic, yeast extract, sodium citrate, mustard flour, propylene glycol alginate, lactic acid, chives, black pepper, gellan gum, parsley, celery seed, and dill.

I wouldn't purchase this ranch again, but I could be tempted to use it again if it was the only dressing available. If this was all you had, it might not do badly in a dish where ranch wasn't a dominant flavor — like maybe a buffalo chicken dip that combines both ranch and blue cheese dressings.

You can get a 12 fl oz bottle of Walden Farms Ranch Dressing for $4.34 at Walmart.

Great Value is another one of those hit-or-miss private labels — courtesy of Walmart, in case you aren't already familiar. Did I love many Great Value packaged snacks? Yes. But did I literally hate its instant mashed potatoes? Also yes. As for the brand's rendition of ranch dressing, well, it's a solid middle-of-the-road option that isn't great but does have some redeeming qualities. Surprisingly, there were no artificial notes, which is something I often battle in Great Value products. Even better, this ranch featured a predominantly creamy dairy flavor profile with moderate earthy notes. There was a mild vinegar-like tang, but it was almost lost in the stronger flavors, so it fell a little flat. Texturally, this was smooth, with a medium-weight mouthfeel that was on the thinner end of ideal.

Two tablespoons contain 130 calories, 11% of your day's sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. The brand's ranch recipe contains soybean oil, water, sugar, egg yolk, salt, buttermilk, natural flavors, spices, dried garlic, dried onion, distilled vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, modified food starch, monosodium glutamate, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't purchase this again, but it's also not terrible. I could be tempted to eat it again if someone else offered it to me.

You can purchase a 16 fl oz bottle of Great Value Classic Ranch Dressing for $2.32 at Walmart.

Until recently, I didn't realize Olive Garden made its own line of salad dressings. But between this and another ranking article I did around the same time, I was able to sample a few of their offerings. Honestly, it's a solid slightly-above-average brand overall, and this Olive Garden Parmesan Ranch Dressing was particularly good. It has a rich dairy flavor with moderate tang, thanks to the buttermilk, featuring mild earthy notes entwined with sharp cheese tones. My only complaint (and why this didn't rank higher) is that the ranch leaves a slight aftertaste that's a bit bitter and drying.

A two-tablespoon serving of this ranch contains 150 calories, 12% of your day's sodium, and zero sugars. Ingredients include soybean oil, water, buttermilk, distilled vinegar, egg yolk, salt, garlic juice, sugar, parmesan cheese, garlic, onion, natural flavor, yeast extract, lactic acid, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, spice, phosphoric acid, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't purchase this again simply because there are options I prefer much more. That said, I would happily eat this again if someone else offered it to me.

You can get a 16 fl oz bottle of Olive Garden Parmesan Ranch Dressing for $3.98 at Walmart.

Although private labels littered the bottom of this ranking, Bowl & Basket really came through with their ranch dressing. Anyone who has read my work knows I have such a love-hate relationship with ShopRite's private label, but this product was one of those that keeps me coming back for more — not a perfect ranch, but definitely a good one. The base flavor is distinctly buttermilk, punctuated by deep earthy tones and a mild but pleasant tang. Texturally, I would have preferred this to be a little thicker.

Two tablespoons of this dressing contain 130 calories, 11% of your daily sodium, and zero sugars. The recipe includes vegetable oil, water, sugar, egg yolk, salt, buttermilk, natural flavors, spice, dried garlic, dried onion, distilled vinegar, phosphoric acid, yeast extract, xanthan gum, modified food starch, disodium phosphate, potassium sorbet, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I wouldn't buy this again because I prefer the top three options more. However, this is the best private label option, and I'd happily eat it again.

You can buy a 16 fl oz bottle of Bowl & Basket Ranch Dressing for $2.49 at Shoprite.

Wish-Bone is the brand behind my go-to Italian dressing, and its ranch was also quite good. This had that rich buttermilk taste again, instead of a blander milkiness. Through this were robust earthy tones alongside mild tang and a faint garlicky kick. It wasn't only the slightly more complex flavor profile that put this ahead of Bowl & Basket, either — I also preferred the slightly thicker consistency.

Two tablespoons of this ranch dressing offers 130 calories, 11% of your daily sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. The recipe includes water, soybean oil, sugar, buttermilk, salt, distilled vinegar, modified cornstarch, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, garlic, onion, monosodium glutamate, polysorbate 60, spices, natural flavors, lemon juice concentrate, propylene glycol alginate, maltodextrin, disodium inosinate, disodium guanylate, soy lecithin, sorbic acid, and calcium disodium EDTA.

I would buy this ranch again if my top two options weren't available. If this is the only ranch you can get your hands on in a pinch, you definitely won't suffer for it.

You can purchase a 15 fl oz bottle of Wish-Bone Ranch Salad Dressing for $2.44 at Walmart.

Ken's Steak House Chef's Reserve Ranch Dressing was unique amongst the other options, and I mean that in a good way. There was a base layer of rich buttermilk in the flavor profile, like the other well-ranked brands, but over this was a moderate garlicky tang and mild pepperiness that provided a hint of heat. It had a faint earthiness, and vinegary notes throughout. Texturally, this had a slightly thinner texture than I would have preferred, but it worked really well here.

For every two tablespoons of this dressing that you eat, you'll consume 150 calories, 12% of your day's sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. The ingredients list includes soybean oil, water, distilled vinegar, sugar, salt, extra virgin olive oil, egg yolk, buttermilk solids, monosodium glutamate, xanthan gum, peppercorn, lactic acid, onion, polysorbate 60, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, cream, garlic, spice, natural flavor, calcium disodium EDTA, blue cheese, whey powder, and nonfat milk.

It was a very close call for first place because the two top options were both fantastic. However, I preferred the smoother flavor profile of the top option more. That being said, I'd definitely buy this again to switch things up sometimes.

You can buy a 16 fl oz bottle of Ken's Steak House Chef's Reserve Ranch Salad Dressing for $3.47 at Walmart.

This Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing was everything I think a good ranch should be. The texture was a perfect medium weight, and incredibly smooth — as was the taste. A robust buttermilk base was paired with moderate earthy notes, faint vinegar tones, and a light garlicky kick. There were also mild savory tones, which helped to complete a complex but very cool flavor profile.

Per two-tablespoon serving, you'll receive 130 calories, 11% of your day's sodium, and 1 gram of sugar. Ingredients include vegetable oil, water, buttermilk, sugar, salt, spices, garlic, onion, vinegar, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum, monosodium glutamate, natural flavors, disodium phosphate, sorbic acid, calcium disodium EDTA, disodium inosinate, and guanylate.

Often, it turns out that the original is better than every new rendition, and that was the case here. If you're looking for the best ranch dressing, Hidden Valley is exactly what you'll want to add to your grocery cart — trust me, you won't regret it.

You can buy a 16 fl oz bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for $3.97 at Walmart.

I chose store-bought ranch dressings for inclusion in this list based on their availability to me in the Vineland, New Jersey, area, picking out options from my nearest Shoprite, Walmart, and Aldi. Once chosen, I taste-tested each ranch dressing on its own, without alteration, for the fairest possible assessment of its taste and texture. I was looking for a medium to moderately thick creamy dressing with a flavor profile featuring some combination of savory, tangy, and zesty flavor notes over a predominantly earthy and dairy base.

I relied on more than 15 years of food industry experience and extensive use of ranch dressing in my personal life over more than three decades to confidently make my judgments. Prior work for Daily Meal also contributed. This includes articles like my ranking of canned kidney beans and my ranking of frozen chicken burritos. Although personal preference played a role in this ranking, I aimed to be as unbiased about product quality as possible.