Pro Chefs Blind Taste Test Every Ranch Dressing | The Taste Panel | Epicurious

Quick Overview

Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch ($4.39/16 oz) was ranked as the best overall ranch dressing by the professional chefs, scoring highest across texture, flavor balance, and herbaceous notes, while the Market Pantry Light Ranch ($1.99/16 oz) was considered the worst due to its thin texture and lack of flavor complexity.

Key Points: Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch ($4.39/16 oz) was the consensus winner, praised for its creamy texture, balanced flavor, and strong herb presence. The Ken's Buttermilk House Ranch ($3.34/16 oz) was the most expensive dairy-containing ranch, but was criticized for its oily mouthfeel and overly sharp acidity. Market Pantry Light Ranch ($1.99/16 oz) was ranked lowest due to its thin texture and lack of savory onion/garlic flavor, tasting overly sweet and lacking complexity. Primal Kitchen Dairy-Free Ranch ($7.29/8 oz) was noted for having many herbs but an overly acidic, vinegary flavor profile, resulting in a poor overall taste. Ken's Lite Ranch ($3.19/16 oz) was criticized for being too thin and lacking the savory depth of the full-fat version, although it had a decent flavor balance. Olive Garden Parmesan Ranch ($3.99/16 oz) was described as having a good body but lacking the expected Parmesan flavor, instead tasting overly sweet and potentially oxidized. The foundational Hidden Valley Ranch recipe, created by Steve Henson, is mentioned as the benchmark against which all other dressings are compared.

Context: Three professional chefs—Jacob Hadjigeorgis (Owner & Founder, Jacob's Pickles), Charlie Marshall (Owner & Chef, The Marshal), and Shilpa Uskokovic (Senior Food Editor, Bon Appétit and Epicurious)—blind taste-tested and ranked 11 different store-bought ranch dressings. The chefs used four criteria for evaluation: smooth texture, balanced seasoning, buttermilk tanginess, and herbaceousness, with the original Hidden Valley Ranch serving as the established benchmark.

Detailed Analysis

The panel of three professional chefs blind taste-tested 11 different ranch dressings, evaluating them on smooth texture, balanced seasoning, buttermilk tanginess, and herbaceousness. Hidden Valley Buttermilk Ranch ($4.39/16 oz) emerged as the favorite, praised for hitting all the ideal criteria, especially its excellent texture and flavor balance. Ken's Buttermilk House Ranch ($3.34/16 oz) was the most expensive dairy version tested, but was penalized for its oily mouthfeel and sharp acidity. Market Pantry Light Ranch ($1.99/16 oz) was rated the worst due to its thin consistency and lack of pronounced flavor, tasting too sweet. Primal Kitchen Dairy-Free Ranch ($7.29/8 oz) was noted for strong herbaceous notes but an overwhelming, vinegary acidity. Ken's Lite Ranch ($3.19/16 oz) was considered too thin and sweet, lacking savory depth. Olive Garden Parmesan Ranch ($3.99/16 oz) had good body but failed to deliver on its Parmesan promise, tasting sweet and potentially oxidized. The original Hidden Valley Ranch was cited as the benchmark dressing that sets the standard for the category.