Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing + Tuscan Garden Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ranch dressing is America’s favorite dressing, a position it’s held for close to three decades. A combination of buttermilk and various seasonings and spices, Ranch is popular because it is incredibly versatile. Not only is it a solid salad dressing, but it’s also great as a dip for everything from veggies to chicken nuggets. Ranch is also a great way to take the bite out of hot wings.

Aldi sells a good powdered Ranch dressing mix, but if you need something easier, Aldi also sells a pair of bottled dressings, too.

Both Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing and Tuscan Garden Buttermilk Ranch Dressing are a Regular Buys, which means you can find them in stores all the time. At the time of this post, both costs 89 cents for a 16-ounce bottle, or about 5.6 cents an ounce.

These dressings come in a traditional plastic bottle and can be stored at room temperature until you open the seal. To open the bottle, you first need to break the paper seal at the top of the bottle, then unscrew the cap, remove the foil seal, and screw the cap back on. At that point, you’ll want to refrigerate the dressing. The dressing contains a use-by date on the bottle, although we find we usually go through our Ranch long before that.

Both product labels indicate that they are gluten free and are — like all Aldi private label food products — free of artificial colors.

Side by side. (Click to enlarge.)

Tuscan Garden Ranch Dressing

We find Aldi Ranch to be good but not great, which is how we tend to feel about most store-bought bottled Ranch dressing. It’s not as good as restaurant Ranch, and not as good as Aldi’s Ranch powder mix. The flavor and the seasonings aren’t as rich, in our view. But it is on par with most other bottles of its type. As a dressing it’s fine, although I think it’s maybe slightly better suited — as the label suggests — as a dip.

As you would expect, Ranch has a fair amount of fat, including some saturated fat. This is especially important as most people probably use more than the 2-tablespoon serving listed on the nutrition label. The dressing contains some other ingredients of note, too, including soybean oil, milk, and eggs. It also contains some other additives and preservatives.

Nutrition and ingredients. (Click to enlarge.)

Tuscan Garden Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

We really liked the Buttermilk Ranch Dressing, especially the adults in our family. We thought it was a superior salad dressing to Aldi’s traditional Ranch, and it was closer to restaurant Ranch, although I still think Aldi’s powder Ranch mix is a little better. Our kids didn’t like it as much (possibly because they’ve been raised on traditional Ranch), and I think that this thicker Ranch works better as a salad dressing than a dip. My wife, on the other hand, thinks this is superior to traditional Ranch in all uses.

Nutritionally, Buttermilk Ranch is a little higher in calories and carbs compared to traditional Ranch, although the rest of the numbers are more or less the same.

The Verdict:

Aldi has a couple of bottled Ranch options, and they’re both fine. For dips, some (but not all) of us preferred the traditional Ranch, which pours easily, is a bit thinner, and has a taste that seems to complement meats and vegetables. For salad dressing, most of us preferred the Buttermilk Ranch, which is thicker, richer, and more complex-flavored. Both are inexpensive, though, and both do well compared to other store-bought bottles. If you want something more upscale, meanwhile, try Aldi’s Ranch powder mix.