What Is Ranch Sauce?

Flying Goose Brand has many Sriracha flavours that go well with a variety of foods and ingredients, including adding our Sriracha sauces to ranch dressing or ranch sauce. We’ll cover the history and rising popularity of this US favourite dressing for those unfamiliar with it.

The History of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing was created by Steve Henson and his wife, Gayle. The ranch they purchased was called Hidden Valley Ranch, near Santa Barbara. A steakhouse near the ranch opened, and it became popular due to that very same salad dressing.

By the late 1950s, it had become so popular that envelopes of the dry ingredients were sold to fans who ate at the steakhouse.

By the 1970s, the dressing’s popularity had spread as far as the Midwest, where it’s still the most popular dressing in the US. Frito-Lay, a subsidiary of Pepsico, further popularised the sauce when it introduced Cool Ranch Doritos.

Bottles of shelf-stable Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing were introduced in the 1970s, around the time the brand was sold to Clorox for US $8 million.

By 2017, the brand had made over $450 million, a testament to its enduring success.

Ranch Dressing Has Changed with the Times

The original recipe for the sauce calls for buttermilk, but as that fell out of favour in the US and became harder to find in certain areas, people started experimenting with the taste. Several recipes rely solely on mayonnaise, sour cream, and spices to deliver the same basic flavours. However, purists still prefer adding the packet of spices to the original liquid ingredients of mayonnaise, buttermilk, and sour cream.

The packets and bottles of the original recipe are also still popular, however, and are sold all over the world.

Foods That Go Well with Ranch Sauce

The everlasting popularity of ranch dressing has meant that many people have broadened the use of the dressing across a wide variety of foods and created their own recipes using Sriracha sauce or variations on established old favourites, including:

• Salads
• Chicken wings
• Mac & cheese
• Grilled salmon
• Roasts
• Burgers
• Tacos
• Pasta salad
• Tuna-filled pasta shells
• Chicken avocado wraps
• Pizza

Once people have tasted and fallen in love with the creamy and tangy flavour of ranch sauce, they invariably come up with their own favourite foods to pair it with.

How to Make Spicy Ranch Sauce with Sriracha Sauce

We’ll provide a detailed recipe for basic ranch dressing and then list the additions that make this dressing extra special and spicy. The complete spicy ranch dressing ingredients include:

• 1/2 litre ranch dressing
• 1 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp Flying Goose Sriracha Sauce

The recipe for extremely hot ranch sauce is simple. Combine all ingredients, mix thoroughly, and chill for about two hours before serving.

Basic Ranch Dressing

The basic ranch dressing relies on its spices to achieve the correct balance of flavours. The ingredients include:

• 1 cup of Mayonnaise
• ½ cup of sour cream
• ½ cup of buttermilk or full-fat milk
• ¾ tsp dried dillweed
• ½ tsp dried chives
• ½ tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp finely cracked black pepper
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste

Simply combine all ingredients and refrigerate.

Experiment with Sriracha Flavours

Flying Goose Brand offers an entire line of Sriracha sauces, so you can experiment and choose the flavours that work the best with different foods. We even have three varieties of ready-to-eat Sriracha mayo, including:

• Sriracha Mayo
• Spicy Sriracha Mayo
• Sweet Chilli Mayo

Our Sriracha sauces and mayos come in three sizes:

• 200 ml
• 455 ml
• 730 ml

Encourage your local supermarket to carry the entire line of our authentic Thai Flying Goose products. Kickstart your culinary education with your favourite Sriracha sauce and food pairings.

References:

1. A Brief History of Ranch Dressing – Retrieved September 26, 2025, from: https://jillianfae.com/2018/09/20/brief-history-ranch-dressing/#:~:text=The%20Ranch%20Dressing%20Facts,brand%20made%20over%20$450%20million.
2. Spicy, Spicy Ranch Dressing – Retrieved September 26, 2025, from: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/82153/spicy-spicy-ranch-dressing/