This Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix has an ingredient list you can be proud of! Buttermilk powder is mixed with herbs and spices for a ranch dressing mix that will rival any packet. This recipe yields 1¼ cups or 10 (2 tablespoons) servings.
I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I’ve bought one of those ranch seasoning packets.
Years ago I swore off all types of seasoning packets, sadly including the beloved Hidden Valley Ranch ones. I made that decision, not only because of the additives and ingredients like maltodextrin and “spices” but mostly because it’s simply not good for me. Luckily for us there’s a cheap and healthy alternative called Making It Yourself! Have you heard of this?? 😉 You didn’t see that coming now did you?
With that said, our family is quite smitten with restaurant ranch dressing. It’s always perfectly thin, but not too thin and the way it coats those lettuce leaves is pure perfection. My family is all “how do they make it so good?” and I’m all “I’m sure they use those maltodextrin-filled packets”. Then we stab a forkful of salad and ignore what I just said. Am I always such a downer? Probably.
Dare I say this ranch seasoning is close to restaurant-style ranch? Yes, I might! I think it’s because I can thin it down with buttermilk until it’s just how we like it. Yes, typically when using powdered buttermilk, you can just add water. And I’m not saying you can’t, but I like the extra buttermilk flavor.
here’s what you need to make this homemade ranch dressing mix:
- powdered buttermilk
- parsley (dried)
- chives (dried)
- dill (dried)
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- dehydrated onion flakes
- kosher salt
- coarse freshly ground black pepper
- paprika
- cayenne
To start you’ll need to add 1 cup powdered buttermilk to a mixing bowl.
Then measure and add 2-1/2 tablespoons (dried) parsley, 2 tablespoons (dried) chives, 2 teaspoons (dried) dill, 2-1/2 teaspoons garlic powder, 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder, 1-1/2 teaspoons dehydrated onion flakes, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon coarse freshly ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon paprika and 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper.
In the past, I would make this and add some of the ingredients into a mini food processor and blend them a little before adding the rest. Yeah. That was too much work. Now I just measure it all into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine because it saves a BUNCH of time and less things to wash.
Whisk to combine and that’s it!
How much Homemade Ranch Seasoning Mix equals 1 envelope of store-bought?
You only need 2 tablespoons of this homemade blend to equal 1 envelope. However feel free to add more to your recuse for a zippier dip or dressing.
Next just store it in a container with a tight-fitting lid and refrigerate for up to 12 months!
I really love is that homemade ranch can be made in minutes. Most people don’t have fresh herbs on hand just to make fresh herbaceous ranch dressing at a moment’s notice. That’s why keeping a jar of this ranch dressing mix in the fridge is so brilliant! Now you can whip up a homemade ranch dressing or dip at the drop of a hat.
Enjoy! And if you give this Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!
Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix
Ingredients
FOR THE BULK HOMEMADE RANCH DRESSING PACKET MIX:
- 1 cup dry buttermilk
- 2½ tablespoons dried parsley
- 2 tablespoons dried chives
- 2 teaspoons dried dill
- 2½ teaspoons garlic powder
- 1½ teaspoons onion powder
- 1½ teaspoons dried onion flakes
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
FOR BUTTERMILK DRESSING:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup sour cream, or plain nonfat greek yogurt (see notes)
- 3 tablespoons Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix
- 2/3 to 1 cup buttermilk, or water, to thin out as desired
FOR A DIP:
- 1 cup sour cream, or plain nonfat greek yogurt (see notes)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix
- buttermilk, to thin out as desired
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl; measure and add in the dried buttermilk with all the spices, whisking to combine.
- Transfer the ranch mix into a jar or container that has a tight-fitting lid.
- Store in the fridge for up to 12 months.
Notes
- 2 tablespoons of the ranch mix is equivalent to one packet.
- The nutritional information is for the ranch dressing mix and DOES NOT include the dip or dressing recipes.
- Try making the dip using plain nonfat greek yogurt by combining 3/4 cup yogurt plus 1/4 cup mayo to balance the tanginess.
- It's always to make ranch dressing and ranch dip a few hours in advance to allow the flavors to develop.
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THANK YOU in advance for your support!
I’m lighting up like the fourth of July right now. I had no idea I could make my own ranch dressing mix. The light bulb has just gone on!
And I have so many of these herbs fresh now from growing them in pots. I’m willing to share for anyone who lives nearby =)
It never ceases to amaze me how I can make things like this instead of buying the overly processed varieties at the store. Love your blog!
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for — fantastic!
I’m so looking forward to trying it out. Thank you!!!
We are ranchahoclics in my house! I’ve been on the lookout for a good homemade ranch dressing mix and this will be it. I can’t wait to try it out.
Love making my own salad dressings and seasonings- I do this for taco seasoning as well…those packets of flavor have always kind of freaked me out. Hoorah for 80’s..we are trying to figur out ways to sneak out of the office and soak up some rays!!!!
I always make my own salad dressings, but it is a pain sometime when you’re pressed for time. Love that this is pre-mixed and keeps in the fridge…I think it may become a staple in our house!
Hi Laurie! Thank you so much for sharing this homemade ranch recipe! I’ve been wanting one to use, not just for the dressing, but to use in other recipes! The recipe will be so handy to use. I can hardly wait to try it! Have a great week! Blessings from Bama!
Okay. I’m fiercely loyal to my Hidden Valley but I think I could give this a try. Could you mix it just with sour cream and make more of a dip, I wonder? Thanks for sharing, looks yummy!!
This looks perfect. I love ranch dressing!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! My fiancee loves store bought ranch dressing, but the stuff totally creeps me out! I’ve made your scratch buttermilk ranch with fresh herbs a few times and we both love it. But lately, it’s been just a bit too much of a time investment for me to keep up with (lame, I know.) I try to make as much from scratch as humanly possible, but between a full-time job, part-time grad school, and planning a wedding, I’ve had to compromise on some short-cuts, one of them being a return to store bought ranch. Making my own ranch mix with ingredients that don’t frighten me is a short-cut I can totally live with! Hurray for no more guilt when I pull the ranch dressing out of the fridge!
ps – I absolutely LOVE your blog! At least one meal a week that we make is one of your recipes!
Yay! Thank you SO much! Enjoy Corinne!
This sounds amazingly perfect!
We love homemade ranch dressing but fresh herbs are only available from our garden a few months of the year… Thanks for this easy alternative!
I might even try it with fresh herbs and freeze it…after being processed I don’t think the frozen texture would be an issue.
In pictures you have garlic powder but it’s not in recipe written out looks like you may have put garlic amount with salt and then no 2 1/4 salt hope that makes sense. Thought it was fishy with no garlic lol! Love the blog use it all the time.
Oh my goodness Stephanie! Thanks so much! I’ve made the changes! 🙂
Delicious! I put a little too much buttermilk in for my liking but like you said the icebox adds to it. I had not used Hidden Valley for years, trying other organic brands and then went back to HV but my taste buds said “yuck” so returned it to the store. This homemade recipe is outstanding. Thank you so much, Stephanie!
How much would you say it costs to make this?
We are pinching pennies (whos not right?) right now and I’m excited to have found your blog but I’m curious the “cost” of homemade vs store bought.
It’s hard to say, I only had to buy the buttermilk powder and buttermilk. Together that was just under 5$. Hope this helps
Would kill for somethings that has msg, less sodium than salt with just as much flavor.
Can you store the dressing or would it be same day use?
Hi Ashley! Absolutely! It should last a week maybe two 🙂
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is the best homemade ranch dressing, hands down! I’ve tried a ton of recipes online but end up tossing them all till now. I made the dressing first and I did not like the taste of Mayo, yuck! So, I moved on to the Dip mix and lo and behold! you captured the Ranch Restaurant Taste I’ve always wanted. I added about 3 tablespoons buttermilk to thin it out and it was perfect! The ingredients are quite expensive. Dried buttermilk alone is $12 for (2)16 oz. (on ebay) I have most of the spices on hand except Cayenne and Dill weed which was around $8 each in tiny bottle and I’m sure I can make lots more ranch mix with what’s left. I still believe it is worth every penny! 😉
I bet you could mix this with your avacado dressing instead of mayo for a delicious alternative…
I think you’re a genius! I have to try that asap! 🙂
This looks fantastic!
In the recipe you say that 2 Tbsp of the mix equals one packet of mix, however when you give instructions for making the dressing, you use 3 Tbsp, of the mix, to make what seems to be the same volume of dressing as the packet would, which is the correct amount?
Hi Nikki! Oops it should read 3 tablespoons equals a packet. Good looking out! Thanks! 🙂
I refuse to buy those ranch packets because of the MSG in them, and the bottled HVR has soy and canola oils, which I also avoid. This morning I mixed up the ranch mix and then made the dressing. This is SO GOOD. I can’t wait to eat a salad again. Thank you for sharing this!
Yeah, so MSG is a naturally occurring amino acid and is perfectly fine, health wise.
So many delusional, unfounded, and misinforming comments.
I make this with half mayo and half plain greek yogurt, instead of sour cream. As long as there’s mayo too, it really tastes good.
I have found I cannot have garlic, garlic salt, onion, or onion salt which makes finding a ranch dressing virtually impossible. I am excited to try this recipe and see how it tastes! Thanks for the recipe!
Late to the party but wanted to say thanks for this! I’m making my seasonal pantry order this week and as soon as my dried buttermilk arrives (along with enough other goodies to keep me busy and playing in the kitchen for a long while) I’m making several batches of this. More and more I am having to go back to basics and make the vast majority of food from scratch (while I confess to not being all that fussed about MSG – I have celiac as well as multiple food allergies. I’m blessed with a husband who, while HE has no issues, has gone GF and all the rest free at home so we can always eat together. Because he is such an awesome guy, I’m all the more determined to not ever let him feel deprived of goodies to eat and am always on the hunt for ways to recreate old favorites.) and I think I just fell down an internet hole with your site. I’m taking tomorrow ‘off’ (spent the last few days hauling wood for the winter and my back isn’t thrilled with me!) and I foresee a lot of time rummaging around your amazing blog and taking furious notes for future kitchen playtime! Thanks for such great work.
Hi. I bought the ingredients to make this recipe. After reading thru this again, I noticed when going thru the steps with the pictures, it says minced onion, but in the actual recipe directions at the bottom, it says onion flakes. Are those the same thing? I only have dry minced onion. I couldn’t find onion flakes at the grocery store. Thank you for the recipe….I will wait for your response and then try making it.
Yes, same thing! Sorry for the confusion!
Try adding dried chives to this!
I get raves!
Hi Laurie … So glad I found this recipe. I plan to use it to make ranch-seasoned pretzels, by coating plain prezels with oil and dry ranch mix, then baking in the oven for 5-10 minutes. The recipe below calls for gluten-free prezels, but I’m sure it would work just as well on wheat pretzels.
http://www.mommyhatescooking.com/seasoned-pretzels
Sounds so good, Kathy! I’d love to hear how this worked out for you, with the pretzels! 🙂
Whoops … Forgot my manners … THANK YOU, Laurie!
I just tried this dip, and it is awesome. My husband and I like it better than Hidden Valley Sip mix. The only thing we did differently was one less tablespoon of garlic and no minced onion. Very good. Thank you for sharing!!!!@
I’m so glad, Cherri! Thanks for coming back and leaving a review!
I was also very happy to have a recipe for the base of ranch dressing! I have a question though. When I first mixed it together it was nice and thick. The next morning however it was very thin. Do you have any idea why? I’ve since been mixing it with cottage cheese.
Thanks
Beth
Love this recipe! I’ve tried another online, but this is better. Thank you.
Was wondering if you use Diamond Crystal salt in your recipes or Mortons?
Hi Tim! I started out using Diamond Crystal, but I go through salt so much that I switched to Mortons because I can buy a large box of it. Both are equally great though!
When using buttermilk to thin the dressing (powder) for use, do you need to use store bought buttermilk or will making buttermilk from the powder mix be sufficient? I was just wondering why you would be purchasing buttermilk if you already had it in the powdered form (and can make buttermilk with that).
Great question! Either will do John!
i love the ancho chili ranch dipping sauce at Chili’s quite a bit.
and i found a copy cat recipe on Pinterest for it, which takes 3 tablespoons of
dried ranch mix. so i will be using this recipe.
however i see that there is Cayenne pepper in here, is it spicy? i have crohn’s disease
and i cannot have anything too spicy that is why i tend to stick to the Ancho chili powder
instead. however the recipe i found calls for the ancho chili powder to start with then ends with the ranch mix. thank you for having this recipe for us.
Hi Heather! No it’s not spicy, but feel free to omit it if you’d like. Enjoy! 🙂
I’m excited to make this because golden coral makes their own ranch dressing for their crab salad. Theirs is much thinner than mine and now I can make from your recipe. I love that crab salad. So sorry so many have closed.
I made this. Very nummiez 😛 I also like to sprinkle this on popcorn. Mixing this with mayo n greek yogurt makes an awesome dip too. with whole wheat crackers. So much cheaper and so much better tasting ty for this Namaste.
I will always have this on hand! Thank you.
I love original HVR dressing and can’t wait to try this recipe. What brand of powdered buttermilk do you use? I have some Saco dry buttermilk blend on hand and wondered if I could use that. Thanks!
This is our favorite Ranch dressing and dip. So delicious!!