Is it Cheaper to Make or Buy Ranch Seasoning Mix?
Ranch seasoning has been a very popular seasoning mix lately and can be used for everything from seasoning chicken to making a cheeseball or jalapeno popper filling. We love the flavor and add it to our pizza dough and on roasted potatoes.
We started out buying the packets of dried ranch seasoning and eventually moved up to buying a large container. After doing my taco seasoning price comparison, it made me wonder if making my own ranch seasoning would be cheaper as well. Let’s find out!
How much does it cost to make your own ranch seasoning?
There are quite a few recipes out there for homemade ranch seasoning, but I found that most of them required powdered buttermilk. Unfortunately, powdered buttermilk is not something that is available at my local stores, so i chose to use a recipe that didn’t require it. (For full recipe from SweetPeasand Saffron, click here.)
| Ingredients | Total Cost | Cost for Recipe |
| 1 tbsp dried parsley | Great Value 0.4oz, $1.00 | $0.16 |
| 1 tbsp dried dill | Great Value .75oz, $1.94 | $0.27 |
| 2 tsp garlic powder | Great Value 3.4oz, $1.00 | $0.02 |
| 2 tsp onion powder | Great Value 3.25oz, $1.00 | $0.02 |
| 1/2 tsp salt | Great Value 26oz, $0.57 | $0.01 |
| 1 tsp black pepper | Great Value 3oz, $3.12 | $0.04 |
| Total Recipe: 3.87 tbsp (About 2 packets) | Total Cost: $8.63 | $0.52 |
Most of these ingredients we probably already have in our spice rack, but if we had to buy them all the total would be $8.63 at my local Walmart. This recipe makes almost 4 tablespoons, and a packet of ranch seasoning is typically about 2 tablespoons.
The cost to make 1 packet of homemade ranch seasoning would cost approximately $0.26.
If you decided to use buttermilk powder, I did find a 12oz container at Kroger for $5.49. If you used 2 tbsp, that would add $0.18 and make your total cost for $0.70. That would be $0.35 for one packet of buttermilk ranch seasoning mix.
How much does a ranch seasoning packet cost?
I decided to cost this out two different ways: individual packets and bulk seasoning container. This will help us determine if buying it by the packet or the larger containers will be cheaper than making ranch seasoning ourselves!
| Ranch Seasoning Packet | Store & Price |
| Laura Scudders 0.5oz packet | Albertsons, $2.09 |
| Great Value 1oz packet | Great Value, $0.50 |
| Stater Bros 0.5oz packet | Stater Bros, $0.99 |
| Hidden Valley 1oz pack | Vons, $3.79 |
| Kroger Salad Magic 1oz pack | Food4Less, $0.69 |
| Stonemill Essentials 1oz pack | Aldi, $0.55 |
| Hidden Valley 1oz pack | Target, $2.29 |
| Laura Scudders 0.5oz packet | Smart & Final, $1.39 |
| Average Cost for Ranch Seasoning Packet: | $1.53 |
The average cost of a ranch seasoning packet at the grocery store is approximately $1.53. Some stores like Walmart came out the cheapest for $0.50 and places like Vons was the most expensive at $3.79.
| Bulk Ranch Seasoning | Store & Price | Cost per 2 Tbsp |
| Hidden Valley 8oz container | Albertsons, $13.29 | (12)= $1.10 |
| Great Value 8oz container | Walmart, $2.99 | (12)=$0.24 |
| Hidden Valley 4- 0.4 pack box | Stater Bros, $7.69 | (3)=$2.53 |
| Signature Select 4-1oz pack box | Vons, $4.59 | (6)=$0.76 |
| Kroger 4-1oz pack box | Ralph’s, $2.39 | (6)=$0.39 |
| Hidden Valley 8oz container | Target, $10.39 | (12)=$0.86 |
| Hidden Valley 16oz container | Smert & Final, $9.79 | (24)=$0.40 |
| Hidden Valley 20oz container | Costco, $11.57 | (30)=$0.38 |
| Average Cost per 2 tbsp of Bulk Ranch Seasoning: | $0.83 |
The average cost of 2 tbsp of bulk Ranch Seasoning was approximately $0.83. Some places like Walmart were much cheaper with a cost of $0.24 and other places like Albertsons was as high as $2.53.
This is why comparing costs at different stores is so important! Not only should we compare different product options, but also lots of different stores.
Is homemade ranch seasoning better?
Homemade ranch seasoning made at home tome just tastes so much better! It actually tastes very fresh and not as muddled and mild as the store bought kind.
Another benefit of ranch seasoning is that you can control what is in it! I like to make a small batch of seasoning according to the recipe first and try it out on something simple like roasted potatoes.
Then I can decide if I like it the way it is, or if I would like to adjust the flavors. You may find that you want yours to have more dill or more garlic powder.
Another great adjustment is to remove or greatly reduce the salt in your seasoning mix. We try to keep salt at a minimum, so we adjusted our seasoning blend to have less salt and a little more garlic powder.
Is it worth making your own ranch seasoning at home?
If we are judging based simply on cost, it is definitely worth making your own ranch seasoning at home! The cost of the homemade seasoning mix was only $0.26 for each 2 tbsp. (That is the equivalent of 1 packet).
The cheapest packet of Ranch seasoning was from Walmart for $0.50, so that is a savings of almost 50%.
Even if we chose to buy ranch seasoning in bulk, it was still cheaper to make our own in most cases! The best buy for bulk seasoning was from Walmart as well, and it came out to $0.24 for each 2 tablespoons. This was basically a tie but the other options cost much more.
If you don’t use ranch seasoning mix as much as we do, then buying a large container may work best for you. We use it regularly so I can make my own every couple of months.
Dry seasoning blends can easily last upwards of 1 year if you store them in airtight containers.
For more cost breakdowns of buying vs making, check out “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Brownies?” and “Is it Cheaper to make or buy Butter?“
