This homemade DIY Ranch Mix is so light, fresh and tangy that it will have you swearing off of commercial stuff for life.
It’s almost as convenient as ranch from a store bottle. All you have to do is put a bit of mayo (or other) in a cup, mix in a teaspoon or two of this mix, and you’re done.
Everyone loves it. Even men will reach for second helpings of salad with this stuff on the lettuce.
You can also use it for really healthy dips.
To be clear, this is NOT a canning recipe. Do not attempt to can salad dressings and dips made from this.
The recipe
Yield: Makes 150 g (1 cup) of dry mix.
Ranch Dressing DIY Mix
This homemade DIY Ranch Mix is so light, fresh and tangy that it will have you swearing off of commercial stuff for life.
Ingredients
- 150 g buttermilk powder (3/4 cup)
- 2 tablespoons parsley (dried)
- 2 teaspoons dill weed (dried. Or more depending on taste)
- 3 teaspoons onion powder
- 3 teaspoons garlic powder
- 3 teaspoons onion (dried, minced. Or another 1 1/2 tsp onion powder)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt sub)
Instructions
-
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until the mixture is a fine powder.
-
Store in a sealed container, jar or bag in a cool, dark place.
Recipe notes
- Store this in a basement pantry or cool cupboard. Milk powder does have a long storage life (check the best before date on the milk powder you use), but that can be shortened if exposed to heat or high storage temperatures, which will cause it to go rancid. For that reason, do NOT attempt to “dry can” this. The heat from that will just have the opposite effect of shortening the shelf life. Plus, there’s just no need to.
- You can multiply the size of the batch by 2, 3 or 4 times. In fact, if your audience is a fan of ranch, you will probably end up needing to after your first test batch. If you do, though, mix all in a large bowl first, then blend in batches.
- For the second onion ingredient, the recipe as originally found called for dried onion in two forms, powered and minced (as do most Ranch spice mixtures.) You can just additional powdered if that is what you have and you don’t have minced.
Usage notes
- Dressing: Mix 2 tsp (5 g) with 1/2 cup (4 oz / 125 ml) in total of any of the following, combos are fine: sour cream, mayo, Miracle Whip, regular or Greek yoghurt. Fat-free versions of any of the above work great.
- Dip: Mix 1 tablespoon (10 g) or more to taste with 1/2 cup (4 oz / 125 ml) sour cream.
Increase by a few teaspoons the amounts of dry mix used in dressing / dip if your folk are big fans of Ranch. Or, conversely, use less for a milder taste.
Add milk to thin if desired.
Recipe source
Canning , freezing, dehydrating… food preserving and homesteading group files on Facebook
History of Ranch Dressing
See Cooksinfo for the history of Ranch Dressing.
Nutrition
Per 1 teaspoon (3 g) of the dry mix.
- 28 calories, 24 mg sodium
If using a salt sub, sodium goes down to 13 mg per teaspoon.
- Weight Watchers PointsPlus®: 1 to 2 teaspoons, 1 point; 3 teaspoons, 2 points; 4 teaspoons, 3 points
- Weight Watchers SmartPoints®: 1 teaspoon, 1 point; 2 to 3 teaspoons, 2 points; 4 teaspoons, 3 points
When mixed with something like fat-free Miracle Whip, it ends up being 150 calories per half-cup (8 tablespoons.) Compare that with up to 150 calories for just 3 tablespoons of some commercial low-fat ranch dressings in a jar — and, it won’t taste anywhere near as good.
(In terms of Weight Watchers Points+ / ProPoints, when mixed with fat-free Miracle whip, half-cup is 4 points+, 1 full cup is 5 points+. Compare that to many commercial ranch dressings which are a point a tablespoon.)
* PointsPlus™ calculated by healthycanning.com. Not endorsed by Weight Watchers® International, Inc, which is the owner of the PointsPlus® registered trademark.
Leave a Reply