Jimmy John’s Kickin Ranch Recipe

Jimmy John’s is one of the most popular sandwich chain restaurants in the US, formed in 1983 they have since amassed over 2,700 locations across the country and are considered the ‘go to’ place for delicious and filling sandwiches.

Much like Subway, they offer a range of bread, fillings, and sauces that you can pick and customize to your preference.

But a favorite extra that many like to pick is a small tub of their ‘Kickin’ ranch,’ which is a unique kind of salsa that is made with various herbs, spices, and sauces.

People really love their Kickin’ Ranch and will often want to have it alongside other dishes.

This is why today we are showing you how to make Jimmy John’s Kickin Ranch at home so you can enjoy this incredible sauce anytime you want!

How to make Jimmy John’s Kickin Ranch Recipe

This special sauce has been developed by Jimmy John’s over many years to create a perfectly balanced and unique flavor.

It includes ingredients such as jalapeno, BBQ sauce, and ranch dressing to make a sauce like no other.

It works great spread inside a sandwich or burger bun, but it can also be used as a dipping sauce for anything from fries to chicken nuggets.

It also stores very well so you can easily scale the recipe up and make more, then simply store it for later.

Ingredients:

(6 servings)

• 1/2 cup of fresh buttermilk
• 2 tbsp of barbeque sauce
• 12oz of sliced jalapenos
• 2 tbsp of sriracha chili sauce
• 2 cups of ranch dressing
• pinch of salt
• pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

This is an exceptionally easy sauce to make, only requiring 10 minutes of cooking time.

This means you can whip this up almost anytime and use it for lots of different meals.

Most of the ingredients are combined together in a blender too so there’s not even much washing up to do!

Depending on your preference there are also a lot of opportunities to change up and swap out the spices to give it a different flavor profile.

So don’t be afraid to get creative with things!

Step 1:

Take the sliced jalapenos and place them into a blender.

Blend them until they have created a smooth paste with no noticeable bits.

Step 2:

Next, we take the barbeque sauce, sriracha sauce, and ranch dressing and add this to the blended jalapenos.

Continue to blend these together for another minute to make sure they’re thoroughly mixed and those jalapenos are ‘extra’ broken down.

Step 3:

Once they are adequately blended, throw in a pinch of salt and ground black pepper.

Pulse the blender to incorporate these in.

Then add the buttermilk and continue to pulse it until that’s also adequately incorporated.

Step 4:

Transfer everything into the desired serving pot or bowl and it’s ready! You can serve it right away or let it chill in the fridge for later.

Ingredients substitutions

The fundamental of this sauce is essentially buttermilk, barbeque sauce, and ranch dressing.

As long as you have those 3 primary ingredients you are free to get playful with the herbs and spices.

Here are a few of our top substitutions you can use to get creative with your sauce.

1. Chili powder and garlic paste

If you are either not a fan of sriracha or simply don’t have access to it, a fantastic alternative is to use 1 teaspoon of red chili powder and 1 teaspoon of garlic paste in place of the 2 tablespoons of sriracha chili sauce.

This will mellow the taste out a little, but provide that nice savory tartness from the garlic powder, while the chili powder still provides a certain amount of kick so the sauce doesn’t become too wimpy.

2. Green Cherry Pepper

Much in the same vein, if you either don’t have access to or simply don’t like the taste of the jalapenos, replace them with an equal amount of sliced green cherry peppers.

It’ll retain much of the bite that the jalapenos offer, but with a slightly smoother taste.

They also blend up in a very similar way so you won’t notice much difference in terms of texture either.

3. Buttermilk powder

Not everyone has buttermilk at hand, so rather than buying some specifically for this recipe, you can buy yourself some buttermilk powder, which will keep for much longer.

You can simply return it to a liquid state by adding water based on the instructions on the packet.

This will provide that same rich and creamy texture that we are using the buttermilk for, but now it’s much easier to store and will also keep for longer.

4. Vegan sour cream and water

But what if I need a vegan option? There are many vegan-based substitutions for buttermilk which include soy milk or tofu combined with acid and water.

Our favorite for this kind of sauce is actually a vegan sour cream with some water.

To make 1 cup of it you use 1/2 a cup of water along with 1/2 of vegan sour cream, then stir them together before adding to the blender with the other ingredients.

What’s nice is that you have more control over the thickness of the sauce as you can simply adjust the volume of water you use without changing the flavor in any noticeable way.

What to serve with Jimmy John’s Kickin Ranch

This sauce is served as a side dish at Jimmy John’s and is intended to be used alongside pretty much everything on their menu, whether it be spread onto a delicious sandwich or kept aside as a delicious dipping sauce.

The choices are endless! Here are a few of our top picks to give you some ideas.

Subs and sandwiches

This sauce really enhances any kind of sliced meat such as ham or salami, or even things like shredded turkey and pulled pork.

This makes it the perfect thing to add to any kind of homemade sub or sandwich.

Simply drizzle it straight from the container across the fillings.

Omelets

If you want to take your omelet game up a notch, as you are beating your eggs drop a few teaspoons of this sauce in there and it’s going to take your breakfast up to the next level.

You can also finish the omelet first and use the back of a tablespoon to coat the surface of the egg in the sauce, then roll it up to make a delicious egg roll.

Relish for chips

Not everything you have with this sauce needs to be a filling meal, it can also help enhance snacks and treats too.

Any kind of chips, whether they be fried, baked, made from potato, sweet potato, or zucchini.

Giving them a dunk in this delicious sauce is going to make them taste that much better.

Salad dressing

While it’s commonplace to use a nice vinegary sauce to inject some flavor into your salad, try a few teaspoons of this sauce.

Its slightly spicy edge is going to breathe a new lease of life into things such as lettuce and tuna salad.

How to store Jimmy John’s Kickin Ranch

Ranch dressing can store for quite a while in the fridge, so don’t be afraid to make a good-sized batch and keep some for later.

In many cases, it’s actually best served chilled so it makes it very convenient to just grab it from the fridge at a moment’s notice.

Store in the fridge

To keep it as fresh as possible it needs to be stored in an airtight container.

While things like plastic Tupperware can work, it’s oftentimes not the most convenient thing to serve the sauce in.

If you have a mason jar with a nice lid on, that will work perfectly.

Once stored in the fridge it will keep nice and fresh for up to two weeks.

Store in the freezer

If for any reason you needed to keep it for longer it’s perfectly ok to freeze.

But do keep in mind that as it thaws the texture and consistency can often change, as well as the water might separate from the ingredients so you’ll need to give it a good stir.