This sweet and zesty recipe for homemade ranch is a fun dip or dressing for seafood. It gets a little kick from chili flakes, which add just the right amount of heat stimulate your palate. A drizzle of honey and cool, tangy buttermilk balance out the spice — their the key ingredients to this hot honey ranch.
What to Serve With Hot Honey Ranch
Enjoy this as a dip for baked fish cakes, as a craveable sauce for salmon, or as a topping for grilled salmon burgers. It's also great as a side for crunchy veggies or even drizzled over a hearty kale salad.
How to Prepare Hot Honey Ranch
To make this dip, you'll do some easy chopping of garlic and herbs. You'll use these ingredients, along with the chili flakes, as the base of an easy chili oil — all you have to do is pour hot oil over them. This chili oil gets whisked into the creamy buttermilk base.
Substitutions
There are a few substitutions you can make to this recipe, if you don't have all of the ingredients in your kitchen:
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Buttermilk: Try substituting sour cream that's been thinned out with milk or water so that it's a pourable consistency.
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Chili flakes: Since this is a hot honey ranch, it's best to leave in some chili flakes for heat. To adjust the heat in the hot honey ranch, whisk as little or as much of this chili oil as you like with the remaining ingredients. Start with a little bit, then add more as you go until it has the perfect balance of sweet and spicy. Otherwise, omit the chili flakes altogether to make a basic ranch recipe.
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Dried onion: Dried onion is different than onion powder — it is flaked, dehydrated onion. This ingredient will add texture to the mix, but if you don't have it in your pantry, it's okay to omit it.
For milder alternatives and other easy condiments, check out our favorite sauces for salmon.
How to Store Hot Honey Ranch
Hot honey ranch can be refrigerated in a covered container for up to 1 week. You may need to whisk it to reintegrate the ingredients before use.
