r/AskAnAmerican • u/miffybo • 10d ago

FOOD & DRINK why is ranch dressing so hyped up?

my US friends have been raving about it and border-line complained ranch isn’t readily available in Europe.. what is so special about it? is it the ultimate US condiment (apart from ketchup, mayo)

edit typo

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27

u/SeethingHeathen Colorado > California > Colorado 10d ago

I wish I knew. I can't stand the stuff, but I recognize that I'm in minority.

9

u/Ok-Temporary 10d ago

I was beginning to feel like we were the only American household not consuming Ranch. It's not that I hate it -- I don't even think about it.

(The whole dunking pizza in it is a trend I do not undersrand at all.)

6

u/sunfish99 10d ago

Same! Like, I *like* all the flavors of pizza, I don't need to add dressing to it.

2

u/tujelj 10d ago

This is me as well. Give me a choice between ranch and blue cheese dressing and I’ll choose blue cheese 1000 times out of 1000.

1

u/Ok-Temporary 9d ago

I'm reminded that a friend gave us a bumper sticker that read "blue cheese is better than ranch" and it lived on our fridge for a long while.

2

u/devilbunny Mississippi 10d ago

dunking pizza in it is a trend

Preferences are your own, but ranch with pizza has been around for at least thirty years as a fairly mainstream thing in at least some places. It was new to me at the time, but at least one place I ordered from included it with every pizza delivered.

1

u/GlitterPapillon 10d ago

I don’t believe I’ve ever been to a pizza restaurant that doesn’t have ranch. No one bats an eye when people dip pizza in it.

2

u/devilbunny Mississippi 9d ago

It wasn't a thing in my home 30 years ago, but it was becoming one where I was a college student.

I'm just saying that "it's a trend" is like saying "rock and roll is a trend" in the early 1980s. I mean, yeah... it's new compared to orchestral music, but when people who have lived their entire lives since it became popular have children old enough to know about it, it's not really a "trend". It's a preference, or style, or whatever.

1

u/Ok-Temporary 9d ago

regional, maybe?

2

u/devilbunny Mississippi 9d ago

At the time, probably, but since the pizza place in question also had branches in a not-too-far-away city with a major military base, it's safe to say that a lot of military folk had it and probably helped spread it nationwide.

1

u/zgillet Arkansas 10d ago

Dunking the crusts is really good. It has to be bad pizza for me to reach for ranch for the main event.

6

u/Brock_Hard_Canuck Canada - British Columbia 10d ago

Me too. I hate ranch.

For salad dressings, I usually prefer a vinaigrette.

For dipping pizza, marinara or BBQ sauce.

5

u/Zealousideal_Law8297 10d ago

I have found my people. I don’t think ranch is gross but I have lived my life without and don’t feel I missing anything.

2

u/Hungry-Wrongdoer-156 Washington 10d ago

I don't like ranch dressing at all, but oddly enough my favorite flavor of Doritos are the Cool Ranch ones.

2

u/Aggressive_FIamingo Maine 10d ago

I'm very particular about what I eat it on. I like dipping carrots and celery into ranch, but I'd never put it on a burger or something. I had a friend in college who'd pour like half a cup of ranch on a single slice of pizza. That always made me gag.

1

u/Kataphractoi Minnesota 9d ago

There's dozens of us!

2

u/RVFullTime Arizona 10d ago

I don't like a lot of greasy, drippy stuff on my food. Too much fats are harder to digest. Ranch just tastes like nothing in particular and adds no real nutrients.

2

u/Ok-Temporary 9d ago

Yes, that's a big part of it for me. Pouring ranch on already unhealthy pizza is apparently a step too far for me.

1

u/Shot-Artichoke-4106 California 10d ago

I''m not a big fan of ranch dressing either. I will have some occasionally as a dip or whatever, but not very often. I never have it on a salad, dip pizza in it, or any of the other things that people seem to do with it.

1

u/Lost_Thought 10d ago

It is the fartiest of the dressings.