Copycat Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Recipe

This copycat hidden valley ranch dressing recipe is made with a homemade ranch seasoning mix that tastes exactly like the real thing and is so much cheaper than the store-bought packet. The dressing is a creamy blend of herbs that gives a natural flavor, along with sour cream, milk, and mayo.

Making your own ranch is going to be super simple using my salad dressing mix. The dry mix is life-changing, and you’ll never buy Hidden Valley Ranch Packets ever again! Plus, it’s versatile. We use it in Mississippi pot roast and dill pickle dip. You can also use it to bread chicken wings or add flavor to roasted veggies. 

This is an everyday condiment around our house, but some other ways to use ranch dressing outside of dinner salads are buffalo chicken fries and in our zesty meatballs. It’s also a star ingredient in our not your average layered chicken, bacon, ranch salad. We also like making au jus and Lipton onion soup mix from scratch as well. 

What do I Need for this Recipe?

🥗 Ingredients:

• Homemade Dry Ranch Seasoning Ingredients:
• buttermilk powder – you can find this on the aisle with the dried and evaporated milk with the baking ingredients. 
• Herbs: dried parsley flakes, dry dill, dried chives, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and black pepper – all of these are flavor enhancers that give you that original ranch taste.
• Buttermilk Ranch Dressing Ingredients:
• Milk – regular milk like whole or 2% will work.
• Sour cream – any brand will do. 
• mayonnaise – we used regular mayo. 
• squeeze of lemon juice – brings out the flavors and is a natural preservative.

Optional Garnish:

This ranch dressing can be served on salads, as a dipping sauce with chicken and pizza, or you can use just the seasoning mix to add flavor to almost any dish.

Variations and Substitutions:

• Homemade ranch dip – mix the seasoning ingredients together and stir them into a tub of sour cream. This is an easy recipe that is great for dipping veggies. 
• Greek yogurt – use it in place of sour cream when making the dressing for a healthier option. However, it will taste different than Hidden Valley. 
• Vegan – go with plant-based milk and yogurt, vegan mayo, and maybe a little white vinegar to add the tanginess that buttermilk would usually have. 
• Fresh herbs – fresh can be used in place of dried, but you will need more. Dried herbs have more flavor. 
• Buttermilk – instead of regular milk, try buttermilk. It adds creaminess, richness, and helps with consistency. 

🔪 Instructions:

Step 1: Combine all of the dry ranch mix ingredients in a medium bowl.

Step 2: Whisk in the sour cream and mayonnaise.

Step 3: Slowly add milk or buttermilk to the dressing until it reaches the consistency you would like.

Step 4: Squeeze a little lemon juice in, or more to taste.

SERVE: We like to let the dressing sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using it so the flavors have a chance to marry.

5 from 64 votes

Created by: Stefanie

Copycat Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Recipe

Course Dip

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 5 minutes minutes

16

Use our homemade ranch seasoning mix to make your own Hidden Valley dressing that tastes like the real thing!

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16

Ingredients

Seasoning Ingredients:

• ▢ ⅛ cup buttermilk powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ▢ ½ teaspoon dry dill
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon dried chives or ½ teaspoon finely chopped fresh chives
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon onion powder
• ▢ ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ▢ ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper

Dressing Ingredients:

• ▢ 2% or whole milk whisk a little at a time until desired consistency is reached
• ▢ ½ cup Sour cream
• ▢ ½ cup Mayonnaise
• ▢ lemon juice to taste a squeeze of ½ a lemon

Instructions

• Combine all seasoning ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
• If buttermilk powder is clumped, stir through a fine mesh sieve to eliminate clumps.
• Whisk in the sour cream and mayo. Add the milk a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached.
• Add a squeeze of lemon juice, or more to taste.

Notes

Storage:

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

Notes:

The amounts in this recipe will make 1 oz. of ranch seasoning mix – equivalent to a store-bought packet. You can double, triple, etc. the recipe to make ranch seasoning in bulk.

Buttermilk powder can typically be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store. Look near the dried milk powder, evaporated milk, etc.

Lemon juice and buttermilk give the ranch dressing a nice tang/zing.

If you do not have buttermilk powder available, use buttermilk when mixing up the seasoning into dip/dressing. If you don’t have buttermilk or buttermilk powder, just use milk and add a bit of extra lemon juice. (Or make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup of whole milk).

Adding just a couple of tablespoons of buttermilk (along with the sour cream and mayonnaise) will make a nice ranch dip consistency.

Nutrition

Calories: 119kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 177mg | Potassium: 43mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 121IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 30mg | Iron: 0.1mg

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