NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Ranch is the best-selling salad dressing in America, and it has been since it took the crown from Italian near the close of the 20th century.
It’s still jazzing up iceberg and romaine. But ranch now competes with the likes of ketchup and other condiments, a creamy dip for everything from hot wings and fried pickles to—perhaps most controversially—pizza.
It’s ubiquitous, a versatile staple of American food easily found in grocery stores, recipes, and on menus. There are entire cookbooks and even a restaurant dedicated to the flavor.
Beloved and maligned, ranch also turns up in the country’s cultural intangibles. It has been labeled the “Great American Condiment,” and less flatteringly, “extravagant and trashy.” Nick Higgins, an executive for Hidden Valley Ranch’s parent company, noted that its nostalgia is a key aspect of its enduring appeal, fostering a strong ranch fandom.
The path ranch dressing took to reach its pinnacle is an American success story. What began as a simple mix by Steve Henson, a plumbing contractor, quickly became a wildly popular product sold by his mail-order company in the 1950s. Hidden Valley Ranch, the dude ranch he and his wife opened, featured the dressing, leading to its mass production after being acquired by Clorox.
Debbie Wilson Potts, whose family owns Cold Spring Tavern, the first establishment to serve Henson’s dressing outside of his ranch, recalls the impact its rich flavor had on her family and customers. Her aunt described first tasting it as an explosive experience: “It took off in my mouth like a freight train.”
Today, ranch dressing stands alongside sushi and arugula in Paul Freedman’s “American Cuisine and How It Got This Way,” and its popularity shows no signs of waning. After 40 years, experts believe ranch has solidified its status in American kitchens.
As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, this story forms part of a recurring series, “American Objects,” highlighting the unique aspects of American culture through food.
