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Ranch dressing was one of my first condiment loves (after ketchup, or course), but I had to break up with the store-bought version long ago when I found out that it was hiding things from me. Mainly:
- Vegetable oils
- Sugar
- Soy
- Xanthan Gum
- Modified Food Starch
- Artificial Flavors
- Calcium Disodium EDTA as a preservative
- MSG
Seemed pretty counterintuitive to make a healthy salad and then top it with that list of junk. I found a great alternative to regular ranch dressing (here’s the recipe), but I wanted an alternative to the ranch dressing mix I often used on chicken, roasted vegetables, and other dishes.
A Better Ranch Mix
The ingredient list for that one was even more scary than the bottled ranch dressing and I figured I could make a better real food option. This was the result and it is lovely. We keep a jar in the cabinet for use on veggies, eggs, chicken, or to make dip.
I order all of the ingredients in bulk so I can whip it up whenever we need it. This way, I can also make any other spices we need any time we need them. You can find my other homemade spice blend recipes here.
Some Things Don’t Change
This ranch mix and the ranch dressing are part of our regular meal rotation. I keep the powder pre-made and always add the other ingredients to my Real Plans Shopping List so I can whip up a quick batch whenever we need it.
I’ve noticed that so many things in the world have changed since my childhood, but love of ranch dressing seems to be a consistent part of most childhoods. I just love that I can give my kids a healthier (and more delicious) version these days!
Healthy Ranch Dressing Mix Recipe
Ingredients
- ¼ cup dried parsley
- 1 TBSP dill
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 TBSP onion powder
- ½ tsp basil (optional)
- ½ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in jar and shake to mix.
- Store in an airtight container.
Notes
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
I never thought I could give up ranch dressing (or thought I would want to), but I now like the real food version much better. What I thought was going to be one of the worst/toughest parts of switching to healthy, real food actually became one of the best.
What are the worst and best parts of switching to a healthier lifestyle for you?
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Best: being told i have great hair, skin, i look healthy
Worst: hearing all the comments about my green (or whatever color) smoothies and what they remind people of… and hearing people complain about feeling sick, but choosing not to do anything about it
The best: being the same size as I was before we got married, 7 years and two kids ago.
The worst: people assuming I’m a “dumb nanny” because my belly isn’t flubby (not that nanny’s are dumb, just that people act like *I’m* inexperienced with my own children).
Wow! You should NOT care about that (others thinking you are the nanny).
The Best: feeling good and having energy to do things with my family
The Worst: abstaining from Tollhouse Pie when at my favorite restaurant
I’ve thought about it some more, and I think that the actual worst is:
constantly disagreeing with my husband about what to feed our daughter.
Best: making a few sandwiches made with juicer pulp “bread”, yum!
Worst: Making sandwiches for others with fresh tangy sourdough bread….
best: butter
worst: no more ice cream 🙁
coconut ice cream is wonderful, and okay as I treat I think!
Best–eating cocnut oil, and olive oils!
Worst–no more doritos 🙁
There is a dorito spice recipe out there in the internet world lol it’s really good to, you can put it on anything you feel it would taste good on too (obviously lol)
https://wholenewmom.com/recipes/dorito-flavored-popcorn-dairy-free/
you obviously don’t need the popcorn part just the spice recipe 🙂
Best: Realizing that my home cooked meals put restaurant food taste and quality to shame.
Worse: Explaining this concept to family and friends when they ask us out for dinner and we delcine.
…AND the fact that they just can not seem to understand this concept so they continue to ask, our reasoning for doing it, they think we are strange, they rave about how good the pasta or steak was, and they just refuse to learn the reality of how horrible that food is for them 🙁
Best: it’s a tie between butter on vegetables and being full for a long time after eating healthy meals
Worst: people thinking you’re crazy for drinking whole milk and saying it’s disgusting
Best: Butter and bacon
Worst: giving up Chocolate La Creme cake
Best: A full night’s sleep!
Worst: Giving up cream in my coffee :/