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
FWN says
I love this recipe, thank you for posting. I used porcini powder instead of dried portobellos (because that’s what I had on hand and it worked just fine). This makes an awesome ranch dip, it’s now my go-to recipe for parties.
Caroline says
I’m coming back to this after making this recipe. I love it! This is a definite keeper. If you are thinking of trying it, go for it. I keep the powder around now , make my own ranch dressing, and I also sprinkle this on potato chips to make ranch chips. I found the buttermilk powder in the baking aisle of my grocery store. And, I dehydrated some regular mushrooms in my dehydrator.
Diana says
Does it matter what kind of dried mushrooms I use? My grocery didn’t have portobello so I got shiitake, do you think this will be okay?
Carly says
Thank you so much for this recipe! I have a soy allergy, and finding a good quality ranch recipe without soy or msg had me so frustrated I actually gave up. Then, while looking for different recipes I stumbled upon this one. The ingredients were relatively easy to find once I called a couple places, and I actually had most of the spices on hand. I doubled the batch so I won’t have to make more if we like it. Needless to say, I have a batch in the fridge right now. I can’t wait to try it, thank you!
Happy.MoneySaver says
It is so hard to find good recipes that work with allergies. I hope you like this ranch as much as I do!
Kay says
I have made this about 1000 times and my husband and i are sold on it. I leave out the mushrooms and it turns out ok. We are retired and can’t afford them so we don’t add them. The MSG is such a small amount, that it doesn’t bother us at all. Thanks for sharing this recipe it is a keeper. God bless you and keep the great recipes coming.
bret says
Well I was looking for a hidden valley copycat and this one nails it. Well, I have to confess I did use MSG since it really does not affect me and I keep it on hand in our house and use sparingly in some dishes especially stir fry. So, I didnt use mushrooms followed everything and added a touch of msg in place of mushroom. This was perfect! Funny how using the packets or even this recipe tastes so much better than hidden valley sold in a bottle. And this recipe tastes even better than the packets… Thank you for this recipe, its very good so could I could chug it out of the 32oz mason jar I make it in!
Shelly says
I’m vegan so I tweaked this a little and thought I’d share in case anyone else is plant based.. I didn’t add the buttermilk powder but I think you could easily use soy milk pwder if you wanted to. I just didn’t use anything for that. I used dried shiitake (that I blended into a powder) that I got from Amazon.com. I mixed it with Just Mayo brand vegan mayo and unsweetened soy milk and I added a pinch of citric acid to give it a tangy flavor. It worked well.
Mom of 5 says
Love homemade foods that you can leave out all the “junk”. We have a MSG allergy in our family . Great recipe but mushrooms have MSG naturally occurring in them. It may not affect people with mild reactions. Please be cautious with mushrooms if you have an MSG allergy
Blessings to all
Lisa says
Thank you, we do too and I was wondering if anyone else realizes that mushrooms have naturally occurring MSG. Do you just make it it without adding the mushrooms? Does it taste okay?
mary says
Where can i find Buttermilk powder? Do i have to use it?
Happy.MoneySaver says
I think it is pretty essential to creating the perfect Ranch. You can find buttermilk powder in some stores–try the bulk spices!–but you can also find it at Amazon at this link.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0014UH6UM/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0014UH6UM&linkCode=as2&tag=fistofcoup-20
Carrie Kissel says
I have been searching for a good Ranch Dressing that tastes like Hidden Valley minus the chemicals for years. The search is over. Thank you so much. This is delicious!
christina says
Thank you for the recipe. I’ve been on a quest to eliminate certain things but just wanted to see of my taste buds were right and that I was tasting dill and that the green was parsley. Anyway, just wanted to share that and what MAG is (that its naturally in foods that I’m sure people aren’t aware of) : tomatoes, potatoes, mushrooms, and some cheese, and other veggies and fruits. Naturally there. So, if you’re allergic to MSG stay away from those as well.
Kim says
Thank you so much for this recipe! It tastes great and I feel better giving my 6 year old son this instead of the bottled dressing full of preservatives.
Amp says
LOL, so the secret ingredient is just dried mushrooms that are naturally high in MSG. Doh!
Amp says
If you want to really make this recipe sing, try swapping the dried portabella for dried shiitake mushrooms, because they have an even higher MSG content.
Vickie says
I would take the naturally occurring MSG over the science project MSG that manufacturers add to a majority of products any day of the week! You can be sure that what they put in is nowhere near naturally occurring. The fake junk tends to be what have people going into anaphylactic shock in restaurants.
Melanie says
I really like the taste of this recipe, but I am having trouble with the consistency. The first day it is nice and thick, but after that it turns thin and watery. Any ideas of how to keep it thick?
Happy.MoneySaver says
After a night in the fridge I always give it a swift beat with a fork that I feel like gets everything equally distributed. If this is a consistent problem you could add 1/2 tsp unfalvored gelatin when you make up the dressing. Also, I usually add in a little less buttermilk when I make the dressing and then if it is too thick add in more. Try these things and see if it helps!
Betsy G says
My review was for 4 stars!!!!!!!! My finger went to press 4 stars & i hit post comment instead (big thimb small iphone)!!
Betsy G says
This is so close!! I goofed up – even with the recipe in front of my face – bought porcini by mistake (Whole foods, loose bins, eyeballed it, ~4T was $5.00, $99/lb price). They also had the buttermilk piwder, $7.25 – probably 2 cups total in the package. I think the porcinis are more shroomy than portabella … Guessing my next batch will be closer with the portabellas as they aren’t as earthy tasting (in my opinion). Thanks!!!
Caity Sue says
I saw a recipe a while ago for making bulk homemade ranch dressing, but I didn’t save it and couldn’t remember where to find it, so I did a in Internet search. I came across your site (along with others) and I made the base today – yours looked like the best. I still have some of the packet stuff I made in the fridge. When that runs out, I will make this one. I had most of the ingredients, but am fortunate enough to have an amazing grocery store (similar to Whole Foods) 1 mile from my house. They carry a wide variety of dried mushrooms, including the portabellas. I can’t wait to try this.
Happy.MoneySaver says
Let me know what you think! 🙂
Janto2 says
You can find buttermilk powder and mushroom powder on Amazon. Also Honeyville grain carries all sorts of freeze dried veggies, meats, and powders, with NO additives of any kind. my grand daughter is a “Buttermilk Ranch” fanatic…she literally will dip just about anything in Ranch dressing. I am making this today, and will let you know what she thinks.
Sandy Steele says
I just found this blog and happened to check out this recipe! I too have tried many versions of a DYI ranch dressing recipe with no success. Most are either just a simple dill dressing and some just did not taste like the real deal. But I am sold on this one. I had everything in my pantry to make this so I set to work. And was so pleased with the results. The dried mushrooms did the trick! This is the best recipe and the taste and consistency is perfect. I will never buy those small expensive envelopes of HVRD again. No MSG (which makes me congested and my nose runs for at least an hour after consuming) is AWESOME! I have made it my New Year’s resolution to eat healthier and cut out chemicals as much as possible from my diet. I am a new fan to your blog and will visit often!
Happy.MoneySaver says
Glad you like it and that you found the site!
Lily says
I was looking for this recipe! Thanks. I have a fabulous dip recipe I’ve made for years. It’s simple, but I ALWAYS get raves and I get requests for the recipe.
1 Cup Mayo
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 pkg (or 2 TBS of this dry dressing mix) HVRD Mix
Fresh lemon juice to taste (~ juice of 1/2 lemon)
Garlic Powder to taste (~ 1/8 tsp)
1 can of quartered artichoke hearts, drained (not marinated)
-Combine all ingredients. Stir vigorously to breakup the artichokes a bit
-Store in Fridge at least 2 hrs, but overnight is best. Serve with crackers or something equally sturdy that will stand up to the artichoke bits in the dip.
Happy.MoneySaver says
Yum! Sounds good!