The Fascinating (And Country-as-Heck!) History of Ranch Dressing

Can you believe there was ever a time when ranch dressing wasn’t around?

Not only that, but this condiment has only been around for about three quarters of a century. Before the 1950s, American plates didn’t feature ranch dressing.

That all changed thanks to plumber-turned-cowboy Steve Henson. According to the New York Times, Henson — a Nebraska native — was in Alaska for some contracting work around 1950, and he also took on the part-time role of crew cook. Since some fresh ingredients were hard to come by, he came up with a concoction of dried herbs and spices, plus powdered buttermilk.

He fed it to the crew members, and they loved it.

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Food Republic reports that Henson’s stint in Alaska was so successful that he and his wife Gayle were able to retire to a 120-acre plot of land in California by the time he was 35. They named their ranch “Hidden Valley” and opened it to guests as a steakhouse.

Guests’ favorite part of the “Hidden Valley” experience? Henson’s signature dressing. They started taking jars of it home with him. As demand grew, Henson began packaging the dried ingredients and selling it in packets for just 75 cents.

“The dressing pretty much took over the ranch,” Henson’s son Noah told the Times. He recalls filling the seasoning packets on his father’s ranch as a child.

The packaging innovating allowed Henson’s special dressing to reach even more households, and it started showing up on salad bars across America.

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In 1972, Henson sold Hidden Valley Ranch to Clorox for $8 million, and by the early 1980s, pre-made ranch dressing was available in grocery stores everywhere.

The real surge for ranch dressing’s popularity came in 1986 with the launch of Cool Ranch Doritos, which helped transform ranch from a simple salad dressing into a flavor that could be applied to chips, fries, wings, and more.

Today, ranch dressing is a household name, enjoyed as a versatile dipping sauce on everything from pizza to chicken nuggets. We have Henson to thank for bringing ranch dressing to our lives.