Nutrition
Calories: 112kcal | Carbohydrates: 7.9g | Protein: 7.3g | Fat: 5.4g | Fiber: 1.3g
This High Protein Ranch Dressing is similar to what you might find in a restaurant. It's super creamy and tangy!
Servings
Ingredients
- 12.3 oz Extra Firm Silken Tofu I used Mori Nu
- 56 grams Raw Unsalted Cashews ~1/2 cup
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 cup Soy Milk
- 2 tbsp White Wine Vinegar
- 2 tsp Salt
- 1 1/2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
- 1 tbsp Freeze-dried Pineapple Powder
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/4 cup Fresh Dill finely chopped
Instructions
- Add cashews in a pot of boiling water and allow to cook for about 10 minutes. This will soften them and make them easier to blend. Likewise, you could also just soak them in water for a few hours.
- In a high powered blender, combine ALL ingredients listed above except for the dill.
- After all ingredients are well combined and creamy, hand mix in the finely chopped Dill (this is so your Ranch Dressing doesn't turn lime green 🙂 )
Equipment
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Notes
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This High Protein Ranch Dressing is perfect for a salad, loaded fries or just dipping some veggies in! It takes roughly 10 minutes to make and will add a bit of extra protein and flavor to anything you throw it on! You seriously won’t even remember that this is vegan!
Ingredients
- Extra Firm Silken Tofu – there are a few different options on Silken Tofu – shelf stable and refrigerated; there are also different firmness levels. I prefer to use Mori-Nu Extra Firm, which is a shelf stable variety. This type has a pretty high protein content per calorie and keeps for a long time without refrigeration. You can find it in most grocery stores (especially Asian grocery stores), usually in the International aisle. You can also order this specific brand online through their website or on Amazon.
- Raw Unsalted Cashews – make sure you are using Raw and Unsalted Cashews for this recipe or it won’t turn out as creamy and may be too salty. Most grocery stores carry these; mine usually has them in the bakery/produce area for whatever reason.
- Water – yea, it’s water. This is separate from the water used in cooking the cashews. Don’t not add the cashew water to this recipe or it will be runny. If you find the dressing consistency to be a little too thick, you can add a little bit more water to get it the thickness you’d like.
- Soy Milk – I usually use Silk Unsweetened Original. I think anything would work. I probably wouldn’t use vanilla though lol
- White Wine Vinegar – I really like the flavor White Wine Vinegar adds to this recipe. If you’re in a pinch and don’t have this ingredient, you could sub with Apple Cider Vinegar or Rice Vinegar. The flavor might be slightly different though.
- Salt – seems like a lot of salt maybe, but remember we’re making this with tofu so it needs flavor
- Nutritional Yeast – also known as Nooch. This is a magical ingredient and you definitely want to use it here, and honestly in any recipe :). I really like Bragg’s or Bob’s Red Mill.
- Freeze-dried Pineapple Powder – ok, weird ingredient, I know, but I swear it takes the dressing to that Restaurant quality like you would get at Jason’s Deli or McCalister’s – it just adds some extra tangy-ness and sweetness that I love. You can maybe find this in your grocery store – I found mine online (Amazon). If you don’t have this ingredient, I would recommend subbing in one lemon worth of juice instead, but it will taste less good guaranteed.
- Sugar – you can omit if you’re trying to be ultra-healthy. I really think it adds a nice sweetness to this dressing though and balances out the flavors a bit.
- Garlic Powder and Onion Powder – always garlic and onion powder – these are a must. Would not recommend omitting these
- Fresh Dill – you can also use dried dill but I really like the flavor fresh Dill provides. Make sure to chop this super finely, like as small as you can possibly make it
Directions
- First we start with making sure the cashews are soft enough to blend well. If you don’t have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix, you probably want to soak a little longer. Also you should really consider getting a Vitamix; I never knew how smooth and creamy cashews and chickpeas, etc. can be when blended with something so powerful. It’s my favorite kitchen appliance. I digress. You have two options here – you can soak your cashews overnight (in the fridge) or you can soak them in boiling water for 10 minutes. I prefer the boiling water method, which I think works just as well, and you don’t have to remember that you want to make Ranch Dressing the day before.
- If you’re using fresh dill, this is where you will get down to the business of chopping. Make sure you chop it as finely as possible. If you’re going the dried dill route, you can skip this step
- Once you’ve got soft-ish cashews, you can blend everything up in your blender. EXCEPT THE DILL. When adding the silken tofu, I like to make sure I drain out all of the water from the package before adding it to the blender so the dressing doesn’t end up too runny. Same advice on the cashews – drain them well.
- Now that you’ve got a super smooth, well-mixed dressing, pour it into a bowl or whatever you have and mix in your very finely chopped Dill. That’s it! You’re done! Enjoy!
***I would probably only keep this in the fridge for 3 – 4 days max. You may need to stir before use because sometimes it can settle***
Silly Little Haiku
High Protein Vegan
Ranch Dressing Tastes So Damn Good
Get In My Belly
Author
Protein Deficient Vegan
