You Can Thank California For The Dressing Americans Put On Everything

California cuisine is known for being close to the farm. It relies on local produce, fresh flavors, and often simple preparations, celebrating not only techniques and dishes from around the world but also the multifaceted harvest of the state that grows so much of the nation's produce. If one were to imagine a dressing they'd expect to come out of California and dominate the palates of the nation, well, it certainly wouldn't be ranch — but here we are.

That's right, ranch — the creamy dressing ostensibly meant for salads that so often finds its way onto Buffalo wings and pepperoni pizza — was first produced in Santa Barbara, California. We're all processing the shock together. But if you absolutely cannot believe that ranch dressing wasn't born in the Midwest, don't worry, there is more to this story. The unique seasoning was first produced and sold in the Golden State, but the person who developed the recipe was (thank goodness) born a Midwesterner. Unsurprisingly, the Midwest is also the U.S. region that consumes the most ranch dressing.

It was a Black, Nebraska-born cowboy by the name of Steve Henson who first concocted this condiment. Henson was a plumber by trade, not a chef, cook, or recipe developer, but he was clearly a man of taste. The story of his famous seasoning begins with a contract job that took him up to Alaska in 1949 to ply his trade. While there, he also found himself cooking from time to time and fixating in particular on one creamy, tangy, herby sauce.

Now, you could say that ranch dressing was invented by a Midwestern cowboy in Alaska, but the condiment didn't yet have a name and didn't really reach the people until after the Hensons moved to California. The work in Alaska had apparently been quite lucrative for Henson, and after a few years he and his wife, Gayle, bought a property outside Santa Barbara, California. At the time of purchase in 1956, it was called Sweetwater Ranch, but when they moved in, they decided on their own name: Hidden Valley Ranch.

The Hensons operated Hidden Valley Ranch as a guest ranch, renting it out for events. Organizations would rent the space, and Gayle would play the organ and grill the steaks, sometimes upwards of 300 in a single night. Steve Henson, on the other hand, would entertain the guests with stories and, of course, provide the ranch dressing. Everyone who tasted that special sauce at Hidden Valley Ranch was immediately hooked.

Pretty soon, the Hensons were sending folks home with ranch seasoning as a souvenir so that they could share its unique savor with their friends and family. Just like visitors to the ranch, the folks who tried the sauce secondhand had to have more. Before long, the guest ranch business was secondary to the seasoning business, and Hidden Valley Ranch was mailing envelopes of their unique product all over the country.

As the ranch business took off, others began to take notice. In 1972, an unexpected company took a chance on Hidden Valley Ranch: The Clorox Company. In the '70s, Clorox began diversifying its business, largely by buying up other household product businesses, such as Formula 409, Liquid-Plumr, and Kingsford charcoal. Apparently Clorox was tipped off by a food broker as to the success of Hidden Valley Ranch and chose to buy it up for a tidy $8 million (which would be about $61.5 million today). With the corporate muscle of The Clorox Company and the irresistible flavor of Hidden Valley Ranch, there was no stopping this dressing juggernaut.

Ranch seasoning envelopes continued to spread throughout the nation, but the real innovations didn't arrive until the 1980s. In 1983, the first shelf-stable, pre-mixed dressing hit the shelves, making ranch even easier to eat. But many say that it was the beloved chip brand Doritos that first made ranch a national treasure with its Cool Ranch flavor. Regardless of which straw exactly it was that broke the camel's back, it was clearly broken. Ranch was now mainstream.

Nowadays, ranch dressing is everywhere. There are countless articles out there ranking store-bought ranch dressings or detailing which fast food chain has the best ranch — including a few right here on Tasting Table. Heck, for some reason you can even buy a diamond made from ranch seasoning. So, next time you dip a carrot or piece of pizza crust, don't forget to give a nod to Steve and Gayle Henson and the original Hidden Valley Ranch.