Dill Pickle Ranch and Easy Spring Salad

To make meal prep a little easier, I often buy pre-made salad kits at the grocery store. My absolute favorite one, is dill pickle. The salad itself is pretty simple with lettuce and shaved veggies like cabbage and kale and then you mix in mini pita chips, feta cheese and add a creamy dill dressing.

But, sometimes I can’t find that specific flavor or I go to make my salad only to realize one of the teens has gotten a wild hair and eaten my salad before I could ever get to it. As a sidetone, three teenagers is wild some days. You’ll stock the fridge on a Monday and by Wednesday you’re wondering how you’ll make it the rest of the week without another trip to the grocery store.

With the dill pickle salad kit in the back of my mind, I set out to make a fresh (slightly healthier) version to have on hand whenever I want a salad. My family loves ranch dressing so I figured that would by my base. From there, I played around with adding just the right amount of dill and herb flavors without making it too aggressive. The end result is a creamy, tangy ranch dressing with just a note of dill pickle flavor. Perfect as a salad dressing or a dip for veggies, everyone in my family loves it.

And because we need a vehicle for the dill pickle ranch, I put together this simple spring salad. Packed with sweet and crunchy snap peas, peppery radishes, creamy hard boil eggs and tangy crumbled feta cheese; this is the perfect savory but light spring salad.

This is a great recipe to use as a jumping off point to make completely your own. If you prefer a stronger ranch dressing flavor to the dill pickle flavor, add an extra tablespoon of the ranch seasoning and swap the dill pickle juice for plain milk. For the salad, use whatever you have on hand and sounds good to you.

Sliced avocado and diced cherry tomatoes would be lovely additions, even though this specific recipe does not call for it. You could always swap cooked chicken for the deli lunch meat or skip the meat altogether. Just don’t skip the crumbled dill pickle potato chips, I’m telling you, it’s the best part of the salad and can’t be skipped over.

Whatever combination you come up for your spring salad is most definitely going to be tasty and fresh, don’t hesitate to make this recipe all your own. And if salad isn’t really your thing? Make the dill pickle ranch and skip the salad part. You can use the dressing to make a creamy chicken salad or just use it as a dip for crackers and carrot sticks.

Dill Pickle Ranch Dressing

  • 3/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt

  • 1/2 cup olive oil mayonnaise

  • 3 tablespoons ranch seasoning

  • 1/4 cup dill pickle juice (from a jar of dill pickles)

  • 2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced

  • 2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, minced

  • 2 tablespoons dried dill

  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Easy Spring Salad

  • 5 ounce container butter lettuce

  • 2-4 hardboiled eggs, peeled and chopped

  • 3 radishes, diced

  • 1 1/2 cups snap peas, sliced in half

  • 3 ounces turkey or chicken deli meat, diced

  • 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

  • 1/3 cup sliced pepperoncini peppers

  • 3 pieces center cut bacon, cooked and finely chopped

  • Handful dill pickle kettle chips, crumbled

In a medium bowl, combine greek yogurt and mayonnaise with the ranch seasoning. Whisk in the dill pickle juice. Mince the chives and flat leaf parsley. Add the herbs to the bowl along with the dill. Stir well to combine, then salt and pepper, stirring again. Taste and add a bit more pickle juice or salt if needed to adjust the flavors to your personal preference.

Transfer the dressing to a small lidded jar and store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Allowing the flavors to meld together for a bit before eating, really makes a difference, so if you can, make the dressing a few hours before you plan to eat it. Dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to five days.

Slice the bacon into bite size pieces, and cook in a sauté pan over medium heat until cooked through and crispy. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and let cool, then chop into tiny pieces.

Hard boil two to four eggs, depending on how big of a salad you plan to make. I like to start with a small pot of cold water. Add the eggs, cover, and turn the stove to high heat. Set a timer for 13 minutes. When the timer goes off, remove the pot from the burner and the lid from the pot. Drain the water from the eggs and let them cool on the counter. Peel the shell and slice the eggs.

For the salad, layer a large shallow bowl with the butter lettuce, then top with the hard boiled eggs, bacon, radishes, snap peas, deli meat, feta cheese and pepperoncini peppers. Spoon the dill pickle ranch dressing over the salad and mix well to combine. Garnish with a generous handful of crumbled dill pickle kettle chips.

Dinner, Eat Your Veggies, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Recipe, SaladAndrea McCoysalad, ranch dressing, dill, dill pickle, dill pickle ranch, salad dressing, greek yogurt, mayonnaise, green onion, parsley, garlic, pickle juice, butter lettuce, lettuce, egg, hard boiled egg, snap pea, peppers, feta cheese