I’ve tried everything when it comes to making homemade ranch dressing. I can’t even count how many “ranch spice” mixes I’ve experimented with. I’ve made it using yogurt, buttermilk, and sour cream. The thing is my ranch lover (Big A) will have none of them.
She tells me her favorite is Granny’s ranch dressing. And Granny uses the Hidden Valley packets mixed with sour cream. I did that for a while but so much of it went to waste. And the bottled dressings always disappoint! So after a long break from making ranch, I tried a recipe that seemed simple enough but it called for quite a bit of dill. The dressing was way too “dilly” and that’s when it hit me. The type of ranch dressing Big A (and me) likes doesn’t have a ton of spices in it. Then I found this Hidden Valley knock-off recipe on Todd Wilbur’s site and knew I was onto something.
I skipped the msg and upped the dried garlic and onion and decreased the pepper. I refuse to buy buttermilk for recipes anymore because it goes bad so I made my own. The key is it chill the dressing for at least a few hours if not overnight. This was good and oh so simple. And worth the wait.
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup buttermilk
- ¼ tsp parsley flakes
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp onion powder
- ⅛ tsp pepper
- pinch of thyme
- Mix all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake until combined. Store in the fridge.
THANK YOU! Can’t wait to try this recipe out on Ellie. She is obsessed with Ranch but won’t eat any of the ones I make from scratch. Fingers crossed!
Let me know how it turns out!
My fifth grader is a huge fan of Hidden Valley Ranch, so I am definitely pinning this one to try. Thanks Maryann!
I’ve tried so many Sally and this is the closest to Hidden Valley (and the easiest!)
THANK YOU! This is perfect! We just got our two toddlers off french fries and onto these Peas of Mind veggie fries we get at Target (the kids were gobbling them up at daycare apparently) and they keep asking for ranch to go with it! They are twins and the PICKIEST eaters in our family of 4 kids! At least with these they are getting a full serving of carrots or broccoli, and this is the FIRST recipe for homeade ranch that they will eat! I keep this in the fridge now for those total tantrum nights.
Glad it worked out!
I’m definitely going to try ths recipe out for sure,its easy nd simple.I’ve been wanting to make my own ranch dressing from scratch,nd now I can with this easy nd simple recipe,Thnk You! I cnt wait,soo excited.PS my whole family luvs ranch dressing,but already made I’m going to see how they like it homemde nd I’m not going to tell them even my grand babies,they truely luv it!Thanks again…Casandra Morrow from Graham,Nc☺
I hope you likeit. Lately I’ve been adding 1/3 buttermilk, 1/3 mayo and 1/3 sour cream — that makes it a little more thick.