Visit the real birthplace of ranch dressing

In the mountains above Santa Barbara, Steve Henson created an Eisenhower-era delight that would take the country by storm: Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, America's most popular salad dressing, is a creamy success story that lately has found new fame on social media. But it comes from a place that looks very different from the one on the bottle. Correspondent Luke Burbank talks to Alan Barker, a documentary filmmaker, who worked and lived at the original Hidden Valley Ranch, delving into the dressing's history and the real "ranch" behind Hidden Valley.

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[jasminearmstrong]

My grandma made ranch dressing using all fresh ingredients, going back to the 60s. We lived in San Luis Obispo County, CA--one county up from Sants Barbara. The homemade stuff is so much better than bottled.

[RLS-bubj]

Ranch dressing was something we never had growing up because it was too exotic. When I went to college, one of the first things I bought was a bottle of Hidden Valley.

[ccharles]

I remember my mom making it for us in the ‘70s. What a treat!

[joeyw]

Went to school with a girl that carried a bottle in her purse everywhere she went.

[rumblefish]

The Asian in me screamed "YEAH!" when he said "pure MSG". #stopmsghate Also, good to see I'm not the only one dunking my pizza in ranch dressing.

[mareygracer]

I love this buttermilk ranch brand & sometimes Italian salad dressing🥗

[dsweedler]

Ranch dressing is made from eggs, oil, vinegar, salt and buttermilk. All things commonly available on farms and ranches across the US. So while a plumber and pipefitter crew boss in Alaska had a recipe for this dressing that could be made quickly from store bought ingredients, it wasn't an original recipe but a very common dressing recipe made across America. Selling it as a bottled dressing and powder was new but not the dressing itself. Try mixing up your own yogurt or buttermilk with mayo, salt and dried chives and garlic. You might be suprised how good it tastes and how little it costs.

[maineyor]

Where are your Closed Captions? Older people watch this channel and NEED them!!!!

[wendydietze]

I worked at Hidden Valley Manufacturing for 30 years. Great place to work

[DanielPerez-pwsr]

I can’t help but remember melissa mccarthy’s hilarious ranch dressing skit on snl. So darn funny. But yes, we’re def the united states of ranch dressing imo.

[JJ_Justice]

I actually remember when I learned that Ranch literally was invented at the Hidden Valley Ranch

[Kerry]

Pretty wild when you drive by the place and it says Hidden Valley Ranch. You wonder is This the place?

[Brew]

France has its sauces, Italy has its pasta sauces but America has its ranch dressing.

[sarahkurtzer]

Hidden Valley Ranch dressing is the best bottled ranch. Amigo’s ranch is the best restaurant ranch.

[brucegelman]

Every Cardiologist in America watching this has a BIG smile on their faces

[morningsidedriverock]

He was trying to make a low calorie substitute for blue cheese.
The key word is: TRYING

[edreid]

I have replaced my salt and pepper with Hidden Valley ranch seasoning... I put it on everything...

[ypw]

Quite a few articles mention that the “ranch” wasn’t really all that successful, but that the dressing was the thing that at least kept people interested. The guests he did have apparently included lot of UC Santa Barbara frats looking for a place to party without being bothered by police.

[ypw]

It's been mentioned in these comments that there’s a belief/misconception that Steve Henson was black. The origin seems to be that one poorly lit photo of him with his wife, and the version we see came from a color newspaper photo with a horrendous color rendition.

Have a look at those photos of him at 0:53 and 1:02.

[christinasantini]

At 61 years old-I am proud to say I have never eaten ranch dressing. Seeing this reminded why.