Is Ranch Dressing Good for Kids? A Dietitian-Mom Says Yes. Here’s Why.
Inside: A dietitian mom makes the case for keeping ranch dressing in your fridge, especially if you have a picky eater.
There’s a bottle of ranch dressing in my refrigerator.
It’s not homemade. It’s not organic. It has preservatives and added sweetener and artificial flavor.
But because of this dressing, my ten year old eats baby carrots and bell peppers in his lunchbox and digs into green salads several nights a week. Read: How to Teach Your Kids to Love Salad
I have mixed feelings about this dressing. There are a lot of ingredients in it, and I tend to look for simpler lists. And I make the vinaigrette dressing my husband and I eat on our own salads.
But my kid loves ranch. Homemade ranch was rebuffed, and he didn’t like the various brands of natural and organic I bought.
My son is hardly alone in this. A lot of kids are more willing to eat foods like veggies when there’s a familiar sauce or dip involved. And there’s actually research to back this up.
Ranch isn’t the enemy
Trust me when I say that sauces and dips like ranch dressing and ketchup are your friends. They can make an unfamiliar food seem a little friendlier. They can make bland or even bitter vegetables more flavorful and appealing, which means your kids may eat more of them. Read: Your Kid Hates Vegetables. Now What?
Sauces and dips should be embraced at your table if your kids like them. They allow kids to feel safer exploring foods and can actually serve as a “bridge” that brings your child to accept lots of new things, including veggies.
In one study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, preschoolers who were especially sensitive to bitter flavors ate 80 percent more broccoli at snack time when it was served alongside ranch dressing.
And keep in mind that they’re often short-term tools (at least in the quantities kids tend to use them). In other words, your child probably won’t be drowning his salad in ranch dressing when he’s a grown-up.
What about the ingredients?
Yes, bottled condiments like ranch, ketchup, and barbecue sauce contain ingredients like added sugar and sodium. It’s not uncommon for added sugar to be one of the top three ingredients listed.
I’d rather see parents trimming those ingredients elsewhere, like cutting back on sugary drinks, and keeping these condiments on the table. Because frankly, I worry that talk about added sugar, sodium, and fat may actually cause parents to under-season foods—then wonder why their kids don’t like them.
After all, roasted cauliflower is so much better with a sprinkle of kosher salt. Sauteed carrots are transformed with a little dab of butter and pinch of brown sugar. And asparagus might taste better to some little eaters when it’s dipped in ketchup, something my youngest used to do.
Dips for picky eaters
Here are dips and dressings to consider adding to your table:
- Honey mustard: A sweet intro to mustard for kids.
- Peanut butter or almond butter: Great with celery and apples.
- Hummus: Serve with carrot sticks and cucumbers.
- Guacamole: Add some raw veggies alongside chips.
- Barbecue sauce: Works surprisingly well with roasted veggies.
- Ketchup: A classic. Goes with everything. As least that’s what my kids tell me.
My advice as a dietitian-mom
Serve a small squirt of ranch or ketchup on the plate or in a small bowl if you want to control the portion. Seek out condiments with ingredients you feel good about. There are natural and organic versions that don’t contain synthetic colors and preservatives.
But know this: My older son rejected every version of ranch dressing except the kind with preservatives and added sugar. I was okay with it because it meant he was eating salads and taking carrots and ranch in his lunchbox!
Consider it a useful tool—and know that a ranch or ketchup obsession will probably be, like so many things, another phase of childhood.
Where are we now?
More than ten years later, I’m happy to report that my ranch-loving kid still eats salads and other veggies. He still likes his favorite bottled dressing from childhood, but he also likes other kinds of dressings and sauces too.
The ranch dressing was a bridge, not a destination. And that’s exactly how I think about condiments and kids.
Amen, sister! Thanks for posting, sometimes I feel a little guilty for my ranch, too.
Stacy–you’re welcome! 🙂
This is fantastic! My picky eater ate roasted potatoes doused in ketchup last night, First. time. ever. I couldn’t have been more thrilled. I remember recoiling in horror when someone said they gave their kids apple sliced tossed with cinnamon sugar. What? It covers the browning she said. What? Aren’t apples the most perfect food? Don’t kids love them? Why do you need to add sugar to them!!! I tried to conceal my judgement,. And then I had a child who wouldn’t jump at the chance to eat plain apple. Yup. Cinnamon sugar apples. They are delicious by the way.
Janice–that is so funny about the apples! Oh gosh, I was so judgmental about too many things before I had kids–then karma put me in my place! 🙂 I grew up on cinnamon-sugar apples as a treat and still occasionally give them to my kids. We call them “apple pie apples” because they taste like the ones my kids sneak from the bowl when I’m making apple pie. Thanks so much for your comment!
No judgement here, Sally, we are far from perfect eaters, but if you ever have a little extra time, you might enjoy making my homemade ranch dressing recipe and seeing if your kids still love it. It made a convert out of my former Hidden Valley Ranch dressing lover, Celia http://www.thescramble.com/appetizers/healthy-snacks-and-appetizers-homemade-ranch-dressing-with-carrots-and-broccoli/
Thanks Aviva. As I say in the post, I’ll keep trying to expand his palate and am always on the lookout for new recipes for dressings so I will definitely pin yours (your recipes are great!).
I soooo needed to read this post today, for reasons too numerous to name. Thank You Sally for being able to admit there’s Ranch in your fridge. There are a lot of us fellow moms who feel better knowing that 🙂
You’re welcome Regan. I’m glad it helped you in some way. Thanks so much for sharing that!
Sally, you’re awesome! (but you already knew that I feel that way!). I love this piece and especially Katja’s quote. There’s been so much backlash in the press lately, with parents feeling the pressure to be “perfect” and reach seemingly unattainable goals when it comes to cooking and feeding their families. Our role has to be one of positive messaging and enabling the process. To me, that means helping parents start exactly where they’re currently at, and finding small, achievable ways to gradually move things in a healthier direction. If you know the destination you’re working towards, steady baby steps will still get you there!
Thank you Janet! I love what you say: “If you know the destination you’re working towards, steady baby steps will still get you there!” Perfect can become the enemy of good is so many cases when it comes to eating–and I agree with you that so many parents feel way to much pressure to get everything absolutely “right” and “perfect” when it comes to food. That’s a tall order and ultimately unachievable! Thanks so much for chiming in.
Yes, I totally agree! When my kids were babies, it was simple to get them to eat well, but once they started school , everything changed & it became a battle. Incorporating small changes & ranch & other sauces in moderation has gotten us back on a better eating path. My kids LOVE creamed spinach! I also serve the veggies ahead of the meal while they are the most hungry.
Having realistic goals that you can actually stick to will work better in the long run; as opposed to getting burned out & losing all together. Slow & steady wins the race !
Perfectly said, and I love you got the MD ok too (’cause who listens to what dietitians say? LOL). This is the exact bottle we have in our fridge, and 2 of my 3 kids will not eat raw veggies without it. The other kid, praise the Lord, is a foodie in training, and drools over gourmet olives, salads drizzled with balsamic, and quinoa. So he’s my favorite, and the other two leave me alone as long as they have their HV Ranch 🙂 Sharing this on my FB page – my readers will love this!
Thanks Julia! Goes to show how kids raised in the same family can have very different preferences!
This makes a lot of sense to me actually – I am an extremely picky eater because I don’t like a lot of sauces…and I don’t eat a lot of fruits or veggies either. Perhaps if I had tried a lot of foods with sauces, I would also be able to eat them without being “dolled up.” Instead I am tentative to try anything new.
Elaine–that’s an interesting theory. I actually didn’t like many condiments growing up eithel (and was a horribly picky eater). As an adult I’m discovering what I was missing and am broadening my horizons a lot. I think sauces and other condiments can definitely help kids get over the fear of new foods–or help them overcome what may seem bland or bitter at first. Thanks for chiming in!
I couldn’t agree more! I still use ranch dressing (I do get the light kind – still tastes great) because sometimes I just want some good old fashioned ranch! Not everything in our diet can be 100% “perfect.”
Thanks for your comment Melissa! I like the sounds of your blog–I’m big on letting go of perfection!–will check it out.
A couple of nights ago I was pulling dinner out of thin air – scrambled eggs and mushrooms with frozen microwaved (organic) peas. My 6 year old was none to sure about the mushrooms… Hubs, despite his total dislike of the fungi, suggested ketchup – a quarter size on the plate and eggs and mushrooms were eaten. My 2 year old decided that she liked them, too. Win! (Hubs ate something else – it’s a deep and enduring hatred for mushrooms!)
Another “sauce” that we love in our house is Ume Plum vinegar. We get it at our health food store and while it sounds weird it’s really good! Salty and tangy and wonderful on veggies. My girls eat more veggies with this stuff on it than anything else. Since I don’t ever use salt when cooking, the added salt through this isn’t excessive either.
Thanks!
Thanks for the vinegar suggestion–never heard of it, but I do love vinegar. I never feel guilty about sauces (even ketchup and ranch!) because they really do help with trying and accepting new foods–and most people I know don’t continue to put ketchup on everything as grown-ups. 🙂 I think it’s something you phase out of as your tastes change and you get older. Thanks for your comment!
I’m very selective about the foods I feed my son and he was a great little eater. Then he started rejecting vegetables and I was so bummed. I tried Ranch and it worked for him. I buy other kinds of grilling sauces too. He likes the variety and mostly eats it up including veggies. I try not to obsess over the labels because I know there’s ingredients I wouldn’t buy but I feel it’s for the better good.
Another trick I use to get more veggies in: I buy frozen organic bags of 1 fruit, 1 veggie and 1 kale, allow them to thaw then I use a food processor to process into a puree. Freeze the mixture into ice cube trays and save them in a freezer container. In the mornings I thaw 2-3 and add them to plain full fat Greek yogurt. He loves it!
This is my theory exactly! While I was the food service director at a K-8th grade school, I added a salad bar. I started with low fat ranch dressing and eventually decided to try changing to the full fat version after the veggie consumption wasn’t quite where I wanted it. It was interesting to watch as many, many more veggies started disappearing off that salad bar with this small change. Anyway to get the veggies INTO the children is okay with me 🙂
I completely 100% agree with this, but have you tried Bolthouse Classic Ranch? It’s still not great for you but better than Hidden Valley. I’m very picky about my ranch and I love this one! http://www.bolthouse.com/product/classicranch.
Krystal–I’ve tried a bunch of different kinds. For now he likes this one, though I have hope his tastes will eventually change. 🙂
My kids LOVE Bolthouse ranch! I always keep a couple bottles in the fridge! I feel better about it since it is made with yogurt. It tastes great!
I love ranch!!!!