Where Is Hidden Valley Ranch Made? What Is It Made Of?

Where Is Hidden Valley Ranch Made? Probably this question has been stuck in your mind for a while. After all, it is one of the most popular dressings in the world.

Ranch dressing is one of the all-time favorite condiments of America, which is quite strange as it is actually a salad dressing that even surpasses the Italian salad dressing in popularity.

It is an item you would find in every American household; it wouldn’t be a stretch if you say that it is a household name! Why shouldn’t it be? The condiment goes well with everything!

You can have it with your pizza, chips, fries, or salad. It even makes your boring & unappetizing vegetables into something you might fight for! But ranch wasn’t a household name centuries back, it hasn’t even been 100 years since we have this goodness with us.

You would be surprised to know that it was first made in the year 1954, which is pretty recent if we might add.

To begin with, it wasn’t even a condiment rather it was a salad dressing. The brand that made this dressing into a sensation was Hidden Valley Ranch!

It could be said that Hidden Valley Ranch & Ranch are rather synonymous, people know them to be interchangeable and that is the popularity of the brand.

If you are reading this article, you already might know about all this & might have more questions about the brand like Where is Hidden Valley Ranch Made & many more. Do not search further as all your questions are answered here!

Where Is Hidden Valley Ranch Made?

Since the brand name is clearly named after a ranch you might have guessed that is where the condiments are produced and you are quite right.

The hidden valley ranch was initially produced in a ranch named Hidden Valley when the original founder of the recipe was making it.

Kenneth Henson or later known as Steve Henson was the original inventor of the product. He was quite surprised by the popularity of his salad dressing & started a business out of it. It was a start product which brought in a lot of profit.

The production was done in Hidden Valley Ranch owned by him. He & his wife Gayle used to give the boarders on their ranch the dressing with their food.

This is when they came to know about the popularity of the product as the boarders would always ask for taking some of the dressing back home or the recipe.

They started to meet the demands of their customer & actually started a production line on their ranch which would later turn out to be very popular.

But the ranch wasn’t as popular as the condiment itself & unfortunately have to be sold a few years down the line.

But Kenneth & Gayle still continued with the production of the ranch until they eventually sold the business to the brand Clorox, a bleach company.

So, to answer the question of Where is hidden valley ranch made? It could be said that it was once made in the actual Hidden Valley but presently after being taken over by the conglomerate, it is made in two very large factories, in Nevada, Reno, & Wheeling, Illinois.

What Is The Hidden Valley Ranch Made Of?

The original recipe mainly consisted of some herbs, some spices, buttermilk, & mayonnaise, but presently the ranch dressing is made of Vegetable Oil like canola oil or soybean oil, basically, to increase the shelf life of the product the food scientists of Clorox have to substitute the buttermilk with soybean-based product & the canola oil.

It is worth mentioning that the dressing has egg yolk in it which gives it a very creamy texture & enhances the flavor.

The other ingredients are salt, water, sugar, non-fat buttermilk, natural flavors, less than 1%- Garlic (dried), spices, Vinegar, Onion (dried), Phosphoric acid, Modified food starch, Xanthan Gum, Monosodium Glutamate, Disodium Phosphate, Sorbic Acid, Artificial flavors, & Calcium Disodium EDTA for preserving the freshness of the food, Guanylate & Disodium Inosinate.

The product is also gluten-free if anyone has such dietary restrictions, even they can consume it without any fear.

It is an all-rounder, the ingredients of the ranch, make adding it to your salad a good choice since the product is gluten-free & adds to the taste of otherwise bland salads.

Common Questions About Where is Hidden Valley Ranch Made

These are the most frequently asked questions regarding Where is Hidden Valley Ranch Made

Who Created Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing?

The making of Hidden Valley Ranch is a long & interesting story in itself.

The salad dressing was made by Kenneth Henson (he later changed his name to Steve Henson & was known by that name).

It is rather an interesting story of an “accidental creation” that revolutionized the food industry. Kenneth lived in Nebraska & was a cowboy earlier in his life.

Later, to make a great fortune for himself in the west he moved to Alaska with his wife Gayle.

There he worked as a contracted plumber for an Alaskan oil company for three years. The job also included the work of a cook. He was handed the responsibility of cooking for the rest of the crew members.

As he started to do the job, he quickly learned that his fellow crew members had a distaste for vegetables & he has to come up with some new & creative ways to feed them that is how the ranch came to be as it is today.

The concept behind making the ranch was very simple. The main idea was to make a creamy salad dressing for his crewmates that could be made easier with available products in the pantry like buttermilk & mayonnaise.

The idea was a hit. Henson was successful in feeding his crew members the vegetables that they disliked.

This is how Steve Henson gave birth to the idea of the very popular ranch dressing that is enjoyed by millions of people around the world.

When Was Hidden Valley Ranch Invented?

After doing the gig, Henson & his wife moved to Santa Barbara, California where he would buy acres of land to start his own ranch, The Hidden Valley ranch.

They wanted to make a guest ranch for people where they would be provided great home-cooked meals & outdoor activities for fun.

The main idea about the ranch was actually very good but unfortunately, the idea was not executed that well.

Even one of the employees of the ranch mentioned years later that they were living off of peanut butter sandwiches & leftovers from fraternity & sorority nearby which was far away from the concept of homely meals.

The ranch went broke pretty soon but was saved by the Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. It was the only thing going right with the place.

As mentioned before, the guests loved the dressing very much & this led to the turning of the Hidden Valley Ranch (dressings) into a cottage industry.

As the years went by, the husband & wife duo were making a good profit out of their business but ultimately the business was bought by a huge conglomerate named Clorox, a bleach company.

The company bought the business at the price of 8 million dollars in 1972, which was a huge amount at that time.

The investment paid off eventually over time as the Hidden Valley Ranch brought in profits of $450 million in the year 2017 only. Since the brand was bought by the conglomerate the product has gone through a substantial change.

So, the invention of the brand has a very long history, and the Hidden Valley Ranch that we know today has evolved over time from the first time it was made in around the year 1953 to its acquisition in 1972.

It could be said that the original product might have been invented in about 1953 but the brand image was created by the conglomerate after the year 1972.

Is Hidden Valley Ranch Original?

Yes! The Hidden Valley Ranch is the original dressing that was made by the rancher Steve Henson accompanied by his wife Gayle in the 1950s when he was in Alaska.

There might have been the introduction of many new flavors & tastes over the years but the base recipe is the same as the original one.

The sales report of Clorox shows that even the original taste is the most favorable with the customers even after so many years.

It was reported that the flavor packet called “Buttermilk original” or “BMO” was the most liked product among all the others.

Final Thoughts On Where Is Hidden Valley Ranch Made

The Hidden Valley Ranch dressing is one of the most popular brands of ranch dressing in America & it also has a very interesting past filled with cowboys, accidental inventions, takeover by conglomerates.

Actually, it is worth making a movie about! This article tried to capture all the questions that any Hidden Valley Ranch dressing user might have about their beloved ranch dressing brand.

There are a lot of interesting facts & wholesome stories about this brand on the internet. There are different interviews of the owner himself which turns out to be great stories.

Even the product inventor Steve Henson is revered as a great storyteller! If you want to learn more about the brand you could always read more as the saying goes, “World is your oyster, do what you like”!