Most ranch dressings rely upon large amounts of MSG to give then their “mouth feel.” I’m interested in Newman’s own because they usually stick to all natural ingredients. It’s difficult for me not to associate ranch dressing with other preadolescent fare. Blue cheese, Roquefort, vinaigrette (creamy or regular) and Italian red wine vinegar dressing (for Greek Feta salads) have ten times the character. Ranch is nice for a changeup every once in a rare while, but that’s all. It’s like processed cheese, something I might eat at home but nothing I’d be proud to serve my dinner guests.
If anyone here has ever worked at a Ryan’s Steakhouse (common in Georgia), I’d like to know the brand of ranch dressing served there.
I think I will procure myself a salad for lunch… smothered in ranch dressing.
Hidden Valley Ranch with BACON!
The PERIOD!! TMI!!! BLOOD EVERYWHERE!! threads were less queez inducing than this one.
:eek:
Blasphemy for sure! On the Pilsner! Have you have had a nice, cold Budvar or Urquell from tap? I’m partial to English ales and bitters myself, but an honest-to-goodness Pilsner is most certainly not flavorless or boring. Unless you’re talking about American Budweiser “Pilsner-style” beer, then you really don’t know what you’re talking about.
But, yeah, I agree with you. Ranch sucks. Gimme a simple, homemade vinaigrette anyday.
Oh that is such bullshit.
Yea, you got me there, pulykamell. I guess I was referring to the puke pilsners we have over here in the states (Budweiser, Miller, and all that crap). Guess I’ll have to try some Budvar or Urquell!
What is ranch dressing? Can anyone tell me what it would be labelled as over here? Can you make it from scratch at home? I’m curious.
Wow… I don’t know how to describe in any terms other than… ranch dressing.
Guess I’m never going to Australia if they don’t have ranch dressing!
You took the words right out of my…fingers.
On the off chance that the Marzetti on the grocery store shelves isn’t quite the same formulation (it happens), you might try to find out where your local restaurants go for their stuff. Around here, Kraft/Craig’s warehouse has a store that’s open to the public, and you can go in and buy big gallon jars of the stuff, along with lots of other restaurant-type supplies. Sometimes you can get a pretty good price for things. Once I found a forty pound case of bananas for a few dollars–I had banana bread and frozen banana for recipes in my freezer for months.
This recipe seems more or less on the mark:
http://fitdv.recipezaar.com/60078?path=0FC159
I’m sure seasonings vary, but the mayo/sour cream/milk (or cream) base is right, I think.
Kraft makes a great 3 cheese ranch, and a cucumber ranch.
Marzetti’s is the best as far as I am concerned.
I eat ranch on salad, pizza, spaghetti, chilli, chicken, hamburgers, brats, french fries, any potato really, any deli sandwich, macaroni and cheese with ranch is great, sometimes on steak, and with all my veggies. Ranch is the dressing of the gods!
Amen, moejuck amen.
First of all, I too, believe Ranch Dressing to be one of the 4 main food groups. (kidding) But first, you must promise not to try and make “low cal” or “low fat” dressing or any other sort of ersatz abomination. There simply isn’t anything that tastes right in a so-called “healthy” version that I’m aware of - ice cream, peanut butter, cookies, dressing, mayo, anything. It all tastes like ass, and don’t think nobody noticed at the get together the other night. They noticed, they were just too polite to say anything.
OK. With that said, I’ve been able to duplicate Kraft Ranch and similar brands very closely, very simply by using Sour Cream, Buttermilk, a bit garlic salt, and a european spice mix called Krauterbutter. Do not let mayonnaise get anywhere near this process. It’s good stuff, but not there.
I like to dip my carrot sticks in ranch dressing. But what’s strange is that they don’t sell ranch dressing at my supermarket. I’ve checked dozens of times, and still no ranch dressing. Weird.
OH Ranch. How I wish I had never, never tasted you. I wonder how many pounds of mine have come from this magic stuff?
There is a restaurant in the Southeast, Harvey’s, and they use a Ranch that is the best, ever. Oh man, it is so good. I think I could eat dirt if you put that ranch on it. I went to a buffet with my Mom the other day and there was a scalloped potato-type dish there that was bacon and ranch, ummm. It disappeared in seconds.
I WISH Ranch would replace ketchup, completely, permanently. And since people have trashed Ranch, this is not entirely inappropriate:
<slight hijack>
Ketchup is disgusting. It stinks, you can smell it stinking a mile away. Gag. And when people get it out of those glass bottles and use a knife to get it to come out, erp. I just about spew. And when they open the little packets with their teeth… oh boy. I just about honk. Or when it is in those plastic bottles, people WILL insist on getting a lot out, and the bottle makes four hundred gross farting noises while they continue to squeeze and squeeze. YUCK!
</slight hijack>
Ahem. But I do love ranch dressing.
Let me apologize for my random capitalization of the word ‘ranch’. I am in a random caps kind of mood at the moment. Hey, why is it called ranch anyway?
Well, I do like to dip my baby carrots in Low Fat Hidden Valley Ranch, but other than that, Ranch Dressing is tha devil. Blech.
Ranch dressing and french fries. mmmmmm!
That said, the best ranch (other than from scratch) is the envelope kind. I can’t stand the bottled stuff as it always tastes ‘chemically’ to me.
What strikes me as odd is Hidden Valley ranch. The stuff in the bottle tastes nothing like the packet stuff. What gives?
The recipe that I use for homemade ranch dressing is off of a jar of Johnny’s Garlic Spread and Seasoning. It’s a blend of spices that you mix into various forms such as garlic bread spread, shrimp scampi, ranch dip, and salad dressing. You can go to www.JohnnysFineFoods.com and order the jar off the web.
The dressing recipe reads:
Mix ½cup lowfat buttermilk,½cup mayonnaise, 2 tsps Garlic Spread and Seasoning, ¼ tsp seasoning salt. Be sure that mixture is thoroughly blended. Pour into a container and store in the refrigerator for at least one hour to let flavors blend. This dressing is incredible.