Homemade Ranch Seasoning

Say goodbye to the preservative-filled store-bought ranch packets! This homemade ranch seasoning is so easy to make and will quickly become a staple in your kitchen. 

Use to season chicken, potatoes, or make a delicious dip or dressing to go with your favorite veggies. 

To be honest, I started making my own homemade ranch dressing mix more out of necessity. 

Before last year ranch seasoning packets were a regular in my grocery cart. Well, finding store-bought ranch seasoning packets isn’t as easy as it used to be. At least not for me; it’s hit or miss whenever I go to the grocery store. 

I use ranch seasoning quite a bit in recipes. For example, Crockpot Buffalo Chicken, Sheet Pan Ranch Chicken, Garlic Ranch Grilled Chicken, Healthy Buffalo Dip, and Ranch Potatoes are all recipes I often make that require dry ranch seasoning. 

Since I couldn’t find the storebought packets, I started to make ranch seasoning at home, and it’s become a pantry staple.

I’m glad I did because homemade ranch seasoning mix is easy to make and is better than any seasoning packet. 

Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe

• No preservatives or additives. Even the organic brands still include preservatives in the ingredient list. Making homemade seasoning means you control the ingredients.
• Cheap. Store-bought ranch dip seasoning mix costs between $1.50 – $2.00 a packet. Preparing homemade is less than fifty cents. 
• You don’t need to go to the store. Nobody wants to run to the store just to get a packet of seasoning mix. Who has time for that? This spice mix can be ready to use in less than 5 minutes. 
• Meal prep. Every couple of weeks, make a batch of seasoning mix to use in recipes. I’ll give storage tips below.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients I use for my basic homemade ranch seasoning mix. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that it can be adapted using the spices in your pantry and switching up the measurements, so play around with it and make it perfect for your family.

Buttermilk powder – Some homemade ranch seasoning recipes leave the buttermilk powder out, but I think it’s an essential ingredient for that seasoning packet flavor. Buttermilk powder adds that creamy tang flavor you expect with ranch seasoning packets. 

Of course, buttermilk powder isn’t as standard of an ingredient as the other spices, but it’s easy to find in grocery stores’ baking aisle. You can also purchase it from Thrive Market or Amazon.

How else can you use buttermilk powder? Buttermilk powder is one of my secret baking ingredients, so I always have a container in the refrigerator. I use it in homemade cinnamon rolls, healthy carrot cake, and pancakes. 

Unlike fresh buttermilk, an open container of buttermilk powder keeps in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Ranch seasoning spices include:

• Dried Parsley
• Onion powder & minced onion
• Garlic powder
• Dried dill
• Celery seed
• Dried chives
• Salt
• Pepper

A note about the spices.

• If you don’t have dried minced onion, add an extra teaspoon of onion powder.
• Don’t skip the dried dill. While I don’t see it listed in the ingredients on the store-bought packet, it does add delicious flavor to homemade ranch seasoning.
• Dried chives are a hard-to-find spice, at least in my area. Fortunately, I’ve made the ranch mix many times without it, and it still works great in recipes.
• Most homemade dry ranch seasoning recipes don’t include celery seed. On many store-bought packets, celery seed is an ingredient listed, so I added it to the mix. However, if you don’t have celery seed, then leave it out.
• This recipe makes about 4 ounces of homemade ranch seasoning mix. Three tablespoons of homemade seasoning is equal to 1 packet of store-bought Hidden Valley or Simply Organic mix. 
• Store-bought packets will always include a lot more salt than homemade, so if you add extra salt to taste.

Cooking notes

Use high-quality spice – Just with all recipes, the better the ingredients, the better the recipe will be. My favorite dried spice brand is Simply Organic.

Make the amount needed – This recipe can easily be cut in half or doubled.

Add your favorite flavors – This spice mix is so versatile. You can add cayenne pepper for heat, a little bit of taco seasoning for a southwest flair, cajun seasoning for a cajun ranch flavor, or some parmesan cheese for a cheesy ranch. 

Supplies to make this recipe

• 4 ounce or 6-ounce mason jars
• Plastic Mason Jar Lids

How to use homemade ranch seasoning

I think the question here should be, “what can’t you use ranch seasoning in.” You can sprinkle and stir ranch seasoning into just about anything.

Here are some ideas:

• Stir 3-4 tablespoons into 2 cups of sour cream or greek yogurt to make a vegetable dip.
• Sprinkle on popcorn.
• Add to flour or bread crumbs before coating chicken breasts and before baking.
• Sprinkle on potatoes and vegetables before roasting.
• Sprinkle on eggs or avocado toast.
• Stir into macaroni and cheese and other pasta dishes.

How to make homemade ranch seasoning?

This seasoning is so incredibly easy to prepare. Place all of the ingredients into a small bowl or glass container, and mix.

Add the seasoning mix to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator.

Some recipes call for adding the ingredients to a food processor. This isn’t necessary unless you want all of the spices to be processed into a fine powder. 

How to store homemade ranch seasoning

Put the seasoning mix into an airtight container and refrigerate for six months to a year. 

If you don’t use buttermilk powder, then the ranch seasoning can stay at room temperature. 

Mason jars work excellent for storing ranch seasoning mix.

Have you tried this recipe? If so, I’d love for you to rate this recipe and leave a comment below. We all learn from each other’s experiences. Also, it would be awesome if you could share a picture on Instagram and tag it #organizeyourselfskinny. I can’t wait to see it!