Homemade Buttermilk Ranch Powder

I make a lot of my own salad dressings. There are a couple of bottled ones that I like, but for the most part, I make my own.

My favorite ranch dressing is one I make using fresh chives, fresh dill, and fresh parsley. It’s so good, and often I forget that most ranch dressings don’t taste quite so…fresh I guess? But sometimes I want ranch, but don’t have the ingredients or the energy to make it from scratch. Bottled ranch is not great, but those packets of Hidden Valley Ranch powders are a good substitute. Except like most commercial seasoning packets, it has a bunch of junk I don’t want.

So I make my own buttermilk ranch powder. It’s surprisingly easy, and really good. You can use it just like you would use those packets. For me, that means making a quick chip dip, ranch dressing, popcorn, or sprinkling on fries or potatoes.

The best part of this is that you don’t need buttermilk to make any of it. How? Dry buttermilk powder. If you’re an avid baker, you may have used this stuff before. It’s a powder that you mix with flour or other dry ingredients that you then mix with water to make buttermilk flavor without having a container of buttermilk left in the fridge for weeks until you finally throw it out. What? That doesn’t happen to anyone else? I don’t believe it. You can find this in the baking aisle of your grocery store or order online.

Since I almost always have this in my fridge (yes, you store it in the fridge, but it lasts waaay longer than liquid buttermilk)I quickly made up some ranch powder when I had a craving for chip dip.

I typically blend this up in a spice grinder to give it a fine powdery feel, but you can leave as is if you don’t mind large pieces of chives. I also use it to taste — for a dip or dressing, I mix some with sour cream and taste. About two tablespoons equals the amount in one packet of commercial seasoning.