After making a sleeve of Fire-Eater saltines the other day, I had to keep trying other flavors. I mean, there’s good and then there’s crazy good. These Ranch saltines are definitely crazy good. Great Ranch flavor on a crunchy yummy cracker. That’s all you’ll need, trust me. Yes, you could slather a bit of cream cheese on them too, but I found them addicting enough just as they are. It’s the easiest snack cracker you could ever make.
Buy Ranch seasoning in bulk or if you prefer you can make it at home. Check out my homemade version. And add more if you want. I’m a Ranch addict, so I put extra on my Ranch saltines.
I use the same base recipe any time that I make flavored saltine crackers: a sleeve of crackers, 1/3 cup of oil, and whatever flavoring I am using. It’s just that simple.
You can sit down and eat pretzel bites out of the bag and think, “Hey, these are pretty good”. Or with just a few more ingredients, you can sit down with a bowl of these Ranch sourdough pretzel bites and know that you’ve just had something truly incredible. Each bite has a hint of butter. A hint of herby Ranch dressing, and a really awesome citrusy pepper flavor that’s just barely there, but oh does it make a difference.
I often make appetizers like these Ranch sourdough pretzel bites using just oil, or melted butter. I recently came across the idea of using popcorn oil, which of course combines both oil and butter. The flavor is more fantastic, and it doesn’t get any easier than just measuring the oil out of a bottle. I’ll definitely make all my snacks this way from here on.
I couldn’t find my lemon pepper seasoning (I am reminded that someday, maybe, I’ll arrange the spices in my pantry in alphabetical or at least some sensible order). I substituted lime pepper seasoning I have to say it was fantastic. The citrus flavor in either case isn’t going to scream out at it, it just adds that special something.
Looking for something else to much on during the big game? Make a batch of my baseball opening day cashews. They won’t last long!
Sit down with a bowl of these Ranch sourdough pretzel bites and know that you’ve just had something truly incredible. Each bite has a hint of butter. A hint of herby Ranch dressing, and a really awesome citrusy pepper flavor that’s just barely there, but oh does it make a difference.
We’ve been enjoying a week of grilling marinated chicken breasts, sliced thin, served on top of fresh greens with homemade salad dressings, like this herby Ranch dressing. I also mix up the salad toppings to keep things new and exciting. In no time we have a great salad for dinner.
This herby Ranch dressing has the flavors of a traditional Ranch, with an extra herb kick. Fresh herbs make it the best, but you can substitute dried, like I did. Just make sure you crumble the dried herbs first. You don’t want to bite into a big ole chunk of oregano, ya know!
These little sauce dipping cups are great for serving salad dressings. They keep me from over-dressing my salads, which is something I’m prone to do since I’m a dressing-aholic (and in particular, a Ranch-aholic). They’re easy to clean up, too. And they’re also great for dipping nuggets, tenders or even chicken wings.
Visit my other site, For The Wing, for all things chicken-wing!
I usually cook wings on my Char-Broil Big Easy or on my charcoal grill using the Vortex. I have to admit, I was pretty pessimistic about the idea of cooking wings in a slow cooker. Would I like the texture? Would they taste as great as wings off the grill?
One thing’s for sure, making Buffalo Ranch wings in a slow cooker really couldn’t get any easier. It was the perfect recipe for my working-from-home lunch. Toss everything in first thing in the morning and at lunch, enjoy some wings!
So how were they? Well, mighty tasty for starters. In fact, I loved the flavor. Big time. Texture-wise, they got barely crispy but the meat was oh-so-tender and juicy. For truly crispy skin you’ll have to leave them under the broiler for a good bit of time, but keep an eye on them. I found the skin to be melt-in-my-mouth tender and I didn’t actually miss not having super-crunchy wings. In fact, it was a nice change. I loved them!
Although not traditional Buffalo wings to a purist, I still enjoyed these slow cooker Buffalo Ranch wings more than I actually thought I would. No mess, no fuss and very tasty. Certainly much easier than firing up a grill or even deep fryer to make a batch of the wings you normally expect.
I absolutely love chicken wings, cooked any way, with any sauce (or without). I love them so much that I created a free eCookbook that is full of my favorite wing recipes.
One thing’s for sure, making Buffalo Ranch wings in a slow cooker really couldn’t get any easier. It was the perfect recipe for my working-from-home lunch. Toss everything in first thing in the morning and at lunch, enjoy some wings!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine American
Keyword Buffalo wings, crockpot, slow cooker
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 3 hourshours
Total Time 3 hourshours15 minutesminutes
Servings 4servings
Calories 291kcal
Ingredients
2poundschicken wingsflats and drumettes separated, tips discarded or saved for making chicken broth
Place the wings into the bottom of your slow cooker.
Combine the wing sauce, Ranch dressing mix and salt and pepper and pour over the wings.
Cover and cook on high for 2 1/2 hours – 3 hours until the meat is starting to pull back from the bones.
Carefully transfer the wings to a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick spray. Place under the broiler and broil until just starting to crisp.
Let cool slightly then serve with Ranch dressing for dipping.
A lot of restaurant signature sauces start with simple, off-the-shelf ingredients. A restaurant near us starts with BBQ sauce and Ranch, just like with this quick fix BBQ Ranch dressing, and then adds a few other ingredients (such as crumbled cooked bacon) to make it different for different dishes, such as for dipping onion rings or chicken wings. They also use it as a spicy version of their house Ranch salad dressing for well, you guessed it, salads.
This quick fix BBQ Ranch dressing isn’t just for salads, though. That’s for sure. I squirted it on a big plate of French fries. Then I dipped grilled chicken wings in it. I slathered it on hot-off-the-grill hamburgers. Heck, it’s great on wraps too!
Just make sure you start with good, quality BBQ sauce and Ranch dressing. And don’t hesitate to use a spicy BBQ sauce, or one with a bit of smoky flavor to it.
This dressing will last a while in the fridge, if there happens to be any leftover. Just make sure to give it a good shake or stir before serving.
A lot of restaurant signature sauces start with simple, off-the-shelf ingredients. A restaurant near us starts with BBQ sauce and Ranch, just like with this quick fix BBQ Ranch dressing, and then adds a few other ingredients.
I love when avocados are in season here. They’re perfect on a salad, be it sliced, chopped or in the dressing itself. This avocado Ranch dressing is quite easy to make. It packs a nice subtle avocado flavor, with the wonderful creamy herb flavor of Ranch. It has a very mild spiciness to it too. You can make it spicier if you like, or leave out the hot sauce entirely. I like my dressing pretty thick, so that’s how I made it. But if you prefer yours a little thinner, just add some more milk.
Avocado Ranch dressing isn’t just for salads either. It’s perfect as a dip, or use it as a substitute for sour cream on tacos or nachos. It’s also great as a sandwich spread. Just make it a little thicker then spread on bread. Add your favorite sandwich meat and boom, excellent!
Feel free to use different kinds of hot sauce besides the ‘usual’. Go smoky, or super hot, or lime-infused… whatever works for you!
As much as I love making and devouring mashed potatoes with pot roast and gravy, I love grits even more. The creamy ground corn has more texture and more flavor. At least, in my opinion. Add some cheese (and a little bit of Ranch dressing mix) and well, these cheddar Ranch grits are the perfect tasting side dish and very, very easy to make.
You can substitute any good melting cheese you want to these cheddar Ranch grits. I like a nice sharp cheddar because I think it goes perfectly with the corn flavors and the Ranch dressing. I think Monterey jack would also work well in this dish. For some kick, go with pepperjack and add a few chopped roasted jalapenos. Or chile peppers. You can also add drained copped pimentos.
I highly recommend that you shred or grate your own cheese at home. Don’t buy the pre-shredded or pre-grated stuff. It has stuff added to it to keep it from sticking together. That ‘stuff’ affects how the cheese melts. Shred it yourself and use the good stuff.
Also try my roasted sweet corn grits. I always keep grits on hand. They’re the perfect side dish for just about any meal.
As much as I love making and devouring mashed potatoes with pot roast and gravy, I love grits even more. The creamy ground corn has more texture and more flavor.
½cupextra sharp cheddar cheeseshredded (or more, if you want )
1tablespoonRanch dressing mixthe dry stuff, not the dressing in a bottle!
Instructions
Bring broth and salt to a boil in a medium pan over high heat.
Slowly stir in the grits.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring often. To prevent the grits from splattering you can place a lid over the top of the pan but do not cover it completely.
Add the butter and stir to melt.
Add the cheese and Ranch dressing mix and stir until the cheese is melted.
Cold weather can sometimes make me ‘cooking lazy’. That’s when I just want to toss a few out-of-the-pantry and out-of-the-fridge ingredients into a slow cooker, turn it on, and come back half a day later to a done dish. Doesn’t mean it has to be all out of a can, but it doesn’t have to all be from scratch either. But it does still have to be good. And spicy. Gotta have spicy and these slow cooker bold ranch pork chops deliver on that. And they deliver on tasty too. Not too bad for ‘cooking lazy’ if I do say so myself!
I served these slow cooker bold ranch pork chops with warmed leftover mashed potatoes. The gravy from the slow cooker is great over mashed potatoes, but I think it’d be even better over grits, so I’ll give that a whirl next time. They’ll be instant grits, though, to keep with my ‘cooking lazy’ mood.
These chops are also great served over a long-time boxed favorite, Rice-a-Roni. Believe it or not, I make a crazy good copycat of it too. It’s really not that hard to make and box, is it ever delicious!
Note: Between the soup and Cajun seasonings, this dish can be salty. I recommend a low-salt soup and making your own Cajun seasoning, cutting the amount of salt in half.
Turn your slow cooker on low.
Whisk together the soup, Ranch dressing mix, and Cajun seasoning in a small bowl.
Visit my other site, For The Wing, for all things chicken-wing!
I do love eating chicken wings. They might be my favorite food. I recently picked up a bottle of Moore’s Creamy Ranch Buffalo wing sauce. It looked good and thick and flavorful. And boy, was it all that and more. Not so thick that it was gloppy, the sauce stuck to the wings just as you want it to. And flavor? Oh man. A nice mellow Ranch flavor that definitely does not overwhelm, with just a hint of spiciness. This sauce is perfect for a party because it’s sure to please all of your guests.
If I’d known just how fantastic Moore’s Creamy Ranch sauce was I would’ve definitely left the Ranch dressing off my plate. You seriously don’t need anything else with these sauced up wings. Just grab a big ole handful of them and a lot of paper towels and get to eating some delicious Moore’s Creamy Ranch Buffalo Wings!
I absolutely love chicken wings, cooked any way, with any sauce (or without). I love them so much that I created a free eCookbook that is full of my favorite wing recipes.
Note: This recipe was developed using the Char-Broil Big Easy Oil-Less Fryer. If you are cooking using the Char-Broil Smoker-Roaster Grill you should cook with the lid open and the temperature set to High. You might also need to adjust the cooking time.
I made some fantastic flashback old school BBQ chicken on my Char-Broil Big Easy the other day. It put me in the mood for more BBQ chicken, so I up and made this fantastic Italian Ranch BBQ chicken. It’s like my old school BBQ chicken kicked up big time. You still get that great BBQ sauce flavor, but as a bonus, you get ultra-tender juicy chicken that has marinated in Italian and Ranch dressings. My goodness, it was good!
The original recipe for Italian Ranch BBQ chicken on the Char-Broil Big Easy called for marinating the chicken in the BBQ sauce and the dressings. I was using a BBQ sauce made with molasses. I knew that if it spent a long time over high heat it would start to burn. So, I marinated the chicken overnight in the dressings and then placed it into the Big Easy until almost done. That’s when I brushed the chicken with the BBQ sauce. And it was good.
To make these Italian ranch BBQ chicken on the Char-Broil Big Easy I used a bunk bed basket. It lets me double or even triple the amount of cooking space I have.
Italian Ranch BBQ Chicken on the Char-Broil Big Easy
Welcome to kicked-up old school BBQ chicken. You get that great BBQ sauce flavor, but as a bonus, you get ultra-tender juicy chicken that has marinated in Italian and Ranch dressings. My goodness, it was good!
Course Main
Cuisine American
Keyword BBQ, Big Easy, Char-Broil, chicken, Italian, Ranch
