Houston food writer Robb Walsh posted a thoughtful meditation a couple weeks ago on ranch dressing and its application in pizza-related situations.
This was in reaction to a Houston pizzeria, Romano's, that banned the stuff outright from its premises (see photo, above).
As anyone not on the East Coast knows, people have been dipping their pizza in the stuff for some time now. After taking us through the dressing's origins and making a spirited defense of it, Walsh decides to take the dip:
Personally, I have come to prefer ranch dressing over ketchup as a dip for onion rings. I had never dipped pizza in ranch dressing before I read the sign in Romano’s. But once it became the forbidden fruit, I found it irresistible. A search of my fridge during the writing of this article turned up a foil-wrapped slice of leftover pepperoni, Canadian bacon, black olive and green pepper pizza and a bottle of Whole Foods Organic Ranch Dressing.
So I did a taste test. And I concluded that the flavor was very similar to a slice of pizza that got some salad dressing on it. To Frank and Vinny, Ed Levine, Brendan I. Koerner, and all those who find the combo potentially lethal or otherwise abhorrent, I say: “Don’t have a cow, man.”
Here's my experience with the stuff: In college, the cheapo take-out-or-delivery-only place used to include a little cup of it with its pies. But we'd use it primarily to dip the end crusts, or "pizza bones," as they were almost inedible without some sort of condiment. I've since discontinued the practice, largely because the quality of pizza I have access to now has edible end-crusts.
Is neutrality an option? I've done cheese sauce and tomato sauce, never ranch. Might have to try it though - we've always got that particular dressing in the fridge.
I don't put anything on my pizza, personally. My boyfriend puts rach on his pizza, but only if we are at home eating a crap oven pizza. He won't ask for it at a restaurant. And, he tends to put random, unrelated condiments on just about everything, for no reason.
I have an uncle who puts mayo on his pizza. He just slathers it right on there. One of the times he was in the hospital after a heart attack, I believe it was his second, he made his wife go get him a Domino's meatlovers, and he ate it, with mayo, in the hospital.
he justified it by saying that he was surrounded by doctors who could save him.
I am feeling sick.
It's bad enough that I have seen pineapple on pizzas, but ranch dressing?
That pizza must be freakin' bad to begin with, if it needs bottled salad condiments.
Here in NJ/NYC/Brooklyn, where pizza reigns, you would kicked out on your ass if you asked for any salad dressing for your pizza!
I thought only us crazies in TX/OK did this. I didn't realize it was a national thing.
At any rate, I used to do it all the time, but now I save it for crappy pizza. I have access to really good pizza (at least for TX), and I would never disrespect the slice with ranch. Gatti's however, that deserves my disrespect.
I get lots of tomato sauce for dipping from my favorite take-out Italian restaurant - for vegetable stromboli, calzones, so why not a dip for pizza? Geez, I don't know. It never occurred to me. Ranch cools hot wings, but who needs pizza cooled? Sure, I'd try it. Once. Don't think I'd be convinced.
As a native-born Buffalonian, I have to correct PerkyMac and point out that blue cheese dressing, and not ranch, is the contrasting sauce for hot wings.
I only dip crappy or boring pizza in ranch. If it's a respectable pizza (and I don't mean Dominos or Pizza Hut) then that's a sin. Any topping other than pizza sauce and cheese is a sin on a great pizza. (Unless you're going for traditional margarita or similar) Even pepperoni covers up the great cheese, sauce and crust on a quality pie.
Never heard of this. It does sound revolting. But this brings up the question of whether a merchant should attempt to prevent the violation of their product by customers with different tastes. There is a bakery in my town that sells great artisan bread but they don't have a slicing machine. Some of these whole grain breads are very difficult to cut and it would be great if I could buy them sliced. The baker had some weird-ass reason for not wanting his bread to be cut with a machine. My thought - if these self-righteous stances are off-putting to customers, what's the point? Do you want to sell your pizza/bread to everybody or just to certain people? Maybe this is an opportunity to offer amazing ranch dressing along with great pizza - and increase sales!
I'm from Michigan, and ranch on pizza has always been a big thing where I grew up (Ann Arbor). A good pizza doesn't need it, but I still like it on pizza regardless of the pizza's quality. I also ruin good cuts of meat with steak sauce or ketchup, because I LIKE CONDIMENTS!
I dislike it when people dictate what other should like/dislike. Food should be as enjoyable as possible for the person eating. I would never buy a pizza from a place that tried to dictate what I can/cannot eat when I'm the one paying the $$...sounds like entitlement, but it's my food!
@BangieB: Sorry. My bad. They did/do it in Kansas, and I always make the mistake of assuming Kansas/KC area works as a representative for all of the Midwest area.
I'll point out what oregonpinot just said today on an older ranch-on-pizza thread: "Ok I don't know about the whole ranch thing but there's something else that has kind of a following here in Oregon- honey. Yep just a dab but on pepperoni or sausage pizza it's fantastic, that whole, sweet spicy thing. Don't knock it 'till you try it trust me!"
The honey thing actually *is* kinda good. One pizza place I frequented in college had honey out on the tables and included little packages of honey in deliveries so you could put that on your end-crusts. The whole salty-sweet thing works well.
I really miss dipping Gatti's pepperoni pizza into ranch, and I'm kind of embarrassed of it. (Grew up in Austin, recently moved to Brooklyn: I'd never admit that fact around here.)
Wow, I had no idea this was a "thing." Here in Baltimore, pizza tends to come with a garlicky-butter sauce (which I never, ever use!) but definitely not ranch.
Gross. Our GM is from Naples and we get (mostly) girls in Dallas asking for a side of ranch dressing with their pizza. He gets the biggest question mark appearing over his head. When I tell them they want to dip their pizza in it he is shocked. His other pet peeve is when someone comes in and asks for a "meat lovers" or a "supreme".
I'm an East Coaster (originally from VT) and nearly everyone I know puts Ranch on their pizza. And it's delicious. But I agree that it's only for pizza that isn't good to begin with. Now that I live in Manhattan, I'm not putting Ranch on my slices, but in Burlington? Yes please.
Of course, this could be because all my friends are obsessed with Ranch & use it as a condiment for everything from pizza to french fries and mozzerella sticks.
Never even heard of ranch with pizza before...I will say I have done bad pizza with ketchup on occasion. But that's only if I really need something to cover up the unevenness of and especially poorly created pie.
I absolutely do. It's delicious! My husband prefers a garlic butter dip for his crusts, but I like ranch, especially for a low quality pizza like Papa John's. For pizza from our local independent joint, I actually like to dip the crust into their house vinaigrette salad dressing. (And I'm from Baltimore too - the pizza comes with the garlic sauce, but they don't bat an eye if you ask for ranch.) I don't dip the cheesey part of the pizza though, just the crust.
I started the habit in high school (early 90s) while working at Pizza Hut, only then I dipped my pan pizza crust into their Creamy Italian dressing.
I never knew that ranch dressing was such a pervasive pizza dipping option. When I lived on Long Island, and spent my days in NYC, the only dipping I might do was with the crust and some blue cheese dressing.
Okay, I'm a sixth generation Texan and I've never heard of such a repulsive act as ranch on pizza. Disgusting. I also know absolutely nobody who does this, either....so don't blame us :)
Freshman year of college, pepperoni pizza dipped in ranch at the end of a long night of drinking was heaven. BUT - then again, I think it was a major contributor to the freshman fifteen I gained that year. I haven't touched it since!
In Montreal when lived there (early-mid 90's) it was not uncommon for eaters to spead butter or mayonnaise on the crust end of their slices. It was never my thing...
All those who just confessed to dipping pizza into any condiment whatsoever just had their pizza-eating licenses suspended. For in fact you weren't eating pizza. You don't like eating pizza. What you like is eating dip, ranch being a popular option it seems. And cardboard.
Here's a real lunch I once had the honor of watching someone wolf down. Cinnamon raising bagel with lox spread, a bag of ranch Doritos, washed down with a bottle of Yoo-hoo.
Man oh man, back in high school, the pizza vendors at lunch would charge us kids $.50 for a 1/4C package of Ranch and we would drizzle it all over our crappy Domino's pepperoni slices. I don't feel guilty about it at all (there were way worse things I ate in college), but the only thing I put on my pizza these days are dried pepper flakes and maybe a fried egg (for breakfast, of course).
As a college student on the East Coast I can testify that we definitely put ranch dressing on our pizza. But only the really cheap kind that you order around 1 in the morning and/or after you've been drinking... good pizza stands alone. It needs no additional flavors.
I do the crust dunking thing as well. I've tried it drizzled on pizzas before, plain cheese, some with pepperoni. The end result was a pizza that tasted like I poured ranch on it, nothing more. It's much too strong a flavor to be incorporated on top of a pizza that already has flavor toppings in competition for top flavor dog.
Think of ranch dressing on pizza this way. If pizza toppings were a boxing match, ranch dressing would be the annoying referee that gets hit by a stray punch. He should have just stayed away to begin with.
I think it is pizza blasphemy. I call bullshit on this one. I had Papa John's once in Virginia and someone offered me the dipping sauce. I was mortified. I wanted to scream but found I couldn't because my mouth was full of not so great pizza.
Born and raised in Dallas, TX. I love pizza with Ranch dressing. It can't be just any old Ranch dressing. It has to be homemade for me. Oh, and jalapenos. Plain za is good too, but if there is good Ranch then hand it on over.
Hah, I think we've established that there is absolutely no regional basis for this abberation (uh... habit? culinary preference? let's be nice here!)
I particularly like the competing Wisconsin and Texas factions.
If only we (as a nation, not SEers, SEers are perfect in every way) were so committed to the democratic process and actually registered to vote 'n stuff.
I adore ranch dressing with pizza, not on it mind you, dipped in it. I suppose because it's a novelty here, in the Uk, you can't really get ranch dressing, so I only have it when someone brings it from the states for me. If not ranch, I'll dip marinara sauce, ketchup, mayo or olive oil. I abhor dry pizza and I am a little crazy about condiments.
I first tried ranch/blue cheese on a pizza when I got a summer job working for Grotto's Pizza in Delaware. We thought you Yanks were hilarious, no pineapple and no sweetcorn for the pizzas?? Bizarre. Yet there was a barbecue chicken pizza - too strange.
If anyone knows where to buy legitimate ranch/blue cheese dressing in London, please let me know - I'm a certified addict!
I'm in Alabama and I've never heard of such a thing! I'm from new england where it was easy to get both sides of the pizza quality, and I've never seen or heard of such a thing, I guess for some they can't wait for that heart attack, they feel the need to hurry it along;-) Pizza even bad pizza really needs nothing.
I hate Ranch dressing period, but it never occurred to me to do anything to pizza crusts until I heard that the marathoner Bob "Boston" Rogers put mayo on pizza when training, running 140+ miles a week. I thought it was a crazy carbo-deprived thing, not a food trend.
This is like when my kids put ketchup on everything they hated to eat-broccoli! Good pizza is good, period. If it needs "dressing" then it is not good to begin with. Leave this practice to the middle schoolers!!!
I have been trying to eat healthier and ordering pizza on wheat crust. Makes the crust taste like cardboard so I need to dip it in ranch to get over the fact. Though the unhealthiness of ranch probably cancels out the benefits of getting wheat crust. Also, I understand ranch for HOT hot wings but I see people dip wings that are already seasoned with lemon pepper, bbq, etc, in ranch. Now I think that's worse than dipping pizza crust in ranch.
I have seen a lot of people dip the crust in Blue cheese prob. because in Western NY we tend to order pizza along with some Buffalo Wings and there is always blue cheese dip for the wings but our pizza is great here and I wouldn't even think of dipping the crust. When I make pizza from scratch I sprinkle garlic salt on the dough all the way around the crust so the baked crust is always eaten and never dipped!!!!
when i moved to texas six years ago, i was horrified by the practice, and still am. i concur with those who think that if you need to put ranch on your pizza, you are eating the wrong pizza.
I love to dip the crust in Ranch. Not all the time, and yes, it does depend on the overall quality of the pizza, but I still like the taste. I also like to dip french fries in a mix of ketchup, ranch and hot sauce.
Born and raised in the Midwest and a total Ranch lover on anything BUT lettuce. Crazy but true. Favorite include pizza, pizza crust, breadsticks, chicken strips, fries, grilled cheese, onion rings, tater tots, and everything else fried to a crisp.
Personally I don't dip my pizza in anything. My son is going through a spicy phase and likes to dip his pizza in Frank's Red Hot sauce. A sprinkleof crushed pepper flakes is how I spice it up--nothing wet or creamy please! I say to each his own.
This has all been so eye-opening. Whenever I or my friends got the ranch packets with delivery in college, it was our understanding that it was for the end-crust, not the actual pizza. And I always preferred honey for the end-crusts.
In Connecticut, (New Haven area) I have never heard of using Ranch on pizza or to dip in, and with all the great pizza we have here, never though of using (or needing) any dips. My first "experience" was when I had pizza from you-know-who-big-national-delivery-chain and they included little containers of ranch.
I have tried (and liked) the honey when I visited Colorado.
I would be in the anti-ranch contingent but if a person enjoys pizza dunked in salad dressing, I wouldn't be one to forbid it. On the other hand, if I did like ranch dressing with my pizza, I'm not sure I would have an expectation that the pizza places should provide it for me.
Hopefully we'll never be having this discussion about ranch dressing, egg rolls, and Chinese establishments. ;)
Im a native Chicagoan, but have traveled extensively, and have had pizza everywhere from Florence to Paris, from LA to NY, and have NEVER dipped, nor seen good pizza dipped in Ranch. Though ill admit to being a Ranch glutton with other foods(chicken, veggies, chips, some burgers, to name a few), pizza and ranch has zero appeal. And while on the pizza subject, thin crust is the only way to go...
I grew up and have spent my entire life on the east coast (NY and PA) and I have never seen this happen. I've heard of this but thankfully never seen it. That pizza must be really bad to have to add ranch to it. Plus I think ranch dressing is the work of the devil. Ick!
Only if the crust isn't so great (like overly doughy), then yeah, I'll Ranch the bones, or if it's Papa John's that someone's ordered, I'll use their heart-clogging garlic butter for the bones.
In college, pouring buckets of ranch dressing over the cafeteria food was the only thing that made it edible. However, these days I just try to eat food that doesn't need it:)
Ranch dressing is disgusting so no, I don't put it on pizza (or anything else for that matter).
I will put on a couple of dashes of Italian dressing if the pizza is subpar and reheated at home..a habit I picked up in high school when the cafeteria pizza was pretty much inedible without it.
i'm from upstate NY and its fairly common at some of the thicker pan pizza type places (and not just chains)
we have a ton of thick crust pan pizza joints and there's something about the ranch and greasy pan pizza that goes very well together
if it's thin crust NY style, then it usually doesn't need it and doesn't even taste that good with it
this whole topic reminds me of the marinara vs. jelly for dipping mozzarella sticks!!
It's relatively common up in the Pacific Northwest (I'm in Oregon, but I've seen it in surrounding states too) and doesn't seem all that weird to me.
I enjoy it on boring pizzas, like just plain cheese or pepperoni, but give me a nice combo pizza with a ton of interesting stuff on it, and I don't really feel the need.
Banning it outright, however, seems kinda draconian to me, if people like it, they like it.
I can't stand pizza to begin with, but when my friends dragged me to a pizza restaurant like Shakey's or Godfather's Pizza, I'd peel off the toppings and eat the mushrooms and olives, leaving the cheese, sausage, peppers, pepperoni, and onions to rot. I mostly ate salads at pizza places and since I'm not fond of bread, I'd dip the crust in Thousand Island dressing. Of course, I didn't make a mess with the toppings like that with my parents.
I think it's okay on frozen pizzas made at home. My friends husband puts ketchup on his pizza, which I think is pretty weird, and I'ld never heard or seen that before. Sometimes I put cottage cheese on my crappy frozen pizzas- it's good, it tastes like a flat lasagna.
Dipping food in ranch dressing that isn't actually salad reminds me of kids who refuse to eat anything with ketchup. If it's not edible without a condiment, why would you eat it?
And, if you absolutely have to go that route, wouldn't flavored olive oil be more appropriate?
Cassaendra's comment makes me nostalgic for the pre-Serious Eats days. A post on "Slice, America's Favorite Pizza Weblog" should never start with "I can't stand pizza to begin with..." :)
Some Pizza joints here in Northern Ky offer Ranch Pizza. It usually has a ranch sauce, green peppers, onions and cheese. My husband dips all varieties of Italian foods in ranch dressing. If it has red sauce then I know to put the ranch dressing on the table.
I'm SUCH a ranch fanatic. My best friend always compares me to Homer Simpson in the episode he exclaims, "bring me my ranch hose!" But with that, I'm also extremely picky with it. Name brand ranch is absolute rubbish and you can completely taste the difference. That being said, homemade, restaurant made, whatever you call it is the triumphant winner in the situation, and my obvious choice in what I love to drown my pizza in.
Ranch on pizza is not my thing, but I've seen it done before- mostly by high schoolers.
I used to babysit for a family that liked to put a little bit of butter on the pizza bones. That was pretty good.
And one of my favorite slice joints sells really decent salads with super vinegar-y dressing. I get a slice and a salad and sometimes dip the crust. But at least it's oil and vinegar dressing.
Um, I'm originally from Oklahoma, and I pretty much have though of this a some what gross habit some people had in junior high, but very few actually retain. I don't really like ranch, and the only thing I will eat it with is celery or carrots. Around 10 years ago I was driving through Texas with my step-sister and we stopped at an exit of the highway with just a few fast food places. We opted for the pizza buffet place and were dismayed to find that the three pizzas on offer were all topped with ranch dressing instead of a tomato based sauce. We actually had to leave and find a new restaurant. Though the ranch pizza thing weirds me out, I generally let it slide as long as it's crap pizza, but this was like some kind of invasion of the body snatchers moment. Too weird.
No, I don't like ranch dressing and I most certainly don't need it on my pizza.
I just found out the other day that my boyfriend really likes Italian dressing on his pizza. One day a bottle of Italian was on the table while we were eating and I went to put it back in his refrigerator and he said "hey I was using that!" to which I replied with a look of disgust, "on your pizza?!". He claims he's had this habit for awhile. Anyone else do this?!
Adam: No prob. Once you start getting uppity about Freaking Wisconsin, of all things, it's curtains anyway. I come from a place where they take young cheese, batter it, fry it, and *then* dip it in ranch, so who am I to talk.
@BangieB: I hope it didn't seem like I wasn't getting uppity about Wisconsin! I was born there and have a ton of relatives there (Milwaukee). I'm aware of the deep-fried cheese curds! Yum.
I had never really heard of putting ranch on pizza as general practice (although I did see it in college). But the town I grew up in had a townie pizza joint which made really awesome honey mustard sauce and everyone would ask for some to go with their pizza. I personally love to dip pineapple pizza in it. (We love it so much that they started selling frozen pies with a small container of it for people to take back to college with them.)
THAT's what those packets of Ranch were for? Midwest college mystery solved.... sheeesh. I still don't get it, but yah... that pizza was really subpar.
I had the same experience as you did -- in college, little cups of it would come with cheap/free fast food pizza. So did little cups of garlic butter. I no longer do that either. I grew up in Houston and went to college in Austin.
But it's also a Houston thing...or Texas thing...to dip everything in ranch. Fried pickles too!
I have never even heard of putting ranch on pizza, but now I'm going to HAVE to try it! I dip my fried green tomatoes and fried pickles in ranch though .... mmmmmmm!!
i am from the boston area -- spent my whole life there until after college. there are a huge number of people that use ranch. everyone in my high school back east did, and now here in california at my office everyone is even MORE obsessed. must be a garlicky ranch, apparently. they dip fries, pizza, bread, anything you could imagine in it. but like everyone else said, generally as a dipping sauce for the crust. i don't do it, but i can't say i'm horrified that others do. i don't like ketchup but i don't freak out when i see people putting ketchup on things i wouldn't.
I enjoy ranch on my pizza; especially bacon ranch. I started doing it when I was an undergrad living in my dorm and I was out of blue cheese which is what I usually used on pizza. The ranch flavor was great with the zesty pizza sauce and cheese.
I am a 4th grade teach in Las Vegas, and most of the time when the school serves pizza for lunch, it also happens to come with a lettuce salad and a small cup of ranch dressing. Nearly every kid spreads the ranch on top of the pizza without a second thought. I think a lot of kids now think of ranch as a condiment and not a salad dressing.
I used to live in Nebraska, and a pretty large percentage of the 30-and-under crowd there can't eat pizza, even good pizza, without salad dressing on it. I have never understood.
I used to hate pizza but then I tried it with ranch on accident. I'm the type of person that will eat something if it toches something else. So I try it and love it.
We have frozen pizza at home or we order pizza so it's easy. Then the only restaurant I get pizza at is Pizza Hut and they have a salad bar so ranch is there.
I dip all kinds. Ham & Pineapple in ranch is the best. BTW I only dip, I don't pour it on top.
OMG, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Never mind ranch alone, but the thought of ham, pineapple, and ranch ? My goodness, what a sacrilege to the almighty pizza.(NY style of course)
Well does any other really even exist?
I'm a Northern transplant here in the south (NC)
This is where I first discovered people using ranch as a condiment rather then the ones I had been brought up around such as Grated cheese or crushed red pepper .
C'mon, everyone knows if the pizza is good you don't need anything else besides napkins!
Come to think of it, some of the pizza I've tried to choke down here in the south might have actually tasted better with a jar of ranch for dipping!
Now it's starting to make sense.
I finally found a great pizza joint here without having to disgrace the almighty pizza pie!
And I can't stop laughing about Keith W 3:33 10/21/08 comment !
I grew up in OK, but I have lived all over: KS, MO, NC, UT, CA and I have noticed that people eat different things based on where they are from and how they grew up. I don't think its fair to persecute one another for something we've never tried...all great combos had to start somewhere...ie: biscuits and gravy, sweet tea, chicken and waffles, etc. I personally LOVE Ranch or Garlic Dipping sauce on the crust pieces of my pizza, but only on the crust. One thing that I love to do with leftover pizza is top it with cottage cheese and a little black pepper! Call me crazy, but I also believe, its my pizza I can do what I want with it.
I just looked up ranch dressing and DID throw up in my mouth! Never heard of anyone dipping pizza crusts in any kind of dip, never mind what sounds like is probably some mass-produced, salt and fat-fest. You crazy Americans and your food mutilations. I need to cheer myself up by looking at a bird getting eaten by a spider.
Hey there EatersRegret, I live in the UK and if I can get Ranch dressing here in Wales, I'm jolly sure you can get in in London! My local Tesco has one by Paul Newman. Never had it before so can't compare it with any other makes...bet you can get to a nice deli that would sell it, too!
I absolutely love ranch on my pizza. Granted, I am a middle-school student (though homeschooled), and got the idea from my (middle school, homeschooled) friends after we started dipping French-Fries in Ranch (that's justified in Mich--here most of the fries are way too greasy or way too dry). We decided to try it on our pizza--and it's great. Only Hidden Valley (tm) works though. Deep dish pizza doesn't need it, fortunately. A group fave for us is cayenne pepper, fresh black pepper, ranch, and tabasco sauce. I agree, if it's good pizza, it doesn't need condiments, but (1) pizza in metro-detroit isn't that good, and (2), it doesn't matter if it needs it--if ya want it, I say put it on unashamedly!
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109 Comments:
Is neutrality an option? I've done cheese sauce and tomato sauce, never ranch. Might have to try it though - we've always got that particular dressing in the fridge.
renoles at 8:41PM on 10/20/08
"As anyone not on the East Coast knows..."
Uh, what? A Wisconsin girl here, and literally no one I know dips pizza in that stuff. NO ONE.
BangieB at 8:46PM on 10/20/08
I don't put anything on my pizza, personally. My boyfriend puts rach on his pizza, but only if we are at home eating a crap oven pizza. He won't ask for it at a restaurant. And, he tends to put random, unrelated condiments on just about everything, for no reason.
I have an uncle who puts mayo on his pizza. He just slathers it right on there. One of the times he was in the hospital after a heart attack, I believe it was his second, he made his wife go get him a Domino's meatlovers, and he ate it, with mayo, in the hospital.
he justified it by saying that he was surrounded by doctors who could save him.
delilah at 8:46PM on 10/20/08
It may be necessary if you have to cover up bad pizza. But, if the pizza is really great, it should need nothing.
beth1 at 8:54PM on 10/20/08
I am feeling sick.
It's bad enough that I have seen pineapple on pizzas, but ranch dressing?
That pizza must be freakin' bad to begin with, if it needs bottled salad condiments.
Here in NJ/NYC/Brooklyn, where pizza reigns, you would kicked out on your ass if you asked for any salad dressing for your pizza!
Stacey Snacks at 8:55PM on 10/20/08
Funny... kids (middle school) where I teach just started doing the ranch dip recently. Catching on like crazy.
ostman at 8:57PM on 10/20/08
I thought only us crazies in TX/OK did this. I didn't realize it was a national thing.
At any rate, I used to do it all the time, but now I save it for crappy pizza. I have access to really good pizza (at least for TX), and I would never disrespect the slice with ranch. Gatti's however, that deserves my disrespect.
FoodPorncess at 9:13PM on 10/20/08
I get lots of tomato sauce for dipping from my favorite take-out Italian restaurant - for vegetable stromboli, calzones, so why not a dip for pizza? Geez, I don't know. It never occurred to me. Ranch cools hot wings, but who needs pizza cooled? Sure, I'd try it. Once. Don't think I'd be convinced.
PerkyMac at 9:17PM on 10/20/08
In my experience, it's only a Texas/South thing. Please don't insult the rest of the country like that- ranch on pizza is repulsive.
bialy at 9:24PM on 10/20/08
As a native-born Buffalonian, I have to correct PerkyMac and point out that blue cheese dressing, and not ranch, is the contrasting sauce for hot wings.
And isn't bad as a crust-dip for old pizza.
silvermike at 9:32PM on 10/20/08
I only dip crappy or boring pizza in ranch. If it's a respectable pizza (and I don't mean Dominos or Pizza Hut) then that's a sin. Any topping other than pizza sauce and cheese is a sin on a great pizza. (Unless you're going for traditional margarita or similar) Even pepperoni covers up the great cheese, sauce and crust on a quality pie.
Tahitinova at 9:33PM on 10/20/08
Never heard of this. It does sound revolting. But this brings up the question of whether a merchant should attempt to prevent the violation of their product by customers with different tastes. There is a bakery in my town that sells great artisan bread but they don't have a slicing machine. Some of these whole grain breads are very difficult to cut and it would be great if I could buy them sliced. The baker had some weird-ass reason for not wanting his bread to be cut with a machine. My thought - if these self-righteous stances are off-putting to customers, what's the point? Do you want to sell your pizza/bread to everybody or just to certain people? Maybe this is an opportunity to offer amazing ranch dressing along with great pizza - and increase sales!
mcmvoices at 9:35PM on 10/20/08
Lemme just say i've seen many. many. many. many. many. innocent slices of pizzas ruined at my shop by evil ranch dressing.
Ugh.
Prairie at 9:38PM on 10/20/08
I'm from Michigan, and ranch on pizza has always been a big thing where I grew up (Ann Arbor). A good pizza doesn't need it, but I still like it on pizza regardless of the pizza's quality. I also ruin good cuts of meat with steak sauce or ketchup, because I LIKE CONDIMENTS!
I dislike it when people dictate what other should like/dislike. Food should be as enjoyable as possible for the person eating. I would never buy a pizza from a place that tried to dictate what I can/cannot eat when I'm the one paying the $$...sounds like entitlement, but it's my food!
omnomnom at 9:39PM on 10/20/08
@BangieB: Sorry. My bad. They did/do it in Kansas, and I always make the mistake of assuming Kansas/KC area works as a representative for all of the Midwest area.
I'll point out what oregonpinot just said today on an older ranch-on-pizza thread: "Ok I don't know about the whole ranch thing but there's something else that has kind of a following here in Oregon- honey. Yep just a dab but on pepperoni or sausage pizza it's fantastic, that whole, sweet spicy thing. Don't knock it 'till you try it trust me!"
The honey thing actually *is* kinda good. One pizza place I frequented in college had honey out on the tables and included little packages of honey in deliveries so you could put that on your end-crusts. The whole salty-sweet thing works well.
Adam Kuban at 9:44PM on 10/20/08
sorry I'm of the "who gives a shit what I want to do with my pizza" philosophy... honestly, I paid my money, back the hell off.
It's like hearing about places that "forbid" you to put ketchup on a hot dog.
WHO THE HELL CARES?
Do "we" have nothing better to bitch about than things like this?
Southern_bella at 9:47PM on 10/20/08
I really miss dipping Gatti's pepperoni pizza into ranch, and I'm kind of embarrassed of it. (Grew up in Austin, recently moved to Brooklyn: I'd never admit that fact around here.)
cmballa at 9:47PM on 10/20/08
@silvermike ~ I know blue cheese is traditional, but we've used ranch in a pinch. no other substitutions though. i lived upstate, too. ;)
PerkyMac at 9:49PM on 10/20/08
Wow, I had no idea this was a "thing." Here in Baltimore, pizza tends to come with a garlicky-butter sauce (which I never, ever use!) but definitely not ranch.
To each his own...
Lilly at 9:50PM on 10/20/08
Gross. Our GM is from Naples and we get (mostly) girls in Dallas asking for a side of ranch dressing with their pizza. He gets the biggest question mark appearing over his head. When I tell them they want to dip their pizza in it he is shocked. His other pet peeve is when someone comes in and asks for a "meat lovers" or a "supreme".
canerosso at 10:13PM on 10/20/08
@silvermike beat me to it. Everything tastes better with blue cheese...
seadkdc at 10:21PM on 10/20/08
I also work in a middle school and the ranch pizza combo is very popular. One of my students puts ranch on everything! (even the apple slices...)
watchforbears at 10:23PM on 10/20/08
I'm an East Coaster (originally from VT) and nearly everyone I know puts Ranch on their pizza. And it's delicious. But I agree that it's only for pizza that isn't good to begin with. Now that I live in Manhattan, I'm not putting Ranch on my slices, but in Burlington? Yes please.
Of course, this could be because all my friends are obsessed with Ranch & use it as a condiment for everything from pizza to french fries and mozzerella sticks.
rachaeltb at 10:25PM on 10/20/08
Never even heard of ranch with pizza before...I will say I have done bad pizza with ketchup on occasion. But that's only if I really need something to cover up the unevenness of and especially poorly created pie.
lawofmurphy at 10:26PM on 10/20/08
I absolutely do. It's delicious! My husband prefers a garlic butter dip for his crusts, but I like ranch, especially for a low quality pizza like Papa John's. For pizza from our local independent joint, I actually like to dip the crust into their house vinaigrette salad dressing. (And I'm from Baltimore too - the pizza comes with the garlic sauce, but they don't bat an eye if you ask for ranch.) I don't dip the cheesey part of the pizza though, just the crust.
I started the habit in high school (early 90s) while working at Pizza Hut, only then I dipped my pan pizza crust into their Creamy Italian dressing.
AliceBlue at 10:27PM on 10/20/08
I don't NEED ranch for my pizza, but if it's there, I'l dip my crust in it. It's very delicious.
smile at 10:28PM on 10/20/08
I never knew that ranch dressing was such a pervasive pizza dipping option. When I lived on Long Island, and spent my days in NYC, the only dipping I might do was with the crust and some blue cheese dressing.
phenosteve at 10:31PM on 10/20/08
Okay, I'm a sixth generation Texan and I've never heard of such a repulsive act as ranch on pizza. Disgusting. I also know absolutely nobody who does this, either....so don't blame us :)
Chef Jo at 10:39PM on 10/20/08
Freshman year of college, pepperoni pizza dipped in ranch at the end of a long night of drinking was heaven. BUT - then again, I think it was a major contributor to the freshman fifteen I gained that year. I haven't touched it since!
missbean at 10:41PM on 10/20/08
In Montreal when lived there (early-mid 90's) it was not uncommon for eaters to spead butter or mayonnaise on the crust end of their slices. It was never my thing...
PeanutButter at 11:23PM on 10/20/08
I used to..but only because it was crappy pizza. Now the pizzas I tend to enjoy have no reason to have ranch dressing anywhere near them.
dishingupdelights at 11:42PM on 10/20/08
All those who just confessed to dipping pizza into any condiment whatsoever just had their pizza-eating licenses suspended. For in fact you weren't eating pizza. You don't like eating pizza. What you like is eating dip, ranch being a popular option it seems. And cardboard.
Here's a real lunch I once had the honor of watching someone wolf down. Cinnamon raising bagel with lox spread, a bag of ranch Doritos, washed down with a bottle of Yoo-hoo.
I bet that makes you hungry, eh?
Feefiefoefum at 11:46PM on 10/20/08
Man oh man, back in high school, the pizza vendors at lunch would charge us kids $.50 for a 1/4C package of Ranch and we would drizzle it all over our crappy Domino's pepperoni slices. I don't feel guilty about it at all (there were way worse things I ate in college), but the only thing I put on my pizza these days are dried pepper flakes and maybe a fried egg (for breakfast, of course).
devlyn at 12:09AM on 10/21/08
As a college student on the East Coast I can testify that we definitely put ranch dressing on our pizza. But only the really cheap kind that you order around 1 in the morning and/or after you've been drinking... good pizza stands alone. It needs no additional flavors.
vanillapudding99 at 12:17AM on 10/21/08
I do the crust dunking thing as well. I've tried it drizzled on pizzas before, plain cheese, some with pepperoni. The end result was a pizza that tasted like I poured ranch on it, nothing more. It's much too strong a flavor to be incorporated on top of a pizza that already has flavor toppings in competition for top flavor dog.
Think of ranch dressing on pizza this way. If pizza toppings were a boxing match, ranch dressing would be the annoying referee that gets hit by a stray punch. He should have just stayed away to begin with.
Mike13241 at 12:33AM on 10/21/08
So so so anti. But I'm anti-ranch dressing in general, not just towards pizza.
masha339 at 1:49AM on 10/21/08
I think it is pizza blasphemy. I call bullshit on this one. I had Papa John's once in Virginia and someone offered me the dipping sauce. I was mortified. I wanted to scream but found I couldn't because my mouth was full of not so great pizza.
JerzeeTomato at 1:53AM on 10/21/08
It's just a taste preference.....
smile at 2:22AM on 10/21/08
I'm a Wisco gal too and I find that a delicious cool ranch flavor compliments the spicyness of the pizza sauce.
I guess the saying goes... "don't knock it 'til you try it!" :-)
downhillguru at 6:34AM on 10/21/08
Born and raised in Dallas, TX. I love pizza with Ranch dressing. It can't be just any old Ranch dressing. It has to be homemade for me. Oh, and jalapenos. Plain za is good too, but if there is good Ranch then hand it on over.
gammypie at 7:19AM on 10/21/08
Hah, I think we've established that there is absolutely no regional basis for this abberation (uh... habit? culinary preference? let's be nice here!)
I particularly like the competing Wisconsin and Texas factions.
If only we (as a nation, not SEers, SEers are perfect in every way) were so committed to the democratic process and actually registered to vote 'n stuff.
Lilly at 7:53AM on 10/21/08
I adore ranch dressing with pizza, not on it mind you, dipped in it. I suppose because it's a novelty here, in the Uk, you can't really get ranch dressing, so I only have it when someone brings it from the states for me. If not ranch, I'll dip marinara sauce, ketchup, mayo or olive oil. I abhor dry pizza and I am a little crazy about condiments.
I first tried ranch/blue cheese on a pizza when I got a summer job working for Grotto's Pizza in Delaware. We thought you Yanks were hilarious, no pineapple and no sweetcorn for the pizzas?? Bizarre. Yet there was a barbecue chicken pizza - too strange.
If anyone knows where to buy legitimate ranch/blue cheese dressing in London, please let me know - I'm a certified addict!
EatersRegret at 8:08AM on 10/21/08
My roommate puts Ranch dressing on pizza. Everytime I catch him, I hit him in the nose with a rolled up newspaper.
It's the only way he'll learn.
jonny509 at 8:09AM on 10/21/08
I'm in Alabama and I've never heard of such a thing! I'm from new england where it was easy to get both sides of the pizza quality, and I've never seen or heard of such a thing, I guess for some they can't wait for that heart attack, they feel the need to hurry it along;-) Pizza even bad pizza really needs nothing.
huneybumper at 8:20AM on 10/21/08
I hate Ranch dressing period, but it never occurred to me to do anything to pizza crusts until I heard that the marathoner Bob "Boston" Rogers put mayo on pizza when training, running 140+ miles a week. I thought it was a crazy carbo-deprived thing, not a food trend.
Ranch is revolting. period.
HeartofGlass at 8:28AM on 10/21/08
This is like when my kids put ketchup on everything they hated to eat-broccoli! Good pizza is good, period. If it needs "dressing" then it is not good to begin with. Leave this practice to the middle schoolers!!!
Ranton at 8:35AM on 10/21/08
I have been trying to eat healthier and ordering pizza on wheat crust. Makes the crust taste like cardboard so I need to dip it in ranch to get over the fact. Though the unhealthiness of ranch probably cancels out the benefits of getting wheat crust. Also, I understand ranch for HOT hot wings but I see people dip wings that are already seasoned with lemon pepper, bbq, etc, in ranch. Now I think that's worse than dipping pizza crust in ranch.
supastupa at 9:01AM on 10/21/08
I have seen a lot of people dip the crust in Blue cheese prob. because in Western NY we tend to order pizza along with some Buffalo Wings and there is always blue cheese dip for the wings but our pizza is great here and I wouldn't even think of dipping the crust. When I make pizza from scratch I sprinkle garlic salt on the dough all the way around the crust so the baked crust is always eaten and never dipped!!!!
joanpieroni2 at 9:03AM on 10/21/08
when i moved to texas six years ago, i was horrified by the practice, and still am. i concur with those who think that if you need to put ranch on your pizza, you are eating the wrong pizza.
carriebwc at 9:05AM on 10/21/08
I love to dip the crust in Ranch. Not all the time, and yes, it does depend on the overall quality of the pizza, but I still like the taste. I also like to dip french fries in a mix of ketchup, ranch and hot sauce.
Junie at 9:20AM on 10/21/08
I've had pizza in houston and that stuff NEEDED ranch. Real pizza like in NY or Philly does not.
gfweb at 9:34AM on 10/21/08
Yep as an east coaster I have never heard of this. I wouldn't try it with good pizza but if you're eating some crap pie its doesn't sound bad.
bobbob at 9:35AM on 10/21/08
Born and raised in the Midwest and a total Ranch lover on anything BUT lettuce. Crazy but true. Favorite include pizza, pizza crust, breadsticks, chicken strips, fries, grilled cheese, onion rings, tater tots, and everything else fried to a crisp.
LiveToEat at 9:45AM on 10/21/08
I had never even HAD ranch til i moved to oklahoma. Never the less, www.mazzios.com has a SHLUUUU of 'dippin sauces. even chocolate pudding.
seikel at 10:13AM on 10/21/08
Yes...in Colorado we definitely dip our pizza in ranch, and honey for the crusts...YUM!
orinky at 10:16AM on 10/21/08
Personally I don't dip my pizza in anything. My son is going through a spicy phase and likes to dip his pizza in Frank's Red Hot sauce. A sprinkleof crushed pepper flakes is how I spice it up--nothing wet or creamy please! I say to each his own.
dhorst at 10:25AM on 10/21/08
This has all been so eye-opening. Whenever I or my friends got the ranch packets with delivery in college, it was our understanding that it was for the end-crust, not the actual pizza. And I always preferred honey for the end-crusts.
Adam Kuban at 10:26AM on 10/21/08
In Connecticut, (New Haven area) I have never heard of using Ranch on pizza or to dip in, and with all the great pizza we have here, never though of using (or needing) any dips. My first "experience" was when I had pizza from you-know-who-big-national-delivery-chain and they included little containers of ranch.
I have tried (and liked) the honey when I visited Colorado.
dpreschel at 10:49AM on 10/21/08
orinky: ever been to fargos in colorado springs? best.
seikel at 10:52AM on 10/21/08
I would be in the anti-ranch contingent but if a person enjoys pizza dunked in salad dressing, I wouldn't be one to forbid it. On the other hand, if I did like ranch dressing with my pizza, I'm not sure I would have an expectation that the pizza places should provide it for me.
Hopefully we'll never be having this discussion about ranch dressing, egg rolls, and Chinese establishments. ;)
holdthemayo at 10:59AM on 10/21/08
Im a native Chicagoan, but have traveled extensively, and have had pizza everywhere from Florence to Paris, from LA to NY, and have NEVER dipped, nor seen good pizza dipped in Ranch. Though ill admit to being a Ranch glutton with other foods(chicken, veggies, chips, some burgers, to name a few), pizza and ranch has zero appeal. And while on the pizza subject, thin crust is the only way to go...
Jopper at 11:16AM on 10/21/08
I grew up and have spent my entire life on the east coast (NY and PA) and I have never seen this happen. I've heard of this but thankfully never seen it. That pizza must be really bad to have to add ranch to it. Plus I think ranch dressing is the work of the devil. Ick!
lisambb at 11:16AM on 10/21/08
Only if the crust isn't so great (like overly doughy), then yeah, I'll Ranch the bones, or if it's Papa John's that someone's ordered, I'll use their heart-clogging garlic butter for the bones.
OneWallKitchen at 11:27AM on 10/21/08
In college, pouring buckets of ranch dressing over the cafeteria food was the only thing that made it edible. However, these days I just try to eat food that doesn't need it:)
thefriendlykitchen at 11:30AM on 10/21/08
I wouldn't put ranch on pizza or any other food; it would render anything inedible.
Barbara Hanson at 11:49AM on 10/21/08
This is gross. I'm from Chicago and I have NEVER heard of this.
O_Leaozinho at 11:53AM on 10/21/08
Ranch dressing is disgusting so no, I don't put it on pizza (or anything else for that matter).
I will put on a couple of dashes of Italian dressing if the pizza is subpar and reheated at home..a habit I picked up in high school when the cafeteria pizza was pretty much inedible without it.
sloppy at 12:02PM on 10/21/08
Well, I did do it once with a pepperoni pie, but it was in Arizona, so it's not like it was real pizza or anything.
Other than that one transgression, no, NO, a gaxzillion-times nope!
Keep it away from my tomato pie!
JimInHolland at 12:27PM on 10/21/08
i'm from upstate NY and its fairly common at some of the thicker pan pizza type places (and not just chains)
we have a ton of thick crust pan pizza joints and there's something about the ranch and greasy pan pizza that goes very well together
if it's thin crust NY style, then it usually doesn't need it and doesn't even taste that good with it
this whole topic reminds me of the marinara vs. jelly for dipping mozzarella sticks!!
nighthawk at 12:40PM on 10/21/08
It's relatively common up in the Pacific Northwest (I'm in Oregon, but I've seen it in surrounding states too) and doesn't seem all that weird to me.
I enjoy it on boring pizzas, like just plain cheese or pepperoni, but give me a nice combo pizza with a ton of interesting stuff on it, and I don't really feel the need.
Banning it outright, however, seems kinda draconian to me, if people like it, they like it.
pcrackenhead at 1:07PM on 10/21/08
I can't stand pizza to begin with, but when my friends dragged me to a pizza restaurant like Shakey's or Godfather's Pizza, I'd peel off the toppings and eat the mushrooms and olives, leaving the cheese, sausage, peppers, pepperoni, and onions to rot. I mostly ate salads at pizza places and since I'm not fond of bread, I'd dip the crust in Thousand Island dressing. Of course, I didn't make a mess with the toppings like that with my parents.
Cassaendra at 1:11PM on 10/21/08
I think it's okay on frozen pizzas made at home. My friends husband puts ketchup on his pizza, which I think is pretty weird, and I'ld never heard or seen that before. Sometimes I put cottage cheese on my crappy frozen pizzas- it's good, it tastes like a flat lasagna.
aungeinphx at 1:15PM on 10/21/08
Dipping food in ranch dressing that isn't actually salad reminds me of kids who refuse to eat anything with ketchup. If it's not edible without a condiment, why would you eat it?
And, if you absolutely have to go that route, wouldn't flavored olive oil be more appropriate?
Amandarama at 2:02PM on 10/21/08
I wouldn't even put ranch dressing on my salad.
Fatfudge at 3:24PM on 10/21/08
Cassaendra's comment makes me nostalgic for the pre-Serious Eats days. A post on "Slice, America's Favorite Pizza Weblog" should never start with "I can't stand pizza to begin with..." :)
Keith W. at 3:33PM on 10/21/08
The only pizza that would need ranch (or any other diversion) would be a bad pizza. I try not to eat bad pizza.
irishnyc at 3:51PM on 10/21/08
Some Pizza joints here in Northern Ky offer Ranch Pizza. It usually has a ranch sauce, green peppers, onions and cheese. My husband dips all varieties of Italian foods in ranch dressing. If it has red sauce then I know to put the ranch dressing on the table.
LizSherman at 4:03PM on 10/21/08
I'm SUCH a ranch fanatic. My best friend always compares me to Homer Simpson in the episode he exclaims, "bring me my ranch hose!" But with that, I'm also extremely picky with it. Name brand ranch is absolute rubbish and you can completely taste the difference. That being said, homemade, restaurant made, whatever you call it is the triumphant winner in the situation, and my obvious choice in what I love to drown my pizza in.
Rozillla at 4:14PM on 10/21/08
Ranch on pizza is not my thing, but I've seen it done before- mostly by high schoolers.
I used to babysit for a family that liked to put a little bit of butter on the pizza bones. That was pretty good.
And one of my favorite slice joints sells really decent salads with super vinegar-y dressing. I get a slice and a salad and sometimes dip the crust. But at least it's oil and vinegar dressing.
Kerosena at 4:22PM on 10/21/08
I can think of a lot of things to be horrified by.
The use of ranch dressing is not one of them.
It's a taste preference & nothing more. I don't prefer it, but I really don't care that others do
staceylynn at 5:16PM on 10/21/08
Um, I'm originally from Oklahoma, and I pretty much have though of this a some what gross habit some people had in junior high, but very few actually retain. I don't really like ranch, and the only thing I will eat it with is celery or carrots. Around 10 years ago I was driving through Texas with my step-sister and we stopped at an exit of the highway with just a few fast food places. We opted for the pizza buffet place and were dismayed to find that the three pizzas on offer were all topped with ranch dressing instead of a tomato based sauce. We actually had to leave and find a new restaurant. Though the ranch pizza thing weirds me out, I generally let it slide as long as it's crap pizza, but this was like some kind of invasion of the body snatchers moment. Too weird.
inked at 7:10PM on 10/21/08
Blue cheese yes. Ranch no - - not on anything . . . EVER.
2eel2 at 7:20PM on 10/21/08
I'm strictly a BBQ-sauce-pizza-dipper. Actually, almost anything can be dipped into a good BBQ sauce.
tds77 at 7:35PM on 10/21/08
I'm just anti-Ranch PERIOD. One of the worst, most unnecessary products ever created.
As for pizza, I only want what I ordered on it, with maybe a few sprinkles of red pepper flakes. I don't dip it in anything.
alosha7777 at 7:43PM on 10/21/08
Anti-ranch!! Disgusting and unnecessary. Why mask the flavors of a delicious slice of pizza?
nyclocavore at 9:35PM on 10/21/08
No, I don't like ranch dressing and I most certainly don't need it on my pizza.
I just found out the other day that my boyfriend really likes Italian dressing on his pizza. One day a bottle of Italian was on the table while we were eating and I went to put it back in his refrigerator and he said "hey I was using that!" to which I replied with a look of disgust, "on your pizza?!". He claims he's had this habit for awhile. Anyone else do this?!
I think pizza tastes good the way it is.
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 11:59AM on 10/22/08
Adam: No prob. Once you start getting uppity about Freaking Wisconsin, of all things, it's curtains anyway. I come from a place where they take young cheese, batter it, fry it, and *then* dip it in ranch, so who am I to talk.
BangieB at 5:32PM on 10/22/08
@BangieB: I hope it didn't seem like I wasn't getting uppity about Wisconsin! I was born there and have a ton of relatives there (Milwaukee). I'm aware of the deep-fried cheese curds! Yum.
Adam Kuban at 5:37PM on 10/22/08
I had never really heard of putting ranch on pizza as general practice (although I did see it in college). But the town I grew up in had a townie pizza joint which made really awesome honey mustard sauce and everyone would ask for some to go with their pizza. I personally love to dip pineapple pizza in it. (We love it so much that they started selling frozen pies with a small container of it for people to take back to college with them.)
deanneheather at 5:57PM on 10/22/08
Adam: I had no idea. Way to represent the 'heads!
BangieB at 7:36PM on 10/22/08
THAT's what those packets of Ranch were for? Midwest college mystery solved.... sheeesh. I still don't get it, but yah... that pizza was really subpar.
bronxbrinergal at 11:15PM on 10/22/08
I had the same experience as you did -- in college, little cups of it would come with cheap/free fast food pizza. So did little cups of garlic butter. I no longer do that either. I grew up in Houston and went to college in Austin.
But it's also a Houston thing...or Texas thing...to dip everything in ranch. Fried pickles too!
jayevee at 1:01AM on 10/23/08
I have never even heard of putting ranch on pizza, but now I'm going to HAVE to try it! I dip my fried green tomatoes and fried pickles in ranch though .... mmmmmmm!!
coffeecrzychik at 12:08PM on 10/23/08
NO RANCH!
jaysus at 1:00PM on 10/24/08
i am from the boston area -- spent my whole life there until after college. there are a huge number of people that use ranch. everyone in my high school back east did, and now here in california at my office everyone is even MORE obsessed. must be a garlicky ranch, apparently. they dip fries, pizza, bread, anything you could imagine in it. but like everyone else said, generally as a dipping sauce for the crust. i don't do it, but i can't say i'm horrified that others do. i don't like ketchup but i don't freak out when i see people putting ketchup on things i wouldn't.
megannesta at 2:25PM on 10/24/08
I enjoy ranch on my pizza; especially bacon ranch. I started doing it when I was an undergrad living in my dorm and I was out of blue cheese which is what I usually used on pizza. The ranch flavor was great with the zesty pizza sauce and cheese.
niquejwuchef09 at 5:58PM on 10/24/08
I don't have anything against ranch dressing but I think it is just disgusting on pizza. It just turns into a warm soupy mess. Gross.
Marls Barkley at 9:15PM on 10/24/08
I am a 4th grade teach in Las Vegas, and most of the time when the school serves pizza for lunch, it also happens to come with a lettuce salad and a small cup of ranch dressing. Nearly every kid spreads the ranch on top of the pizza without a second thought. I think a lot of kids now think of ranch as a condiment and not a salad dressing.
I used to live in Nebraska, and a pretty large percentage of the 30-and-under crowd there can't eat pizza, even good pizza, without salad dressing on it. I have never understood.
Zachary at 1:24PM on 10/25/08
I used to hate pizza but then I tried it with ranch on accident. I'm the type of person that will eat something if it toches something else. So I try it and love it.
We have frozen pizza at home or we order pizza so it's easy. Then the only restaurant I get pizza at is Pizza Hut and they have a salad bar so ranch is there.
I dip all kinds. Ham & Pineapple in ranch is the best. BTW I only dip, I don't pour it on top.
Maserati777 at 8:00PM on 10/25/08
OMG, I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Never mind ranch alone, but the thought of ham, pineapple, and ranch ? My goodness, what a sacrilege to the almighty pizza.(NY style of course)
Well does any other really even exist?
I'm a Northern transplant here in the south (NC)
This is where I first discovered people using ranch as a condiment rather then the ones I had been brought up around such as Grated cheese or crushed red pepper .
C'mon, everyone knows if the pizza is good you don't need anything else besides napkins!
Come to think of it, some of the pizza I've tried to choke down here in the south might have actually tasted better with a jar of ranch for dipping!
Now it's starting to make sense.
I finally found a great pizza joint here without having to disgrace the almighty pizza pie!
And I can't stop laughing about Keith W 3:33 10/21/08 comment !
bringdis2dabank at 11:35PM on 10/26/08
I grew up in OK, but I have lived all over: KS, MO, NC, UT, CA and I have noticed that people eat different things based on where they are from and how they grew up. I don't think its fair to persecute one another for something we've never tried...all great combos had to start somewhere...ie: biscuits and gravy, sweet tea, chicken and waffles, etc. I personally LOVE Ranch or Garlic Dipping sauce on the crust pieces of my pizza, but only on the crust. One thing that I love to do with leftover pizza is top it with cottage cheese and a little black pepper! Call me crazy, but I also believe, its my pizza I can do what I want with it.
lmcd_momma at 3:38AM on 10/27/08
I just looked up ranch dressing and DID throw up in my mouth! Never heard of anyone dipping pizza crusts in any kind of dip, never mind what sounds like is probably some mass-produced, salt and fat-fest. You crazy Americans and your food mutilations. I need to cheer myself up by looking at a bird getting eaten by a spider.
jobeth at 8:44AM on 10/27/08
What a bunch of snobs. Don't put Ranch on pizza!! Eat whatever you want on pizza.
harstad at 1:32PM on 10/27/08
Hey there EatersRegret, I live in the UK and if I can get Ranch dressing here in Wales, I'm jolly sure you can get in in London! My local Tesco has one by Paul Newman. Never had it before so can't compare it with any other makes...bet you can get to a nice deli that would sell it, too!
NO NO NO NOT ON PIZZA!
snowmoonelk at 2:23PM on 10/27/08
Nothing is better than Ham & Pineapple pizza dipped in Ranch.
I hated pizza until I tried it with ranch. Any type of pizza goes great with ranch really except Mexican style, I usually dip that in sour cream.
Ferrari222 at 7:41AM on 05/25/09
I have NEVER heard of this culinary habit of ranch dressing on pizza until I read this in the Wash. Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052700821.html
It just seems like such an incongruous flavor or condiment to add to a pizza.
DC Caps at 11:30AM on 05/26/09
I absolutely love ranch on my pizza. Granted, I am a middle-school student (though homeschooled), and got the idea from my (middle school, homeschooled) friends after we started dipping French-Fries in Ranch (that's justified in Mich--here most of the fries are way too greasy or way too dry). We decided to try it on our pizza--and it's great. Only Hidden Valley (tm) works though. Deep dish pizza doesn't need it, fortunately. A group fave for us is cayenne pepper, fresh black pepper, ranch, and tabasco sauce. I agree, if it's good pizza, it doesn't need condiments, but (1) pizza in metro-detroit isn't that good, and (2), it doesn't matter if it needs it--if ya want it, I say put it on unashamedly!
skilletfan09 at 11:52AM on 10/10/09
Amen "omnomnom"! (I'm from Mich, too. Same area)
skilletfan09 at 11:55AM on 10/10/09
I don't put ranch on anything! Gross tasting stuff.
duncan1205 at 2:10PM on 10/10/09