Homemade Ranch Dressing Mix

We've already found a good substitute for the guacamole seasoning packet.  Are you ready to ditch another packet?  Let's replace that packet of dry Ranch dressing!  I even did all the hard work for you and tried lots of different spice mixes.  This one is it.  I promise.  It's the best one I've found.  It tastes very similar to what you get out of a Hidden Valley packet (or a Meijer brand one, for that matter).  

I've used this mix in a variety of ways, and I haven't been disappointed!  You can mix it with sour cream for a yummy vegetable dip, or with plain Greek yogurt (or half sour cream and half Greek yogurt) for a healthier veggie dip.  Mix it into some mayo (which might defeat the whole "unprocessed" thing we're doing here!) and milk, and you'll get delicious salad dressing!  

Check out the bottom of the recipe for all sorts of options and tips, including how much of this mix you need to use if a recipe calls for "one packet of dry Ranch dressing".  (Believe it or not, so many homemade dressing mix recipes do NOT give you that information!)

One more thing:  I put the spices in the food processor and whirl them around a few times.  I just can't stand the larger pieces of parsley and such that get caught in my throat.  I know, it sounds weird, but believe me, those packets create a much smoother end result than if you make your own spice mix...unless you grind the spices up smaller as I do.

So head over to A Few Shortcuts to find this delicious recipe, and let me know what you think!

This article is posted in conjunction with April's theme, Spring Clean Your Eating Habits.  If you'd like to catch up on any posts you might have missed, head over to the Monthly Themes page to find the previous articles in this series.