Welcome to week 2 of my AIP seasoning series! I kicked off last week with my favorite Taco Seasoning and today I’m cooling things down with an herb-packed Ranch Seasoning blend that you can use to liven up a whole ranch range of dishes… without all the extra bits and bobs you’ll find stashed in the store bought options out there.
While we’re talking about added extras, here’s the list of ingredients from a pretty popular purveyor of standard ranch seasoning mix. Brace yourselves!
“Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xantham gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum.”
So, to translate: it’s a mixture of grain derived filler, flavor enhancers and potentially gut irritating gums, with a dairy based twist. All in all, a glorified garlic seasoning, really. Sounds… pretty unpleasant, really, if you’re looking to avoid dairy, grains or other food additives. The thing is, there’s really no reason for half that stuff to be in there from a flavor perspective. I mean, dried seasonings are pretty dang shelf stable as they come.
Which means I haven’t monkeyed with the concept of ranch seasoning too much at all, other than to avoid those added ingredients. So you’ll find all the usual suspects in this ranch seasoning blend: parsley, dill, garlic, onion and chives all give that classic, familiar flavor profile. No need to reach for one of those little packets, pouches or packages today.
You will notice I have one little addition that is a tad unusual. I like to add a smidge of nutritional yeast to my ranch seasoning mix: it adds a nice savory note that gives a little extra depth and it has a richness that you lose when you ditch the dairy and can no longer have that buttermilk tang of traditional recipes. Don’t worry, it’s optional and you can skip it if you want. (A side note: If you have a problem with yeast / fermented foods in general or make dietary modifications for MTHFR, you should avoid nutritional yeast; otherwise, it’s fine for AIP in general. You do you, boo. You could also try a non fortified nutritional yeast, instead.)
A couple of other quick notes. I don’t like to add salt to my seasoning mixes because I like to season each dish that I make separately. I find I’m less likely to under or over salt that way; plus, adding salt to the mix is basically a filler and I prefer to have mixes that are straight seasoning, take up less space and are flavor focused. But each to their own! You can totally add salt, to taste, if you wish. As it stands, this ranch seasoning blend will yield you about 1/2 a cup, or 40 g.
I like to simply mix up this ranch seasoning mix in a bowl and transfer it to an airtight container, because I like to fold this into dips for a nice, herb flecked texture. If you want something a little finer, though, you can pop all the ingredients into a mini food processor or spice grinder to give it a few quick pulses. It’ll pour from a shaker easier that way. Just don’t over process it or you may find it gives food a little green tinge, particularly in dips!
I’ll be following this post in a few days with an easy, speedy recipe that uses this Ranch Seasoning mix! In the meantime, we especially like to use it on chicken, folded into coconut cream or avocado based dips, whipped into dressings or even sprinkled over jicama slices for quick little snack. What’s your favorite way to use Ranch Seasoning at home? (Grab the recipe for my Ranch Guacamole here!)
Use this blend here: Ranch Guacamole.
Next week in the AIP Seasoning Series: Persian Seasoning.
Did you miss my earlier AIP Seasoning Series posts?
Week 1: Taco Seasoning + Ultimate Loaded Nachos
This post was included in the AIP Recipe Roundtable.
PrintDairy Free Ranch Seasoning Mix
Whip up this AIP & dairy free Ranch Seasoning blend, then use it on ALL THE THINGS! All of the flavor, but none of the extras that come in those pre-made packets.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1/2 cup / 40 g 1x
- Category: seasoning
- Method: no cook
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp / 10 g nutritional yeast, see notes
- 2 tbsp / 4 g dried parsley flakes
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp / 3 g dried dill
- 1 tbsp / < 1 g dried chives
- 2 tsp / 8 g garlic powder
- 2 tsp / 6 g dried minced onion
- 2 tsp / 8 g onion powder
Instructions
MIX: Add all the ingredients to a bowl and stir through to combine evenly. Transfer to an airtight container and store at room temperature. Give a little shake or stir before using as the finer ingredients can settle to the bottom.
PULSE: This is totally optional, but for a more even mixture, you can pop all the ingredients into a mini food processor or spice grinder. Pulse just a few times for a finer seasoning powder. Don’t over process the mixture or it will have a tendency to turn things a little green!
Notes
The nutritional yeast is totally optional, but helps give the umami that would usually come from powdered buttermilk in traditional ranch seasoning recipes. It’s obviously not quite the same, but gives a nice savory note against all the herbs. If you have a problem with yeast / fermented foods in general or make modifications for MTHFR, you should avoid the fortified varieties of nutritional yeast because of their synthetic b vitamins and added folate; otherwise, it’s fine for AIP.
You could try a non fortified nutritional yeast, instead.
Excellent! Aside from the guac-ranch recipe, what else do you find yourself using this blend with?
It’s my go to for pretty much any chicken dish, roasted white sweet potatoes or cauliflower, or mixed with coconut cream and a little vinegar for a seasoned ‘sour cream’ 🙂
Thank you for all of your mixes. I made them when I started AIP in 2017 and still use them! I just discovered the ranch seasoning is great mixed in my bacon and vegetable stir fries. I usually cook the bacon first, remove it, add some veggies and/or salad mix and cook in the bacon fat. This time I added your ranch seasoning and a little coconut aminos and my non AIP husband asked me to make it again! Had to make some more ranch seasoning and forgot to read the instructions and pulsed it too much! Oops. Still worked great in this dish.
Oh, I am so happy to read this, thank you for sharing with me! It doesn’t matter if you pulse it a little finer, you just might want to use a little less if you’re measuring it out by the spoon as the smaller blend size will fit a little more on per spoon than the larger, more aerated mix 🙂
Whipped this up to use on zucchini chips made in the dehydrator. So good! We were a bit short on the chives (gotta dehydrate some more) so it is a little dill-heavy, but I’m sure the chives balance it out. We are already in full-on zucchini mode around here so we are going to be making looooots of chips this summer, and the ranch flavor is just so good!