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
Tim says
Everything is chemicals.
Everything.
Shelly says
Great recipe. I’d like to give help to any vegans out there…. I leave out the buttermilk powder and I do not sub it with anything else. I tried a batch with soy milk powder once and I didn’t like it. I also buy mushroom powder from Amazon because I tried to do the dried mushroom thing and I just couldn’t get the powder fine enough. When I make dressing i use vegan mayo, a little vegan sour cream and unsweetened soy milk. I make one serving at a time tho.
Shalena says
Thanks for the tips!
Michael mcgillicutty says
Today, instead of extracting and crystallizing MSG from seaweed broth, MSG is produced by the fermentation of starch, sugar beets, sugar cane or molasses. This fermentation process is similar to that used to make yogurt, vinegar and wine. In summary it is a myth MSG is harmful or bad for you. It has less sodium than salt.
Amy McCord says
I’ve been making this recipe for years! It is truly the best tasting ranch dressing mix out there! In fact, it’s even BETTER than the original Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix you can buy at the store. The secret ingredient of the dried mushroom just makes this! I’ve found that any dried mushroom works well in this recipe. I’ve also been giving this as gifts, with RAVE reviews! You should receive a Culinary Artistry Genius Award for this! God Bless You for sharing!
Karrie says
Aweeeee, thanks so much!!! I love this hidden valley ranch copycat so much too!!!
Tara says
What is the weight of mushroom vs 2 T. I am not sure how much mushroom to put in. I only see mushrooms measured in weight.
Thanks for the clarification. I am super excited to try this.
Lynn Erickson says
Looks interesting and am anxious to try. Was wondering if I could substitute some MSG for the mushrooms and if so how much?
Thanks for your help.
Lynn
Karrie says
Ummmmm… I’m not sure! I’ve never used MSG before, sorry!
Camaron says
I just wanted to clarify something. Your recipe says 2 TBSP = 1 packet of dip mix, but the packet is mixed in 16 oz of sour cream, which is 2 cups. Why is 2 TBSP of your recipe mixed with only 1/2 – 1 cup of sour cream? That seems like a big difference.
Lara says
I realize this was posted a long time ago, but… just a side note that the powdered buttermilk does state to store in the refrigerator after opening! So the pantry may not be the safest storage… homemade ranch is SO YUMMY!
Jeremiah Roark says
So I was wondering what you thought about if I substituted and used something like the powdered dmushroom seasoning called Unami from Trader Joe’s? There are other dried powered mushrooms as well. Also how do you measure out your mushrooms? Do you blend them first and just dish out the required measurement etc? I think I missed how to do that.
Thank you,
Karrie says
I don’t have Trader Joes where I’m at so I’m not sure about the mushroom seasoning… usually I take dried mushrooms, blend them in the blender and then measure out how much I need. Good luck!
Shelly says
I buy the mushroom powder from Amazon.
Steve says
Thanks so much Karrie for sharing this. It sure is a great read and so easy to follow through. The recipes are amazing, especially that on salad dressing, and gave excellent results. My vegetables now taste way better than they ever did and i have you to thank. Great job.
Erin says
I came across this recipe while doing a general survey of ranch dressing recipes. Despite the age of this post, I feel obligated to tell both Ms. Karrie and her readers that the reason dried mushrooms make a good substitute for MSG is because it’s not a substitute, at all. Dried mushrooms contain about 1%, by weight, of naturally occurring glutamates, which are perfectly safe to eat. Your body needs glutamic acid to make protein, so these compounds are certainly not toxic. Most of the hype around MSG just doesn’t have any scientific basis. If you’ve tried eating MSG in food that otherwise doesn’t bother you, and you have a reaction to it, that’s one thing. But avoiding it out of fear doesn’t make a lot of sense, particularly given that it occurs naturally in many healthy foods (like broccoli, mushrooms, and parmesan cheese).
Linda Nielson says
Your recipe says 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed for blending 1/2 teaspoon reserved…should it be t tablespoon dried dill weed for blending 1/2 teaspoon reserved?
Scott says
You should do some research on msg, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using it. Flawed studies decades ago have caused years of fud. It’s no worse for you than salt, but because of the glutamate adds a flavor profile that’s hard to beat.
Haleigh says
The funnier bit is that the reason the dried mushroom likely worked is because mushrooms naturally produce a lot of msg.
Paco says
Nothing wrong with MSG. That myth has been blown to pieces ages ago. It is just another form of sodium seasoning. Yes, some people are sensitive to it. But that goes for many ingredients.
I am extremely sensitive to caffeine. Too much caffeine or withdrawal from caffeine will give me a migraine headache. MSG adds great flavor, just use it in small quantities.
Regarding the dressing, all bottled ranch dressings have vinegar in them. Vinegar is a natural preservative.
Karrie says
Thank you!!!
Christina says
I love hidden valley ranch packets (dressing, not dip). it’s the only ranch I like and i’m obsessed with it! But I hate how unhealthy it is. i usually mix the packet with 1 cup dukes mayo, 1 cup whole milk. I don’t like buttermilk ranch dressings, so is the buttermilk powder really necessary in this recipe if i’m using dukes and whole milk with the seasonings? love the mushroom idea! will have to pick some up.
Angelina Webb says
How much powder about do you think the mushroom pieces make? I am starting with powder and am wondering how much I should use.
Traci says
My family’s favorite recipe for ranch mix (outside of dressing of course) is to mix it with cottage cheese and a little mayo. We eat this dip with Frito corn chips. So yummy!! Glad to have a diy recipe for our dip. Thank you.
Lisa says
Mushrooms have naturally occurring monosodium glutamate (MSG), so this copycat may taste similar, but it will also have MSG in it. My daughter gets migraines from MSG so we are looking for a substitute without MSG. Any other recipes without natural MSG from the mushrooms?
Monica says
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have been trying to make an MSG-free version for years. I’m going to try this. How interesting that the mushrooms were a key ingredient. Here is an interesting piece of info: Chaim Gur-Arieh, is the inventor of the Hidden Valley Ranch flavor/dressing (as well as the Power Bar). I think he is a chemist. He now owns an award-winning winery here in Amador County (CA) called C. G. Arie. He and his wife are lovely people. Here’s his blog: http://www.cgdiarie.com/blog/
lainey says
This looks awesome! Do you know of a way to make a dup of the Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch dry dip mix?