When someone mentions the word “ranch” my mind instantly thinks of Hidden Valley Ranch. The flavor of Hidden Valley Ranch is heaven on a carrot stick. I mean, how else would we eat our vegetables? Hidden Valley was the only kind I would buy for years because nothing else tasted the same.
So I wanted to create the mix for myself to save money (those packets are expensive…) and to eat more healthy. Hidden Valley ranch has lots of processed ingredients including MSG and I wanted a more natural recipe. After toiling for many days and force feeding experiment ranch to my husband, I was finally able to re-create the homemade Hidden Valley Ranch mix and am sharing that recipe with you today.
That’s right I said it, the Hidden Valley is Hidden no more. Go ahead. I will wait while you do your happy dance.
I had to solve the problem of the MSG. From looking at the ingredients I noticed there was MSG in the dressing – which is a huge flavor additive. One thing I knew for certain…I did NOT want to have MSG or other nasty chemical or processed items in this recipe. I’m trying to use real foods and make more things from scratch. I tried using spices and buttermilk powder but it never came out quite right. It also seemed every time I tried just adding more salt or spices, it just wasn’t the same. The depth of flavor wasn’t there.
I even called up my sister as a last resort (who is known for her copycat recipe abilities) and she said she gave up on making a copycat homemade hidden valley ranch mix a long time ago. So with great despair I almost gave up. I googled for replacements for MSG and it said there was nothing that works. Some folks mentioned random things like tomatoes, sugar, fish oil, and Mrs. Dash. Mushrooms were also mentioned in passing as something that can add a lot of depth of flavor, so I thought I would try the recipe one more time with dried mushrooms.
Hallelujah. It turned out those dried mushrooms were the secret ingredient that made this work!! And I don’t even like mushrooms. But in this recipe it is delicious and the flavor I needed.
When I perfected the recipe I compared them side by side; the homemade hidden valley ranch mix and the original mixed with sour cream. The flavors were almost exactly the same. I will say that both are pretty salty, so if you want less salt feel free not to add as much. But to get the real exact flavor you need lots of salt.
And now without further ado..here is the recipe for homemade Hidden Valley Ranch mix. May you have much joy, eat more real foods and possibly save money too while making this!
Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch Mix
1/2 cup dry buttermilk powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley, divided
1 teaspoon dried dill weed, 1/2 teaspoon reserved (I used Litehouse freeze dried dill)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried onion flakes (or dried chopped onion)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons pieces organic portabella dried mushrooms
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Directions:
Add all the dry ingredients except the reserved teaspoon of dried parsley and the 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill to your blender. Blend until a nice powder.
Hand mix in the reserved parsley and dill – you want to see some herbs in your mix.
Store dry mix in an air-tight container or jar in your pantry for 2-3 months or in the freezer for 6 months or longer.
To make Hidden Valley Ranch Dip:
Mix 2 tablespoons of dry mix with 1/2 – 1 cup of Sour Cream. Chill for 2 hours and serve as a dip. If for some reason your sour cream isn’t very thick, and you want your dip to really set up thickly add in 1/2 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin.
To make Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for salads n such.
Mix together
3 Tablespoons Dry Ranch Dip mix
1 cup of mayonnaise
2/3 cup buttermilk
Mix together and let sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours (gotta let those flavors deepen). Just to let you know I tried this recipe with regular milk instead of the buttermilk first and it was NOT great tasting. But using the buttermilk it tasted just like the real deal. So keep that in mind…real buttermilk is the key to the dressing.
Other ideas to use your dry ranch mix
After spreading butter on a 1/2 of a loaf of french bread, sprinkle some dry ranch powder on and bake it for a delicious ranch-y style of garlic bread.
Sprinkle some of this mix over your roasting potatoes as a seasoning.
Use 2 tablespoons of dry mix in any recipe asking for dry ranch mix.
DIY Copycat Homemade Hidden Valley Ranch Mix
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry buttermilk powder
- 1 tbsp dried parsley for blending, divided
- 1 tsp dried dill weed, divided
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried onion flakes or dried chopped onion
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp pieces organic portabella dried mushrooms
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1/2 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Add all the dry ingredients except the reserved 1 tsp of dried parsley and the 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill to your blender. Blend until a nice powder.
- Hand mix in the reserved parsley and dill - you want to see some herbs in your mix.
- Store dry mix in an air-tight container or jar in your pantry for 2-3 months or in the freezer for 6 months or longer.
Notes
Mix 2 tablespoons of dry mix with 1/2 - 1 cup of Sour Cream. Chill for 2 hours and serve as a dip. If for some reason your sour cream isn't very thick, and you want your dip to really set up thickly add in 1/2 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin. To make Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for salads and such:
Mix together
3 Tablespoons Dry Ranch Dip mix
1 cup of mayonaise
2/3 cup buttermilk Mix together and let sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours (gotta let those flavors deepen). Just to let you know I tried this recipe with regular milk instead of the buttermilk first and it was NOT great tasting. But using the buttermilk it tasted just like the real deal. So keep that in mind...real buttermilk is the key to the dressing. Other ideas to use your dry ranch mix After spreading butter on a 1/2 of a loaf of french bread, sprinkle some dry ranch powder on and bake it for a delicious ranch-y style of garlic bread.
Sprinkle some of this mix over your roasting potatoes as a seasoning. Use 2 tablespoons of dry mix in any recipe asking for dry ranch mix. NOTE: This recipe makes about 6 Hidden-Valley-Ranch packet sizes worth of dry powder. Each individual pack serves 36 (about 1/4 tsp of mix per person).
Nutrition
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About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Tiffany Degenstein says
How would I thicken the dressing? I would like it hidden valley ranch thickness
John says
MSG is not a nasty man-made chemical. As natural as salt. Link to article below.
Great recipe.
https://apple.news/A_oMHnQEhSy-xEPhdJu6YTg
Amanda R. says
When making the dressing, do I need to use fresh buttermilk, or can I make buttermilk from powder? You say it is “key” (instead of using regular milk), so I want to get this right.
Nan Fox says
Recipe sounds sooo good. Great replacement for packets.
Tiffany Degenstein says
How long does this last in the fridge?
Karrie says
Will be good for about a week!
HiddenValley Recipes says
This is the best recipe and if we add sour cream and mayonnaise with it, it gonna be the most favorite one
Chef says
There is nothing wrong with MSG. A bunch of old racists tricked you into thinking there is.
Caroline says
The campaign against MSG is rooted in anti-Asian xenophobic nonsense. It’s a naturally occurring substance. If you don’t like MSG, you may want to stop eating tomatoes.
E says
Hello, what kind of garlic salt did you use?
Tom says
May I just tell you that MSG has been through out Asia for 1000s of years and as far as that goes your own body produces MSG ( if you don’t believe me look it up)!!!
ploob says
Worstechire sauce and apple cider vinegar are the missing ingredients.
DiAnn says
This is delicious! Just wish I could get calorie and sodium content once mixed with mayo and buttermilk. It is so good I am eating extra salads every day. Thanks for this recipe!
Kim says
I added a 1/4 teaspoon mustard seed to the recipe. It made it a lot better.
Other than that, it is a fantastic recipe. Thank you
Sandy says
Any tips on buttermilk powder substitute? Trying to come up with a dairy free version of the powdered ingredients
Karrie says
Hi, I’m not sure what would be a good alternative. That’s a tough one!
Sandy says
So I left out the buttermilk powder and forgot the garlic salt I used soy milk with vinegar for the buttermilk. It tastes really good. It may not be a total spot on but at least I can have some good ranch now.
Annie says
You might try vegan powdered milk as a powdered buttermilk substitute.
Becky says
Buttermilk powder and mix with buttermilk too? Doesn’t make it too tart?
Karrie says
Nope! It’s perfect!
S Park says
Hi can you clarify the reserved amount please as you state 1/2 teaspoon of dill and reserve 1/2 teaspoon dill which doesn’t make sense. Also what do you use the reserved amounts for Please.
Karrie says
Hi, it’s 1 tsp total, 1/2 added before blending, 1/2 tsp added after blending. I fixed the wording in the recipe to be more clean, thanks for letting me know!
Sara says
Thank you so much for this recipe. I made this exactly like you advised. I did not have mushroom powder, but I did have sliced, freeze dried mushrooms that I measured out 2 tablespoons. Then I powdered them in the Ninja Bullet. Worked great and it added the little something, something to the mix. That is why it is the best I have ever tried. Great job on creating this. I just love it.