In last week’s budget accountability post (counting crumbs) there was a very short trip to Savemart consisting of only three items – black beans, half and half, and a red pepper. Little did you know that there was originally a fourth item…
But it never made it out the store.
In fact, it didn’t even make it off the shelf.
With one look at the list of ingredients, it was put swiftly back on the shelf. I simply could not bring myself to purchase ranch dressing.
You see, ever since I read what was in coffee creamer and started to read (and understand) labels beyond the calorie content, I can’t buy something that I know has hydrogenated oil.
And I’ve tried! I looked at every single brand of ranch dressing on the shelf that day. I WANTED to buy ranch dressing. Some bottles were even granted a second look! But alas, every single one had hydrogenated oils. My eyes browsed the twice as expensive and half the size bottles of organic… but the organic brand didn’t offer ranch.
I know that at some point in time a label will be missed and a box of “something” will end up in our pantry. But if I’m doing the shopping and see that the plastic stuff is there, it won’t be in my cart.
Even bottles at home are not immune to scrutiny. While cleaning out the fridge last weekend, nine bottles of something (dressing, sauces, etc.) had hydrogenated oil as an ingredient. The rule is simple: if it’s listed, the bottle gets tossed – no questions asked. Unopened boxes of food are being thrown away because we would rather lose $1-$2 than risk our health, or even our lives by eating it.
Our lives, and my children’s lives, do not have a price tag.
And now I’m more educated to know not to buy those things in the first place.
I could have sucked it up that day and bought the dressing – for ease, for convenience, for taste – but my conscious won. Instead I walked out the door with those three items and crossed my fingers that my fridge held what was needed to make a homemade version of ranch dressing (even though I truly had no clue what was needed).
As it turns out, the ingredients for homemade ranch dressing were already in my fridge and spice cabinet. A batch of dressing for dinner was easy to whip up and my husband loved it. As simple as it is to pick up a bottle at the store, it’s just as simple to make our own from here on out.
Ranch Seasoning and Dressing (serves 8)
5 Tbsp dried parsley
6 tsp dried dill
6 tsp garlic powder
6 tsp onion powder
3 tsp dried basil
3 tsp pepper
1 salt, or to tasteCombine all ingredients in a glass jar (or bowl) and mix well. Store in a sealed container. Use 1 tablespoon at a time when serving.
To turn ranch seasoning into dressing, combine 1 tablespoon of ranch seasoning with any of the following variations:
- 1/3 cup yogurt (greek or regular) and 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup sour cream and 1-2 tablespoons of milk or buttermilk
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1-2 tablespoons buttermilk
Use ranch seasoning in place of store-bought packets in any recipe as well.
The Pioneer Woman has a recipe for homemade ranch as well that looks delicious. Hers (pictured above) involved many ingredients that are “optional to taste” so it’s up to you guys to visit and try if you’re feeling a little daring. The recipe above is tried and true and since everything was in my pantry, there’s a good chance it’s in yours too. Oh, and it’s really good!
What about you – do you make your own dressings?
Your recipe is pretty close to the one I use. All my dressing recipes can be found at the above link. The bacon & onion is one of my favorites!
Bacon makes everything so wonderful! Sounds like it would amazing on a baked potato!
Bolthouse Farms Yogurt dressing Ranch is the best not full fat ranch I EVER had AND it was weight watchers friendly (45 calories) AND I really really like it. No hydrogenated oils:)
Thanks for the suggestion Melissa! I’ll have to take a look at that one the next time I’m in the store.
I haven’t made my own dressing yet, but I might try this one in the future. My son is allergic to eggs (hopefully he grows out of it) so regular Ranch is out of the question. I like that you have a veriation without mayonnaise.
I’m actually wanting to try the yogurt version as a dip (maybe without the milk, or very little anyway). It makes it so much easier to make your own (and not buy any) when the seasonings are ready to go in the pantry too.
I will be trying this one. Ranch is my son’s favorite dressing. How long does it keep?
My instinct is that it would keep as long as your dairy ingredients are good, but I’m not sure if combining them together would somehow affect that. I’m pretty lax about how long to keep food and usually smell anything that’s been hiding, lol, but I’d say you’re probably safe for a couple weeks at least.
Sounds like a good one – we’ll be trying it
This is perfect. Thanks so much for sharing. We haven’t purchased ranch dressing in over 6 months and i’ve been meaning to find a home=made recipe and came upon this post. Looking forward to trying it!
I discovered these things as well. However, there is more to look for. For example, in most spiced is the seemingly innocent Sillicon Dioxide. You know the little packets that come in your shoes, purses, and even beef jerky? they say do not eat, and their purpose is to absorb moisture – well, that’s sillicone dioxide. I was very frustrated by that too, because I was trying to use spices to make more homemade food. The ranch spice packets have it, for example. That is when I discovered Wildtree. Wildtree uses all natural ingredients in all their products – grapeseed oil, spices,culinary mixes, sauces, breads, desserts. Keep reading and learning, and check out my Wildtree website if you’d like – they have ranch dressing spice mix, and much more!
Thanks for the tip on Silicon Dioxide Elizabeth. There are so many additives that we should be concerned about and that one is going on my list too!
I make our own ranch dressing, and everyone loves it. The only thing is..the mayo. It gives me the heebie jeebies to make my own with raw eggs, so I’ve been using storebought, but there’s a lot of junk in it. What kind of mayo do you use?
I currently have a version of the mayo with junk in my fridge. We don’t eat much mayo (so little that the bottle in the fridge will likely expire before we even use half of it), so I’m kinda just hanging on to it until it goes bad. After it expires, I’ll either make my own or substitute yogurt for recipes. I understand the heebie jeebies though – it’s one reason why I haven’t tossed our current bottle, lol.