Monday, January 14, 2013

Homemade Ranch Mix & Dressing




I have been seeing homemade ranch dressing recipes all over the place.  I love the idea!  I just never seem to get it done.  This weekend I decided to tackle it!  Especially after seeing the reviews at this blog post (at the Crafty Blog Stalker) which I saw pinned on Pinterest.

I had all of the spices I need except parsley and garlic salt.  I grabbed the cheapest generic spices I could find, which by the way was not at the biggest box store we all know of! 

I stopped by this big box store because it's closest to my house but WATCH OUT.  This store wanted 20 cents more for their generic spices than for the name brand.  The generic spices were way down on the very bottom rack and I almost had to lay down on the floor to see back in the rack (grr!).  I picked up the name brand spices and headed to the dairy section and they were out of buttermilk - none!  Not a carton to be found.  One more item on my list was less expensive than the generic equivalent and at that point, I had had it!  No more shopping at that place (if I can help it)!  I put my stuff back and headed down to the local grocery story where I found everything on my list, with savings of at least 50 cents per spice for the generics.

OK - enough venting!

I was very excited to try this mix!  We make lots of things with ranch dressing mix packets, like dip, dressing, adding it to potatoes, crackers, etc.  This homemade mix will save lots of money! 

I am happy to say that it is WONDERUL!  We are rather picky about ranch dressing.  We want a savory, salty dressing not the least bit sweet tasting.  This is perfect!  It just has this wonderfully fresh and delicious smell that I cannot describe to you. 

I also think this dressing would be terrific with a little feta or bleu cheese mixed in.  It would also be a great gift. 

Here's how I made Homemade Ranch Mix & Dressing AT HOME MY WAY:

(This mix makes a huge amount and the original recipe made a large amount of dressing.  I wanted to try a smaller amount of mix to make sure we liked it so I cut the recipe in half - for the mix and the dressing.  I still have a whole bunch of dry mix leftover!)

 
Homemade Ranch Mix & Dressing
(I halved this recipe for my batch.) 
Ingredients:
 
Black Pepper ¼ cup
Parsley Flakes 1 1/2 cup
Garlic Salt ½ cup
Salt- 2 teaspoons
Granulated Garlic ¼ cup
Granulated Onion 3/4 cup
Dill Weed 2 Tablespoons
 
Procedure:
  • Combine all ingredients, store in an airtight container. (I used a canning jar - shaking well.)  Makes about 3 ½ cups of dry mix

  • To Make Dressing, whisk together 2 T of mix with 2 Cups of mayonnaise and 2 Cups of buttermilk, 1 ½ Cups sour cream, & 1 t Lemon Juice. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Makes 1 ¾ Quarts  (I only used 2T of sour cream because I thought it looked plenty thick & creamy.)  I stirred well with a whisk until all creamy!  Refrigerated overnight for a marvelous dressing this morning!

I found this recipe via Pinterest at:

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