Spicy Ranch Oyster Crackers

Ingredients

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Ingredient Notes

crackers – oyster crackers are great for this. Mini saltine crackers or your favorite bite-sized snack crackers would be a delicious alternative. 

butter – we use real unsalted butter. Margarine or plant based butter can be used. 

olive oil – I like to use olive oil any chance I get and it’s great on these crackers. Vegetable oil or canola oil can be used. 

spices – we use the same combination of spices that are used to make ranch dressing mix; garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, dried thyme, dried dill weed, a little salt and then we add a bit of red pepper flakes to give them a little kick.

How to make Spicy Ranch Oyster Crackers

1. Preheat the oven to 250°. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Melt the butter in the microwave in a small bowl, this should take about 30 seconds. Add the olive oil and spices and mix until combined. 
3. Spread crackers out onto the lined sheet pan and drizzle with the spice mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes, moving the crackers around about halfway through. Crackers will start to turn a light golden brown around the edges when they are done.
5. Allow to cool completely, then store in an airtight container at room temperature for up about a week.

Cooking Tip

To melt butter in the microwave without it splattering all over the place and making a mess do it for 20 seconds, and then another 10 seconds. You can also stop it before it’s completely melted and stir it to melt it the rest of the way. I am not a fan of cleaning butter splatters out of the microwave. 

Variations and additions

• All butter or all oil can be used, instead of half of each.
• Black pepper can be added, maybe 1/2 – 1 teaspoon.
• Cayenne pepper would also be a great addition to make these super spicy, anywhere from 1/4 – 1 teaspoon.
• The amount of red pepper flakes used is up to you. Anywhere from 1/2 teaspoon to 2 tablespoons can be used, depending on how spicy you like them. I know that’s a wide range but we like things mildly spicy, and I know some people like them really spicy. 
• Use gluten free crackers to make these. 

Can dry ranch seasoning mix be used?

It can, but the preparation may be different. I tried this by mixing the dry ranch mix with the olive oil and butter mixture and it was a mess. The dry mix didn’t mix into the wet ingredients at all. It made sort of a paste. 

I read on other blogs that it can be done this way, but for some reason it didn’t work for me. Maybe I used the ranch dip mix and not the seasoning mix? Either way, this method is fail-proof. 

I needed these oyster cracker snacks for an occasion and didn’t have time to go back to the store for more ranch seasoning. I went to plan B and that was to make the spice mixture with what I had in my cabinet. It’s a good thing I had all of these spices on-hand. Crisis averted!

So, now I just make them this way every time. These spices are all inexpensive, especially if you buy store brands at Walmart or Aldi. Plus I can control the amount of salt, and this has less. 

If you want to try using the ranch seasoning blend packet you can try to drizzle the crackers with olive oil, butter and the seasoning packet while they are on the sheet pan, or maybe even mix it all together in a large bowl. But, my suggestion is to invest in the spices to make this from scratch.

Make these party favorites too!

Jalapeno Potato Poppers

Mini Salami Cheese Balls

Pepperoni Pizza Egg Rolls

Storage

Store cooled crackers in an airtight container for about a week.