Ranch dressing
Style of salad dressing
Why this is trending
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Key Takeaways
- Ranch dressing is a savory, creamy American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, and herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion.
- Ranch has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing.
- In 2017, 40% of Americans named ranch as their favorite dressing, according to a study by the Association for Dressings and Sauces.
- History Development The original Ranch salad dressing recipe was concocted in the early 1950s by Steven Henson (1918–2007), a Thayer native working as a plumbing contractor in the Anchorage area, while cooking to feed his work crews.
- Henson served the salad dressing he had created at his Hidden Valley Ranch steakhouse, which became popular, and guests bought jars to take home.
Ranch dressing is a savory, creamy American salad dressing usually made from buttermilk, salt, garlic, onion, black pepper, and herbs (commonly chives, parsley and dill), mixed into a sauce based on mayonnaise or another oil emulsion. Sour cream and yogurt are sometimes used in addition to, or as a substitute for, buttermilk and mayonnaise.
Ranch has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing. It is also popular in the United States and Canada as a dip, and as a flavoring for potato chips and other foods. In 2017, 40% of Americans named ranch as their favorite dressing, according to a study by the Association for Dressings and Sauces. Ranch dressing is most prominently used in the Midwest region.
History
Development
The original Ranch salad dressing recipe was concocted in the early 1950s by Steven Henson (1918–2007), a Thayer native working as a plumbing contractor in the Anchorage area, while cooking to feed his work crews. Henson retired from plumbing at age 35 and moved with his wife Gayle to Santa Barbara County, California, where in 1956 he purchased a guest ranch in San Marcos Pass and renamed it Hidden Valley Ranch.
Henson served the salad dressing he had created at his Hidden Valley Ranch steakhouse, which became popular, and guests bought jars to take home. The first commercial customer for ranch dressing was Henson's friend, Audrey Ovington, who was the owner of Cold Spring Tavern. By 1957, Henson began selling packages of dressing mix in stores.
Henson began selling the dry ingredients in packages by mail for 75 cents a piece, and eventually devoted every room in his house to the operation. By the mid-1960s, the guest ranch had closed, but Henson's "ranch dressing" mail-order business was thriving.
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