Poppin’ Ranch at its New York City preview. | Photo by Bret Thorn
I’m just going to throw this out there: protein ranch.
You know it has to happen. The macronutrient and creamy dressing are undeniably the biggest food trends of the moment, and the whey protein that’s being added so liberally to milk by coffeehouse chains can easily be stirred into ranch dressing, too.
Restaurant chains across the country have been adding protein-rich items to their menu since the beginning of the year, and my colleague Pat Cobe just reported on what she calls a ranch tsunami.
The World Cup reportedly turned a bunch of visitors from overseas on to the dressing.
I had thought ranch peaked early last year, when Jimmy John’s introduced a 6-ounce “soup” of its spicy Kickin’ Ranch and Burger King tested an 8-ounce cup for customers to dip their Whoppers in. I was wrong.
Over the past month, Sonic Drive-In launched a chicken tender wrap with garlic Parmesan ranch dressing, Wingstop introduced ranch mixed with the Mexican tangy and fruity condiment chamoy, and Zaxby’s brought back its chicken-bacon-ranch quesadilla, wrap, and loaded fries.
The latest ranch news comes from Buffalo Wild Wings, which launched Poppin’ Ranch last week. That’s ranch powder mixed with popping candy and sold in packets for 99 cents.
I went to a preview of it in New York City, at Ray’s Bar on the Lower East Side. Frankly, I would have liked there to have been more popping candy in it, but it certainly was ranchy, and versatile. I sampled it on wings, which I enjoyed, and I also had a Dirty Martini in a glass rimmed with the stuff. That worked for me.
@foodwriterdiary I checked out the #productlaunch of @Buffalo Wild Wings’ Poppin’ #ranch#restaurant#food♬ original sound – TaleFlick
Other partygoers said the Margarita in a Poppin’ Ranch-rimmed glass was “amazing.” So I tried it, quietly put it down, and silently wondered what’s happening with the palate of young people these days.
But I’m not going to dunk on ranch. It’s zesty, satisfying, and pretty much everywhere at this point.
I’m writing this during Nation’s Restaurant News’ CREATE conference at the Terranea Resort & Spa in Los Angeles, and during a team dinner last night at Nelson’s restaurant the fries were served not with ketchup but a glistening cup of ranch dressing.
Although ranch dressing was invented decades ago in California, it’s now most widespread in the Midwest and South, so seeing it as the dip of choice at a fancy property in Southern California caught me by surprise.
Where will we find ranch next? It’s already used to dip, well, everything in, rim cocktail glasses, and turned into popping candy.
Mixing it with protein is bound be just around the corner.
