Ranch dressing. The enduring legacy of FIFA 2026 World Cup?

[T_R_Oglodyte]

‘Who cares if we lose. I’ve found ranch dressing.’

BOSTON — Over the last week, they say, Logan International Airport’s Terminal E has served as host to a dealer of sorts.

As travelers hustle toward the security checkpoint, they pass a man with a suitcase. And for the jersey-clad among them, leaving the country on the heels of their favorite teams’ World Cup exits, what that suitcase beholds is worth stopping for.

“He had a sign that said, ‘Buy ranch packets here,’” said Alex Bauer, a 26-year-old Germany fan, who noticed the vendor when he arrived at Logan from Munich last week. “I didn’t even know what a ranch packet is then. [But] after being here for a week, I’m going to buy him out.”

“Who cares if we lose,” he went on. “I’ve found ranch dressing.”

Every World Cup acts as a cultural melting pot, introducing an array of visitors to the host nation’s traditions and touchpoints. In 2022, machboos, a Qatari rice-and-meat item, glided its way into the diet of Argentines and Frenchmen alike. When one’s team is competing, its fans must continue to consume, oftentimes on a budget, which drifts them to the true national cuisines of their hosts.

So, yes, cheesesteaks and wings find new fans. As do a New York slice and an oily paper bag of Five Guys fries. But at the edge of each table, what barely registers in the American mind has become both the symbol of U.S. consumption and the hottest commodity in a visitor’s possession:


Ranch.

 

[davidvel]

A family member was schooling abroad in Barcelona and said they had no ranch dressing. We went to visit and brought a few giant bottles. They were king of the dorm.

 

[kanerf]

Every once in a while America produces a hit, even on the world stage. Of course, this just means that the European dressing makers will just start making their own version of Ranch. I remember when I lived in Germany and would get great shrimp when on vacation to Italy and Spain, but alas, no cocktail sauce. Started to take my own.

 

[Cornell]

I've mentioned here before but my daughter was an exchange student to Switzerland in 2019-2020. She lived with a host family. Her gift upon arrival was ranch dressing and Girl Scout cookies. They loved it and it provided an immediate topic of conversation to discuss and to get to know one another.

Her Swiss sister (who was also a teenager at the time) was very interested in canned dough (like canned Pillsbury biscuit dough, crescent rolls, etc). She had seen videos about it and was intrigued and puzzled. When Swiss sister came to visit me here in America a few years later we made monkey bread together. Great memories.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Funny story. Who knew?

Ugh! Much better to make homemade and know what you get. I bet many of the seed oils, preservatives, GMOs and artificial ingredients in bottled ranch are outlawed in EU.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Funny story. Who knew?

Ugh! Much better to make homemade and know what you get. I bet many of the seed oils, preservatives, GMOs and artificial ingredients in bottled ranch are outlawed in EU.

What is your recipe for homemade ranch? I tried one online and it wasn't nearly as good as the powder mixed with milk and mayo.

 

[Cornell]

What is your recipe for homemade ranch? I tried one online and it wasn't nearly as good as the powder mixed with milk and mayo.

I've used the Cooks Illustrated recipe and it's really really good.

 

[Luanne]

Not ranch dressing, but our German aupairs were obsessed with Bisquick.

 

[DrQ]

It's funny, Kraft came up with TSA friendly packets for sale.

If it were me, I'd bring back the Hidden Valley mix dry dip packets where you can mix and thin with buttermilk.

 

[amycurl]

My spouse makes his own ranch. The key is dried buttermilk and fresh herbs—whatever kind we have on hand at the moments


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[CalGalTraveler]

What is your recipe for homemade ranch? I tried one online and it wasn't nearly as good as the powder mixed with milk and mayo.

I substitute avocado mayo for recipe below. Also add tbsp dried onions and a dash of onion powder. I microwave broccoli or fry brussel sprouts and add this dressing on top. Chef's kiss with waffle fries.

https://www.rachelcooks.com/wprm_print/healthy-ranch-dressing

Once I realized how easy and healthy to make fresh, I now make all dressings from scratch. Most bottled are full of preservatives and seed oils.

 

[dioxide45]

It's funny, Kraft came up with TSA friendly packets for sale.

If it were me, I'd bring back the Hidden Valley mix dry dip packets where you can mix and thin with buttermilk.

Bring back? It never went anywhere. I bought a packet of it the other day.

 

[dioxide45]

I find the experiences shared by Europeans visiting the USA for the first time to attend the World Cup to be rather endearing. There are plenty of videos out there. Just watch one on YouTube and they take you down the rabbit hole. It isn't just ranch dressing. They are surprised by portion sizes at restaurants, southern barbecue, free refills on soda, air-conditioning, how vast the country is, how welcoming Americans are, and even the natural beauty.

As for ranch. The bottled stuff is crap. It tastes terrible. A gooey. I much prefer homemade. Now, by homemade I am referring to buying the Hidden Valley Restaurant-Style seasoning packet. I'm sure it has some preservatives and anti-caking agents in it, but who cares. Buttermilk, mayonnaise and some additional seasonings. Delicious. Years ago when we used to go to Outback Steakhouse (we still go, but rarely), I loved their ranch dressing so I found a copycat recipe. It uses that packet and some additional spices. I was considering making it today but didn't want to stop at the grocery store to buy buttermilk.

Ingredients:

• 1 tspn Hidden Valley Ranch salad dressing mix (buttermilk recipe)
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ¼ tspn coarse grind black pepper
• pinch paprika
• pinch garlic powder

Preparation Instructions:

• Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix well.
• Cover bowl and chill dressing for at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes 1½ cups.

Edited to add: Hidden Valley no longer sells a specific "buttermilk recipe". I understand it is now repackaged as "restaurant-style".

 

[DeniseM]

Clarification: On the [large container] the directions say 3 Tablespoons (9 teaspoons) Ranch Dressing mix, 1 C. milk, and 1 C. mayonnaise. [So you are only adding about 10% of the standard amount on the pkg. recipe. It must be rather bland that way.]

 

[chriskre]

I find the experiences shared by Europeans visiting the USA for the first time to attend the World Cup to be rather endearing. There are plenty of videos out there. Just watch one on YouTube and they take you down the rabbit hole. It isn't just ranch dressing. They are surprised by portion sizes at restaurants, free refills on soda, air-conditioning, how vast the country is, how welcoming Americans are, and even the natural beauty.

As for ranch. The bottled stuff is crap. It tastes terrible. A gooey. I much prefer homemade. Now, by homemade I am referring to buying the Hidden Valley Restaurant-Style seasoning packet. I'm sure it has some preservatives and anti-caking agents in it, but who cares. Buttermilk, mayonnaise and some additional seasonings. Delicious. Years ago when we used to go to Outback Steakhouse (we still go, but rarely), I loved their ranch dressing so I found a copycat recipe. It uses that packet and some additional spices. I was considering making it today but didn't want to stop at the grocery store to buy buttermilk.

I have been watching with amazement their innocence at going to places we take for granted like gas stations, Walmart and Costco.
Who knew these places were so entertaining. LOL

I had a cousin who studied Medicine in Brazil and I went to visit him and all he wanted me to bring him was Velveeta and cans of Campbells Pork and Beans.
I was like okayyyy. Easy ask but uh why? When I got to the supermarket there I understood.
I didn't recognize a thing on the shelves. He just wanted to make mac and cheese and hot dogs with beans. Go figure.

 

[easyrider]

When I got to the supermarket there I understood.

That is how we use to feel when we first went to the grocery stores in Mexico.

Bill

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

When I got to the supermarket there I understood.
I didn't recognize a thing on the shelves. He just wanted to make mac and cheese and hot dogs with beans. Go figure.

That is how we use to feel when we first went to the grocery stores in Mexico.

Bill

And that's how I often feel when I go to an Asian food supermarket in the US. I know there are all kinds of wonderful things there, but I have no idea what they are or how to prepare them.

 

[chriskre]

That is how we use to feel when we first went to the grocery stores in Mexico.

Bill

That's how I feel when I go to the Mexican grocery store here in Miami.

 

[chriskre]

And that's how I often feel when I go to an Asian food supermarket in the US. I know there are all kinds of wonderful things there, but I have no idea what they are or how to prepare them.

Same with the Asian grocery stores. I am clueless except for the Shrimp Chips. Yum.

 

[dioxide45]

On the pkg, the directions say 3 Tablespoons (9 teaspoons) Ranch Dressing mix, 1 C. milk, and 1 C. mayonnaise.

The restaurant-style package I have seems to replace the 1C milk with 1 C buttermilk. I believe the 3tbsp is just the entire packet.

 

[easyrider]

And that's how I often feel when I go to an Asian food supermarket in the US. I know there are all kinds of wonderful things there, but I have no idea what they are or how to prepare them.

We were at Don Quoite Japanese food grocery store in Honolulu and bought a case of delicious rice candy. What we bought was salt candy. The grandkids didn't like it but did take it to school where no one liked it, lol.

Don Quoite is one of our favorite grocery & everything stores in Honolulu. Some products are so different.

Bill

 

[CalGalTraveler]

If you don't want to always have buttermilk on hand you can buy powdered buttermilk and mix it with the homemade spices. Then just add milk, mayo and plain nonfat yogurt.

There are many variations on the internet. For example, I just added thyme this week because I could. Yum.

 

[jp10558]

I substitute avocado mayo for recipe below. Also add tbsp dried onions and a dash of onion powder. I microwave broccoli or fry brussel sprouts and add this dressing on top. Chef's kiss with waffle fries.

https://www.rachelcooks.com/wprm_print/healthy-ranch-dressing

Once I realized how easy and healthy to make fresh, I now make all dressings from scratch. Most bottled are full of preservatives and seed oils.

I'd figure we'd have to use way more dressing for it to be worth us making it from scratch. We usually use about 4 oz a month on average I'd say. Sometimes we'll use 8 oz across 2 different dressings if we have a lot of salad. On the one hand, I'm not trying to make 4-8 oz from scratch when I'm trying to throw together a mostly unplanned side, on the other, without preservatives the minimum I could make would be 70-80% thrown out for going bad after a few days.

I think a lot of the problem with "healthy" is it's so inconvenient that practically it's either unaffordable (we throw out obscene amounts of rotting food we don't get to) or we just don't have the time or energy to dedicate to it in my life. And I feel like this is a big problem generically in the US - it's set up such that every part of "eating healthy" (which I continually am not sure we have much idea what it is given its done a 180 at least twice in my lifetime) is an uphill battle and we're all going to do what's easy and or cheap.

I only do timeshares because it's absurdly cheaper than hotels, and the day it really isn't is when I'll stop dedicating effort to dealing with it.

 

[easyrider]

we just don't have the time or energy to dedicate to it in my life

I get this. It's probably why we eat the same things so often. I kind of like these items so it works for us. We seem to be pretty good on eating what we have.

Bill

 

[DrQ]

Ranch dressing is a luxury for me. I like Saltgrass Steakhouse's Ranch, I think they put dill in it, and that is the only time I splurge for Ranch. Otherwise it is either Italian or Greek vinaigrette based on my dietitian's advice.

It's more expensive, but I buy pre-cut and packaged fruit and melon bowls from the store as it helps with portion control and there are some things that we could not consume before it goes bad if we bought the whole fruit (i.e. watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple ...) I do keep apples, oranges and grapes available for deserts.