One of my really guilty pleasures is a good ranch dressing or dip. It isn’t hard to make up a batch of dry mix – and frankly, making it yourself is so much better for you. Have you looked at the ingredient list for a name brand packet of dry mix? That will cost you $2-3? Look first at what you could make (and have weeks worth of dry mix on hand!)
Hidden Valley® Buttermilk Ranch dry mix contains: Salt, monosodium glutamate, dried garlic, modified food starch, dried onion, maltodextrin, spices, less than 2% of: guar gum, buttermilk, calcium stearate, natural flavor (soy).
So you are paying for salt and MSG and very, very tiny amount of dry buttermilk. Now then, they tell you to prepare the dressing with buttermilk. Which is one of those ingredients people rarely buy, or have on hand. So instead, make a dry mix using dried buttermilk powder, that is full of onion, garlic, and herbs! It’s easy to make a dressing with just milk and mayonnaise or greek yogurt (I use Trader Joe’s egg free mayo so the youngest son can have it!) Try mine….and you will never, ever be tempted by mixes at the store. The taste is so clean. No weird chemical aftertaste here! You will crave salads, carrot sticks, baked potatoes…pasta salad….and pretty much on anything!
Dry Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Mix
Ingredients:
- 2 cups powdered buttermilk
- 2 Tbsp granulated garlic
- ¼ cup dried minced onion
- 2 Tbsp onion powder
- 3 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
- 2 Tbsp dried dill weed
- 1 Tbsp sea salt
- 1½ tsp ground pepper
Directions:
Add all ingredients into a large mixing bowl, whisk until fully mixed. Transfer into a quart mason jar, store in refrigerator tightly sealed. Note on jar 3 Tablespoons dry mix is equivalent to 1 packet commercial mix.
To prepare dressing:
Mix 3 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise or plain greek style yogurt, whisking until blended. Add in 1 cup milk, whisk until smooth and thickening. Transfer to a pint mason jar, let chill for an hour or two before using. Store tightly sealed in refrigerator for up to a few weeks, shaking well before using. This is a thick dressing.