Homemade Ranch Seasoning

If you love everything Ranch flavored, you’ll want to start keeping this Homemade Ranch Seasoning on hand.

It’s not just for dressing! Ranch seasoning is fresh and tangy and easy to make at home. You’ll probably have most of the ingredients already, but there’s one specialty ingredient you may have been missing out on.

What Is Ranch Seasoning?

You’re probably most familiar with the dressing or the Hidden Valley packet of ranch seasoning. Homemade ranch seasoning is simple to make with just a few staples like lots of dried dill, chives, parsley, onion powder, thyme and garlic powder. 

When mixed together, especially with buttermilk or sour cream, this blend of herbs and spices create a light and fresh dressing or dip. But if you’ve tried making this at home before and could never get it to taste quite like Hidden Valley, you might have been missing a key ingredient: buttermilk powder.

In addition to the buttermilk powder, the predominant flavors in ranch dressing are dill, garlic, and onion. So if you don’t have the chives, parsley, or thyme, no problem! You can still make a great-tasting ranch seasoning using just the main flavors I listed.

What Is Buttermilk Powder?

Buttermilk powder is the dehydrated version of liquid buttermilk, and it’s one of the important components for making ranch seasoning taste like ranch seasoning. You can read more about buttermilk in my Buttermilk Biscuit recipe. 

The dry buttermilk powder gives the ranch seasoning that tangy, slightly sweet and creamy base flavor, and while you could just mix the herbs and spices with liquid buttermilk or even sour cream, it won’t have the same concentrated tang as the buttermilk powder. 

Buttermilk powder can sometimes be found in specialty grocery stores like Whole Foods or Fresh Market, look by the powdered milk, but it’s most readily available online. Look for buttermilk powder brands that contain only buttermilk so that the true flavor shines through without additives or additional flavorings.

If you don’t have buttermilk powder, the seasoning recipe can still be made without it. It will still taste fresh and herby, but it won’t taste like Hidden Valley.

Using Homemade Ranch Seasoning

My favorite way to use this seasoning is as a rub for baked chicken or fish. I also love it as a seasoning mixed into bread and biscuit dough. 

The possibilities are endless though! Sprinkle some on your popcorn or French fries. Add it to the breading for chicken fingers. I want to hear about all the ways you enjoy it in the comments below.

To make ranch salad dressing or ranch dip, add two tablespoons of the seasoning blend to one cup of buttermilk or sour cream and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving so that all of the dried herbs and spices can bloom.

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