Is Ranch Dressing Healthy? Nutrition, Calories and Cholesterol

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Ranch dressing is a sauce made with buttermilk or sour cream, mayo, garlic powder, minced green onion, and other seasonings. It is one of the most popular salad dressing styles in the United States, commonly used as a dipping sauce.

Ranch is available whole or premixed and packaged. Always check the expiry date and inspect the bottle for any discoloration or gas development (bubbles). Especially around the tip.

Ranch dressings are most commonly used as salad dressings. It is a popular dipping sauce for veggies like broccoli and carrots, as well as fries and chicken wings. It’s also a popular dip for fried dishes, including fried mushrooms and zucchini. Ranch dressing can also be found on pizza, wrapped sandwiches, tacos, etc.

Nutritional Facts

The below nutrition information is taken from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) databases for 100g of ranch.

Nutritional table (per 100ml)

High in sodium

Ranch dressing contains 867mg of sodium per 100ml serving.

Being mindful of the quantity of sodium in your diet is essential for maintaining good heart health. When you dip your vegetables in ranch dressing, you may not taste the salt, but you are still consuming a lot of it.

Regular consumption of this level of sodium may increase the risk of heart disease and blood pressure-related problems. It is advised that adults limit their daily sodium intake to 2,300mg and avoid foods that have more than 200mg of sodium per serving.

High in calories and fats

Ranch dressing typically has 467 calories and 46.7g of fat per 100ml serving.

This value may vary from one brand to another. For instance, one serving of Original Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing contains 130 calories and 14g of fat. This dressing’s main sources of fat are egg yolks and soybean or canola oil.

Kraft Classic Ranch Dressing has 12g of fat, mostly from soybean oil, and 110 calories.

The majority of bottled ranch dressings contain soy oil as a key ingredient and have 110–150 calories per 2tbsp (30ml) serving with no healthy fat. Those with buttermilk or yogurt as the first ingredient tend to be lower in calories.

A moderate amount of carbohydrates

The carb content of ranch dressing is a bit high. You should stay away from it as much as possible because each 100ml portion contains 6.67g of net carbohydrates.

Low in protein

Ranch dressing is not a good source of protein. It contains approximately 3.33g of protein in it.

3 Side Effects of Consuming Ranch

There’s no denying that ranch seems to enhance the flavor of everything, especially vegetables, but consuming too much of it may have harmful effects on your body. If you consume too much of this dressing, you can experience the following:

#1 Weight gain

Calorie intake and expenditure are key concepts in weight reduction. It’s crucial to understand how many calories you need to consume each day, regardless of whether you lead a sedentary or active lifestyle.

This salad dressing has about 467 calories per 100ml. It’s not only the calories that might cause considerable weight gain; most ranch dressings also contain a lot of sugar, and we all know that sugar plays a major role in increasing weight.

The sugar level of ranch may occasionally be difficult to determine by taste, much like the salt content, so it’s important to check the nutrition facts to make sure you’re purchasing the type with the least amount of sugar.

Furthermore, try to prepare your own healthy ranch salad dressing at home.

#2 Increased risk of bad cholesterol

Dietary fats come in several forms, including saturated fat. It is one of the harmful fats, along with trans fat. Most of the time, these fats are solid at room temperature.

High quantities of this fat are found in foods like butter, cheese, red meat, palm and coconut oils, and butter.

A diet high in saturated fat can increase your risk of heart disease and other health issues. For energy and other processes, your body requires healthy fats.

However, consuming too much-saturated fat might result in a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries. Your LDL (bad) cholesterol is increased by saturated fats. High LDL cholesterol raises your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Ranch has about 8.33g of saturated fat per 100ml serving, based on the Food Data Central database. You will notice the effect it has on your cholesterol levels, even if it may not seem like much at first.

Reduce your intake of saturated fats to less than 7% of your daily calorie intake.

#3 Increased cardiovascular risk

Excessive salt consumption contributes to elevated blood pressure and is associated with water retention.

Both high blood pressure and an excessive salt intake provide significant risks for developing heart failure as well as for complicating the condition in people who already have it. For every 100ml of ranch dressing, there is 867mg of salt.

Healthy Ranch Recipe

Salads appear to be the ideal meal for shedding pounds. They contain a ton of vegetables, lean meat that is high in protein, and heart-healthy fats from toppings like almonds or avocado.

However, if you use bottled creamy ranch dressing, this healthy lunch will be completely ruined. Store-bought dressings are loaded with harmful vegetable oils and have high sugar content.

This recipe will show you how to prepare healthy homemade ranch dressing, so you won’t have to rely on store-bought dressings again.

Prep: 5 minutes                    Cooking time: 0 minutes                          Total: 5 minutes

Ingredients (yields 1 cup):

• 1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp chives, dried
• 1 tsp parsley, dried
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dill, dried
• Salt to taste
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp white rice vinegar
• Water as required

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, mix all of the ingredients and stir until well blended.
2. Before serving, chill for 30 minutes.
3. Add 1tbsp of water at a time for a thinner consistency or until the desired consistency is reached.
4. Before serving, garnish with fresh chives or parsley.
5. This can be stored in the fridge for 1 week when sealed in an airtight container.

FAQs

Conclusion

Ranch dressing is a kitchen staple in many homes. Consuming it will encourage you to eat more salads and vegetables. However, you should be aware that some brands contain fat as well as other ingredients that may interfere with your healthy eating.

The ingredient list may be even more crucial to take into account than ranch dressing’s calories. Choose a variety of ingredients you are familiar with. Alternatively, pull out your whisk and try making your ranch dressing.