Panera BBQ Ranch Dressing

Panera BBQ Ranch Dressing is a Panera Bread copycat recipe consisting of a quick buttermilk ranch dressing mixed with homemade BBQ sauce. A delicious salad dressing to accompany the Panera BBQ Chicken Salad.

My two favorite salads at Panera Bread are the Southwest Chile Lime Ranch Salad and the BBQ Chicken Salad. After I created a copycat for the Southwest Salad with Chile Lime Rojo Ranch Dressing, I wanted to do the same with the BBQ Chicken Salad.

My first step when creating Panera copycat recipes is to look up the ingredient lists from Panera as a starting point. This helps me identify some of the flavors and major ingredients and then I can adjust from there. The BBQ Chicken Salad is drizzled with an Apple Cider Vinegar BBQ Sauce and served with BBQ Ranch Dressing. I started with making a simple homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. Then I made an Apple Cider Vinegar BBQ Sauce. Finally, I mixed the ranch dressing with the BBQ sauce to make this BBQ Ranch Dressing.

The dressing is creamy and sweet with a subtle smoky flavor. It is so good paired with the lettuce, chicken, and black bean corn salsa of the BBQ Chicken Salad!

Recipe Details

Make the Quick Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

A basic homemade ranch dressing often consists of equal parts buttermilk, mayonnaise, and sour cream. I adjusted the amount of buttermilk a bit and added in some common ranch spices, but not too many as this dressing will be mixed with BBQ sauce so I didn’t want competing flavors. I used all dried seasonings to make it easier but have indicated the quantities of fresh herbs that can be used in the recipe card.

I wanted the dressing a bit thicker than I typically like because I knew adding the BBQ sauce would make it thinner.

Make the Homemade Apple Cider Vinegar BBQ Sauce

Once I nailed down a recipe for the homemade ranch, I worked on the homemade BBQ sauce. I went off the ingredients published by Panera. I wanted the BBQ sauce to have a subtle smoky flavor, so I used smoked paprika. I swapped the tomato paste for ketchup to make it a smoother saucer. The water helps thin it out a little bit so it’s easy to drizzle on the salad.

Make the BBQ Ranch Dressing

For the BBQ Ranch Dressing, I simply mixed 1 part BBQ sauce with 2 parts ranch. I thought this made for a good combination of BBQ flavor but also maintain the consistency and creaminess of the ranch dressing.

Gluten Free BBQ Ranch Dressing

This recipe is naturally gluten free! Check your Worcestershire packaging for gluten/wheat. Most brands do not contain gluten.

Looking for More Panera Copycat Recipes?

Check out my other Panera Copycat recipes:
Panera BBQ Chicken Salad
Panera Southwest Chile Lime Ranch Salad
Panera Chile Lime Ranch Dressing
Creamy Tomato Soup
Panera Sonoma Chicken Stew
Gluten Free Broccoli Cheddar Soup

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