You know it, you love it; you drizzle it on green salads, slather it on spicy wings, and dunk your carrots stick into it. Ranch sauce is the number one salad dressing.
It has inspired Doritos, pork rinds, Cheetos, crackers, and more. Somewhere along the way, pizza lovers discovered that Ranch is also excellent with pizza, and a new flavor combination was created.
But there are so many types of Ranch dressing it is challenging to know the best flavored Ranch sauce for homemade pizza. Luckily, we have volunteered our services to try them out and determine which Ranch flavors are best with different pizza combinations. In a different post, we talk about how to make homemade garlic sauces.
Table of Contents
| Ranch Flavor | Best Pizza Combinations |
|---|---|
| Garlic Ranch Dressing | Pepperoni, Supreme, and vegetarian pizzas |
| Buffalo Ranch Dressing | Basic cheese pizza or chicken pizza |
| Chipotle Ranch | Pepperoni, Hawaiian, and veggie pizzas |
| Cucumber Ranch | Italian sausage and peppers pizza, Calabrese pizza with spicy salami |
| Ranch with Avocado | Spicy taco pizza with jalapeños, Thai chicken pizza, and salad pizza |
| Habanero Ranch | Plain cheese pizza, BBQ pizza, and seafood pizza |
| Peppercorn Ranch | Perfect on every pizza combination |
| Kranch | Classic pepperoni pizza and mushroom and peppers pizza pie |
| Cilantro Lime Ranch | Supreme, Meat lovers, sausage, and taco pizzas |
| Taco Ranch | Mexican pizzas, taco pizzas, and any pizza with jalapeños |
| Hatch Chili Ranch | Thai chicken pizza, Mexican pizza, Meat Lovers pizza, and salad pizza |
| Barbecue Ranch | Pepperoni, sausage, veggie, and chicken pizzas |
| Sriracha Ranch Dressing | Thai chicken pizzas, seafood pizzas, anchovy and olives pizzas, and salad pizzas |
What is Ranch dressing?
Classic Ranch dressing made its way to our dining tables in the late 1970s, and this tangy, herby dressing has been in everyones’ refrigerator ever since. At least here in the Midwest of the US of A. My wife is from Colombia and was appalled at how often we use the sauce. But after one trip to Medellín, they put a lot stranger things on everything. Hola arepas. Save that for our travel blog.
Why Ranch Complements Pizza
Creamy Ranch, filled with aromatic herbs, is the perfect match for pizza with its tangy tomato sauce, gooey cheese, and crispy crust. You can drizzle it or dip it; the possibilities are endless.
Best Flavored Ranch Sauce for Homemade Pizza
Ranch dressing is a crowd-pleaser, and the makers of flavored Ranch know they are on to something special. There are a lot of different versions of Ranch dressing, and each has its unique qualities. We decided to test them all out and see which is the best flavored Ranch sauce for homemade pizza.
Garlic Ranch Dressing
Traditional Ranch dressing has some garlic, but Garlic Ranch dressing has even more. The creamy Ranch has an intense garlic flavor that garlic lovers will gobble up. Even non-garlic lovers will enjoy dipping slices into this as the garlic flavor is similar to roasted garlic rather than raw, so it’s full of flavor but not overwhelming like raw garlic can be.
Garlic Ranch dressing is best with spicy pepperoni, Supreme, and vegetarian pizzas.
Buffalo Ranch Dressing
Have you ever wondered what exactly is buffalo sauce? Well, buffalo sauce is similar to hot sauce but has a buttery component that gives it a velvety texture. The basic ingredients are hot sauce, butter, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic powder. And when you mix that with Ranch dressing, you get a unique sauce that is excellent for wings, fries, and of course, pizza.
Buffalo Ranch dressing is best with a basic cheese pizza or chicken pizza.
Chipotle Ranch
Chipotle peppers are a favorite in barbecue sauce and hot sauce. The shriveled red peppers soaked in adobo pack a powerful heat and should be used sparingly if you don’t want to burn your face off. But when you combine chipotle peppers and Ranch, you get the perfect combination of heat plus a creamy taste that cools it down.
Chipotle Ranch is best with pepperoni, Hawaiian, and veggie pizzas.
Cucumber Ranch
If you like to keep it cool, then this Cucumber Ranch dressing is for you. It has a bright, fresh flavor. The cucumbers and the herbs blend into a fresh dipping sauce, perfect for hot wings or spicy pizzas.
Cucumber Ranch is best with Italian sausage and peppers pizza and Calabrese pizza with spicy salami.
Ranch with Avocado
Avocado toast, avocado smoothies, avocado mayonnaise, it was only a matter of time before the food gods rolled out avocado Ranch dressing. Slather it on burritos and tostadas, or dip pizza slices into this rich, decadent sauce.
Ranch with avocado is best with spicy taco pizza with jalapeños, Thai chicken pizza, and salad pizza.
Habanero Ranch
Hot and creamy is how we describe Habanero Ranch dressing. It brings the heat but crosses it with a smooth Ranch to keep it from overpowering the other flavors. This may just be your new favorite dipping sauce because it’s so good on everything from chicken strips to salads to crudités to pizza. We recommend buying two bottles so you are always stocked on this sauce.
Habanero Ranch is best with plain cheese pizza as it makes it more interesting. But it’s also good with a BBQ pizza and seafood pizza.
Peppercorn Ranch
Ranch with extra black pepper is a subtle yet satisfying treat. It is like a basic Ranch but better. Ok, full confession, we always add fresh ground black pepper to our Ranch when we eat it with salad, and now it is a dipping sauce. How convenient, one less step!
Peppercorn Ranch is perfect on every pizza combination you can think of; we promise you can’t go wrong with this one.
Kranch
If Ranch dressing and ketchup had a baby, it would be named Kranch, and that is exactly what Heinz is selling in their new Kranch sauce. As marketers, we’re not fans of the name.
They also have a mayo ketchup combo called Mayochup for all of you ketchup lovers out there. Honestly, we like both sauces as they both make good dipping sauces for pizza. But who’s coming up with these names!? We would like Heinz to re-consider Ranchup and Ketchaisse instead.
Kranch is good on classic pepperoni pizza and earthy mushroom and peppers pizza pie.
Cilantro Lime Ranch
Cilantro is the pineapple of the herb world. You either love it or hate it. This herb is not for anyone sitting on the fence; it is a polarizing herb. And it’s more about science than preference, as some people taste soap when they taste cilantro because they have a gene that detects cilantro flavor as soap.
But if you are one of the lucky ones like us without the anti-cilantro genetics, then you know this simple herb can bring out the brightness in salsa, tacos, and… pizza.
Cilantro Lime Ranch is good on Supreme, Meat lovers, multiple sausages, and taco pizzas.
Taco Ranch
Taco Ranch is a mix of taco sauce and Ranch dressing. It is flavorful without extra heat. We love it as a fry sauce and even a salad dressing too.
Taco Ranch is best on Mexican pizzas, taco pizzas, and any pizza with jalapeños.
Hatch Chili Ranch
If you have spent any time in New Mexico, then you know that Hatch chilies are like a religion down there. Hatch chilies are grown on the north and south side of the Rio Grande in the Hatch Valley, and there is a good reason that locals profess their undying love for these chili peppers.
And now those of us outside of New Mexico can get a taste of Hatch chilies in Hatch Chili Ranch sauce. This dipping sauce has all of the flavors of freshly roasted hatch chilies mixed with silky smooth Ranch.
Hatch Chili Ranch is best with Thai chicken pizza, Mexican pizza, Meat Lovers pizza, and salad pizza.
Barbecue Ranch
Smoky, spicy, and creamy is what you are going to get out of this sauce that combines two classic picnic flavors barbecue sauce and Ranch dressing. There are a few different companies that make Barbecue Ranch sauce, but you can always get creative and mix your favorite barbecue sauce and Ranch so you control the ratio. You really can’t go wrong with these two great flavored sauces mixed together.
Best on pepperoni, sausage, veggie, and chicken pizzas.
Sriracha Ranch Dressing
Spicy Sriracha is a beloved hot sauce. It is a hot sauce staple right up there with Tabasco. Sriracha adds heat without overpowering, and when it is mixed with Ranch dressing, it makes an excellent dipping sauce.
Sriracha Ranch dressing is best on Thai chicken pizzas, seafood pizzas, anchovy and olives pizzas, and salad pizzas.
Summary Table of Best Ranch With What Pizza
| Ranch Flavor | Best Pizza Combinations |
|---|---|
| Garlic Ranch Dressing | Pepperoni, Supreme, and vegetarian pizzas |
| Buffalo Ranch Dressing | Basic cheese pizza or chicken pizza |
| Chipotle Ranch | Pepperoni, Hawaiian, and veggie pizzas |
| Cucumber Ranch | Italian sausage and peppers pizza, Calabrese pizza with spicy salami |
| Ranch with Avocado | Spicy taco pizza with jalapeños, Thai chicken pizza, and salad pizza |
| Habanero Ranch | Plain cheese pizza, BBQ pizza, and seafood pizza |
| Peppercorn Ranch | Perfect on every pizza combination |
| Kranch | Classic pepperoni pizza and mushroom and peppers pizza pie |
| Cilantro Lime Ranch | Supreme, Meat lovers, sausage, and taco pizzas |
| Taco Ranch | Mexican pizzas, taco pizzas, and any pizza with jalapeños |
| Hatch Chili Ranch | Thai chicken pizza, Mexican pizza, Meat Lovers pizza, and salad pizza |
| Barbecue Ranch | Pepperoni, sausage, veggie, and chicken pizzas |
| Sriracha Ranch Dressing | Thai chicken pizzas, seafood pizzas, anchovy and olives pizzas, and salad pizzas |
What do you think is the best flavored Ranch sauce for homemade pizza? Did your favorite make our list?
