Creamy Any-Pickle Dressing

What would happen if pickle dip met ranch? This dressing. Creamy, tangy, and briny to the max, the base starts with buttermilk, sour cream, dehydrated onion flakes, garlic powder, and the star of the show: pickles. While this dressing can be made with just one type of pickle (like classic dill varieties), it’s even tastier when made with a mix of pickled vegetables like cocktail onions, capers, pickled green beans, cornichons, and hot cherry peppers. It’s a great opportunity to play with different flavor profiles—like sweet, tangy, briny, or spicy—and tailor the dressing to your tastes depending on the variety you use. If a little sweetness is what you’re after, you can add some bread-and-butter pickles into the mix. Or, for a little bit of heat, try adding pickled jalapeños. It’s a fantastic way to use up any jar of pickled things you might have in the back of the fridge.

Because pickles come in so many shapes and sizes, a good rule of thumb is to measure them out by weight, not volume. But if you don’t have a kitchen scale, start with the lower end of the cup measurement and add more pickles to taste as you build the dressing. Use this dressing to make Tomato Panzanella or Grilled Chicken Salad (where it also doubles as a marinade), or spoon it over roasted potatoes, wedges of iceberg lettuce, or grilled vegetables, such as green beans or asparagus.

Note: For smaller, stronger pickled items such as capers, use only about ½–1 oz. (1–2 Tbsp.) total and combine them with larger, more mild pickles so the flavor of the dressing is not too strong.