Ranch Dressing Is The Creamy, Flavorful Pasta Salad Upgrade You Need

Pasta salad can be the perfect dish for almost any occasion; serve it as a flavorful side dish, an easy weekday lunch, or a quick, cool backyard barbecue accompaniment. Most pasta salads have either a creamy, mayonnaise-based dressing or a tangy vinaigrette, and the other ingredients usually determine your choice of dressing. But if you're looking for a flavor that pairs with almost anything, and everyone at the table probably already loves, don't sleep on widely popular ranch dressing. After all, it's meant for dressing a salad, right?

At its core, ranch is a creamy, mayonnaise-based dressing-slash-condiment typically enhanced with flavors such as lemon juice and dill. Choosing ranch as the base of your pasta salad means you can build upon its versatile foundation. This popular dressing complements various flavors and textures, from crunchy vegetables to savory bacon, and is flexible enough to support several different combinations for an easily customizable party dish. You can keep it simple with a store-bought ranch dressing, but if you want a truly decadent dressing, it's worth taking the extra time to make a homemade ranch dressing.

The best pasta salad might start with ranch dressing, and the best ranch dressings start with buttermilk. Tangy buttermilk makes ranch dressing creamier and more decadent, as well as thicker, which will better hold together the cooked pasta and the salad's other ingredients, meaning every bite will be loaded with texture and flavor. Making a homemade dressing means you can control its thickness and flavor profile, such as adding a little extra sour cream for a denser dressing or giving it even more zing with a squeeze of lemon juice. Dill adds a bright bite to pasta salad; keep in mind that fresh dill is more fragrant than dried dill, so you'll need less if you're using fresh. For an unexpectedly refreshing twist, you can enhance ranch dressing with some lavender.

Texture and flavor are both important in any dish, but especially in a cold, cooked-pasta salad, so it's a good idea to include at least one crunchy ingredient. Carrots, celery, and cucumbers are veggies that pair well with ranch dressing and are commonly found in pasta salad. Use thinly sliced radishes for a spicy crunch. Crispy chopped bacon can add texture and umami, which can add depth to a mild salad, as could the inclusion of buffalo chicken. Chopped tomatoes, sliced red onion, and even some shredded cheddar cheese are all ranch-loving additions to a tasty pasta salad.

Pasta absorbs moisture, so when you dress the salad and then refrigerate it, it could get a little dry. Dress it while it's still warm to help that dressing impart even more flavor, but make sure to save some of the dressing to mix into the salad to revive it before plating and serving. If you don't want to serve ice-cold pasta salad straight from the fridge, you can let the salad sit at room temperature for up to 30 minutes to warm up slightly before eating it.

Since many homemade ranch dressings are made with longer-lasting ingredients such as buttermilk, sour cream, and/or mayonnaise, you can keep a jar of homemade ranch dressing in the refrigerator for about two weeks. Just make sure it's in an airtight, tightly sealed container. Store-bought ranch, on the other hand, lasts about six months once opened. With that said, your pasta salad won't last two weeks; pasta stays fresh for up to five days in the fridge, so make sure to eat the leftovers before then. If you added grilled chicken or other such perishables to your pasta salad, you've got about three or four days to finish off the salad, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.