I am SO excited about this post I can hardly stand it! I hope this post will save you as much $$ as it will me. I spent the entire afternoon today playing in my kitchen with spices up to my elbows. I think I have officially solved our problem of ever having to purchase dry seasoning mixes again. Not only dry seasoning mixes, but store bought salad dressings. I think I have come up with three amazing recipes for a homemade ranch dressing mix, Italian dressing mix and homemade taco seasoning (SO much better than store bought). I am so thrilled to share these with you. I calculated that homemade mixes are pennies per ounce compared to the packets you can buy at the store. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as I have! (These dressing mixes also have the added bonus of being MUCH healthier for you–no MSG, no dextose, maltose, etc., ALL ‘real’ spices and seasonings)
As you can tell from my kitchen counter today, this was quite the undertaking. I had to test and re-test all of the recipes until I think I have them just right. My stomach is chuck full of carrots and dip! (Don’t worry, your kitchen won’t have to look like this, I have done all of the messy work for you 😉
Here are the seasonings that I used today to make up all three of the seasoning/dressing mixes. There are no unusual spices that you probably don’t already have in your pantry. I would recommend making up a large batch of these seasoning mixes (the amounts I have below will fill up a small jar) and then you can use them by the tablespoons as needed. Most of the seasonings I purchased at Walmart or Maceys in their .50-$1 spice section. I have found these most of the time are less per ounce than Costco. If you have a Winco near you, I hear their bulk spices are even less per ounce than these spices, so go stock up on your favorites there. Bulk spices would work perfectly when putting together large amounts of these seasoning mixes.


- 8 T. dried parsley
- 2 T. dried minced onion
- 1 T. dried chives (optional, but gives it a good scallion/green onion flavor)
- 2 T. black pepper
- 2 T. garlic powder
- 1 t. paprika
- 2 t. thyme
- 2 t. oregano
- 3 t. salt
- 2 t. seasoning salt
- 2 t. dried dill
- 1/2 t. cayenne pepper
- 1/2 c. mayonnaise (good quality--not lowfat)
- 1/2 c. sour cream
- 1 t. lemon juice
- 1 T. ranch dry mix
- Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth (you will want to do this or it will be too chunky with all of the parsley). Store in a cool, dry place.
- Combine all of the ingredients together and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. If you want ranch dressing, just add buttermilk or milk to your desired consistency is achieved--you may need a pinch more salt once you thin it out.


- 2 T. garlic salt or powder
- 2 T. dried minced onion
- 2 T. sugar
- 4 T. dried oregano
- 2 t. black pepper
- 1 t. dried thyme
- 2 t. dried basil
- 2 T. dried parsley
- 1/2 t. celery salt
- 4 T. salt
- 1/2 t. paprika
- 1/4 + 2 T. white vinegar
- 2/3 c. canola or vegetable oil
- 2 T. water
- 1 1/2 T. dry Italian Seasoning Mix
- Italian Seasoning Dressing Mix: Place all ingredients into a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Store in a cool, dry place.
- Italian Salad Dressing: Blend or whisk together until smooth. Serve over your favorite salads.


- 6 T. dried minced onion
- 2 1/2 T. salt
- 2 T. chili powder
- 1 1/2 T. flour or cornstarch
- 2 t. red pepper flakes
- 2 t. garlic powder
- 1 t. oregano
- 2 T. cumin
- 2 lbs. lean ground beef or turkey
- 2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce
- 2 T. taco seasoning mix (above)
- 3 T. brown sugar
- 3 T. sour cream
- 1/2 c. sour cream
- 1/2 c. mayonnaise
- 1 t. lime juice Chopped cilantro (optional..can use dried)
- 1 T. dry taco seasoning mix
- Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix: Combine all of the ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.
- Favorite Taco Meat: Brown the ground beef and drain off excess grease. Add the tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and brown sugar. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in sour cream and serve in taco shells or tortillas with all of your favorite fixings.
- Creamy Taco Dip: Combine together and serve with tortilla chips, with bean dips or with your favorite tacos. (I will be blogging soon about our Street Pork Taco recipe that we serve with this dip that is incredibly good!!)
YOu totally rock!!!! Have I told you that lately? Probably not. Sorry. But let me just tell you I LOVE your blog. I wish I could live down there in one of your states so I can take advantage of your deals to meals. Have you considered doing this for Alberta Canada? ; D
Anyway….I just LOVE all that I CAN do from this blog site of yours. It's fun, fresh, and fantastic. Thanks again.
You are brilliant!!! Thank you SO much!!
Interesting and fantastic your recently post . really i like your thought for recipes. colorful recipes and i like Italian Food. nice details shared of food
I'm just wondering if you how you think the cost of making your own taco seasoning compares to buying it at Costco (which is maybe $5 for a large container).
Thank you so much for these recipes. I love the containers you have them in. Could you share where you purchased them?
Good ole' Walmart for $1.97 a jar 🙂
Yes, I still think making your own mixes is less expensive than Costco. If you think you only use a few tablespoons from each spice container (that was .50 each), you could make a huge batch of seasoning for only a few dollars. Not to mention the taste is SO much better than store bought. Store bought taco seasoning to me has an almost metallic flavor. This seasoning is much more authentic tasting and is much more real/natural tasting.
Thanks. I have copied your recipes and posted a link from my blog, the-thomas-tales.blogspot.com
Thanks for your great ideas.
Thank you so much, I'm so excited about these recipes you shared! I even shared it on facebook and told everyone to head over to this blog to check it out! 🙂
VERY COOL post! Thank you tons!!!
I'm so excited! Should these last the same amount of time as the store bought?
Also I have containers I can suck the air out of. Would it be good to have airtight containers?
Thank you for all of your hard work.
Can't wait to try it. I'll post a link to yours on my website about this. Thank you for taking the time to perfect the flavoring because I've tried a few recipes of each with which I've been highly unimpressed. I was just looking for a ranch and taco seasoning yesterday and hadn't even thought of Italian dressing. YOU'RE AWESOME!!! Thanks
You are welcome 😉 Yeah, I am so excited that all of you are as excited as I have been about these recipes.
I do have to warn you, the ranch will not have the exact same flavor as a Hidden Valley packet because it doesn't have all of the MSG, citric adic and other artificial flavors. If you make the ranch without adding buttermilk or lemon juice it won't be quite right. You need something acidic to give it that same ranch flavor.
Also, if you can find or have dried chives, then add a tablespoon of that in the ranch mix. It will give it that scallion/green onion taste that is so yummy. I sometimes will chop up fresh parsley and green onions and add it to my homemade version to make the dressing even better and more fresh tasting.
Hope that helps! Enjoy 🙂
Thank you so much for doing all the work for us! There are so many times that I've not made a favorite crockpot chicken recipe on Sunday because I'm missing an Italian dressing packet. I'm excited to try all of these! 🙂
Do you know one for Onion Soup? The packets are expensive, and I've never found it in bulk. I haven't found a substitute recipe that I like yet.
This is awesome!! Thanks so much.
Love love LOVE this, thank you for taking the time to post it!
Alright…I have become addicted to these homemade mixes. I have found this recipe is WAY too small for my family's needs to I have now begun to four times the recipe and put each one in a quart mason jar. Here are those totals if you want to make a larger batch and save yourself some time in the future:
Ranch Dressing Mix
2 c. Parsley
¼ c. minced onion
¼ c. black pepper
¼ c. garlic powder
1 T. 1 tsp paprika
2 ½ T. thyme
2 ½ T. oregano
3 T. salt
2 ½ T. seasoning salt
2 ½ T. dried dill
2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Italian Seasoning
½ c. garlic powder
½ c. minced onion
½ c. sugar
1 c. oregano
2 ½ T. black pepper
1 ½ T. dried thyme
2 ½ T. basil
½ c. parsley
2 tsp. celery salt
1 c. salt
2 tsp. paprika
Taco Seasoning
1 ½ c. minced onion
½ c. + 2 T. salt
½ c. chili powder
¼ c. + 2 T. cornstarch
2 ½ T. red pepper flakes
2 ½ T. garlic powder
1 ½ T. oregano
½ c. cumin
Oops..I forgot the chives in the ranch recipe. Add 1/4 c. dried chives.
Thanks!
Nice topics & article posted on blog. I like these tips. This is great and important elements in the modern world that mean Italian Seasoning. I have always wanted to know where all the yummy Vegan places were and now i can easily eat out at these place or order in! thanks so much!
Thanks for the recipes of Italian dressing. I just love this particular taste of Sun and Sea which feels like Italian holidays !
very good post thanks a lot for sharing…. Jabong Coupon
How much of the ranch dressing mix do you use to make the ranch dressing?
I usually use about 1-2 tablespoons of the mix when I'm making a batch of dressing or dip. Just start with a tablespoon and then taste it and if it needs more flavor, add a little more. You can never go wrong with more flavor 😉