National Ranch Day 2023: Date, History, Facts about Ranch

On March 10, celebrate National Ranch Day by putting Ranch on everything. We intend it. Everything. Because, honestly, there is no dish that Ranch does not enhance. Fries? Absolutely. Sandwiches? You sure. What about ice cream? Yeah, maybe. Today only, calories do not count and Ranch is the only law of the land. Gather your friends for a Ranch taste test to determine the best Ranch, experiment with new Ranch-based recipes, or simply use the hashtag #RanchEverything. Read on for some quality culinary information and the history of man’s ideal food.

The background of National Ranch Day

Hidden Valley claims to have created the first Ranch dressing in 1954, on its dude ranch in the Santa Barbara mountains – an idyllic setting for the origin of the one and only ranch dressing. Steve Henson, the plumber-turned-cowboy rancher of Hidden Valley, is rumoured to have founded the property and prepared meals for his guests using a buttermilk and herb sauce.

Steve began to package and send his dressing with guests, but the demand soon became unmanageable. The production of the divine liquid had to be relocated to a larger facility in Sparks, Nevada, when it became available in supermarkets in the Southwestern United States. No longer do acquaintances and neighbours receive home-style seasoning packets to combine with buttermilk and mayonnaise.

In 1972, Clorox paid $8 million for Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, and Kraft Foods and General Foods were swiftly sued for attempting to establish their own Ranch varieties. Clorox was hard at work revising the recipe to exclude costly buttermilk and devising a shelf-stable, non-refrigerable bottled version while fending off imitators.

In the 1980s, Ranch varieties and methods of consumption proliferated. Soon, Cool Ranch Doritos and Hidden Valley Ranch Wavy Lay’s crisps were available for Ranch fans, while taco and pizza-flavored Ranch dressings were available for children. Nationwide, powdery Ranch-flavored seasoning was sprinkled on popcorn. Since Hidden Valley invented Ranch dressing, many companies, including Ken’s, Kraft, Newman’s Own, and Marie’s, entered the market, and we’re all the better for it.

Ranch is one of the most popular and best-selling dressings in the United States and Canada, and it frequently floats above the salad from which it originated. People are continually inventing new Ranch-centric dishes and concoctions, from adding it to fried vegetables to fried cheesecake (we’re not positive about that last one). We believe Ranch merits every accolade it will receive on this special day!

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5 RANCH FACTS THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND

To celebrate National Ranch Day in 2018, Hidden Valley Ranch gave away a $35,000 vial of Ranch encrusted with jewels.

Outside of Canada and the United States, Ranch has a low level of popularity and is largely obscure.

The average American consumes 15 Ranch-dressed salads annually, out of an annual average of 38 salads.

Lester’s Fixins Soda introduced a Ranch-flavored soda, along with other unusual flavours such as peanut butter and jelly and bacon.

In 2017, 40% of Americans named Ranch as their preferred dressing, according to a survey.

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NATIONAL RANCH DAY DATES

Year	Date	Day
2023	March 10	Friday
2024	March 10	Sunday
2025	March 10	Monday
2026	March 10	Tuesday
2027	March 10	Wednesday