Why Ranch Dressing Is ‘Blacker’ Than You Think
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 23 August 2025
⏱️ 3 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Millions of people put it on everything—salad, pizza, steak—you name it. But it wasn’t always that way. This famous dressing started as a hometown favorite, and we have this Black cowboy to thank for creating it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Imagine a delicious patty nestled between two buns with cheese and ketchup. |
| 0:04.7 | It's not a burger. |
| 0:05.6 | That patty is actually sausage, which makes this a sandwich. |
| 0:08.6 | A breakfast sausage sandwich, the new 199 sausage sandwich from McDonald's. |
| 0:12.8 | Made with RSPCA at short pork. |
| 0:15.6 | Until 11am. |
| 0:16.6 | Price and participation may vary. |
| 0:17.8 | Up charges and fees apply to delivery. |
| 0:19.2 | Subjects to availability. |
| 0:23.9 | Millions of people put it on everything. |
| 0:26.5 | Salad, pizza, steaks, you name it. |
| 0:29.5 | But it wasn't always that way. |
| 0:31.7 | This famous dressing started as a hometown favorite, |
| 0:35.4 | and we have this black cowboy to thank for creating it. |
| 0:40.2 | I'm Len with Push Black, and this is Two-Minute Black History, What You Didn't Learn in School. |
| 0:52.6 | Steve Henson, a plumber from a small Nebraska town, took a temporary job in Alaska in 1950. |
| 0:59.7 | While there, he occasionally cooked. |
| 1:01.9 | And eventually, Henson and his wife moved to California and opened a ranch called Hidden Valley. |
| 1:08.2 | Then he whipped up the most delicious part of this legacy. Hidden Valley was a guest |
| 1:14.3 | house with a popular steakhouse, but everyone's favorite souvenir was Henson's popular dressing |
| 1:20.8 | ranch. Guests loved it so much that they carried it home in mayonnaise jars. Henson began to sell and mail the dried ingredients to customers so they could add their own buttermilk and mayonnaise at home. |
| 1:35.3 | And Henson's success didn't stop there. |
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