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Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix combines a variety of spices and herbs with dry buttermilk powder.
We are a house of ‘ranch’ fans. We love the tangy, creamy ranch salad dressing, as well as using the dry, ranch-flavored mix for seasoning meats, pasta, and vegetables.
In the months since we shared this Ranch Macaroni and Cheese recipe, Jack set out to create a copycat Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix. It’s easy to make, tastes just like the packets, and it’s budget-friendly too!
Plus – you can keep a jar of Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix on hand in the refrigerator. Then, use it for seasoning your favorite foods, or mix it up into a creamy homemade ranch dressing.
What exactly IS ranch dressing?
According to Wikipedia, ranch dressing was created back in the 1950’s by Steve Hensen who, at the time, worked as a plumbing contractor in Alaska. A few years later, Steve and his wife, Gladys, relocated to the mountains of Santa Barbara, California where they purchased a dude ranch – later named Hidden Valley Ranch. (We know that name is familiar to you!)
Guests at the ranch loved Steve’s dressing recipe, and he started mixing up larger batches of dressing that were sent home with guests and also later offered on the salad menu at a local tavern. The town’s corner store also sold pre-mixed packages of the seasonings – and that business grew into a large, and very successful mail order business selling both bottles of ranch dressing and packets of seasoning mix. Hidden Valley Ranch was eventually sold to the Clorox Company – and now you’ll find it in just about every supermarket and restaurant menu.
Key Ingredients
- Herbs & Spices – Homemade ranch seasoning mix has all of the same dried herbs and spices as the original including parsley, onion, garlic, black pepper, chives, salt, and dill.
- Buttermilk Powder – Dried buttermilk powder also gives this ranch seasoning and dressing mix a distinctive tangy flavor.
How do I make Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix?
- Grind – Place all of the spices and herbs in a spice grinder or mini food processor and grind into a fine powder.
- Mix – Combine the spice and herb mixture with dried buttermilk powder. That’s it!
How do I use Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix?
- Use this mix as a seasoning in recipes such as mac and cheese, or burgers and meatloaf. It’s also delicious sprinkled on roasted vegetables especially potato wedges.
- Or, mix it into a homemade ranch dressing. Combine 3 tablespoons of our dry Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix with 1 cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup of whole milk, and a ¼ cup of sour cream. This will yield about a cup and a half of prepared Ranch dressing. Serve the dressing on salads, or use it as a dip with chicken tenders, chips or sliced vegetables.
Substitutions
- Some versions of Ranch dressing include mustard as well. Feel free to add a ¼ teaspoon of dry mustard powder to the mix for a touch of additional tangy flavor.
- If you prefer to avoid using dry buttermilk powder, you can leave the powder out of the mix, then use real buttermilk instead of milk to make a homemade ranch dressing from this seasoning mix.
How do I store it?
Your Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix should be refrigerated in an air-tight jar or container for up to six months.
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Homemade Ranch Seasoning and Dressing Mix
Ingredients
3 tablespoons dry parsley
4 teaspoons dehydrated onion
1 tablespoon dry minced garlic
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dry chives
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon dry dill
1/2 cup dry buttermilk powder (we used Saco Pantry)
Instructions
Place parsley, onion, garlic, peppercorns, chives, sea salt and dill in a spice grinder or small food processor and grind until a fine powder. (Alternatively, you could use already ground dried spices like onion powder or garlic powder, ground black pepper and a fine sea salt.)
Place in a bowl and add in the buttermilk powder and whisk to combine.
Keep the finished dry Ranch seasoning mix refrigerated. See Notes below for dressing instructions
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Notes
- 3 tablespoons of this dry Ranch mix, combined with 1 cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup whole milk and ¼ cup of sour cream will yield 1 ½ cups of Ranch dressing.
- The entire cup of seasoning mix combined with five cups of mayonnaise, 1 ¼ cups of whole milk and 1 ¼ cups of sour cream will yield 7 ½ cups of ranch dressing.
You may like these other salad dressing recipes:
- Honey Mustard Dressing
- Honey Dijon Ranch Dressing
- Russian Dressing
- French Dressing
- Simple Red Wine Vinaigrette
I just want to be clear… dill, not dill weed correct?
Hi Philip – Dry dill is made from the frods of dill weed. Depending on the brand you buy it might be labeled dill or dill weed. Hope that helps.
Why does it have to be refrigerated if everything is dehydrated or powdered? Thanks Bill.
Hi Bill – The powdered buttermilk needs to be refrigerated after the package is opened – so our mix will need to be too. If you can find a powdered buttermilk that doesn’t require refrigeration, you can use that instead.