Ranch dressing has long been a popular salad component, dip, and sandwich condiment. However, it’s becoming even more popular as several chains have recently introduced menu items made with it, mostly spicy versions, including Jimmy John’s which on Tuesday started offering its spicy Kickin’ Ranch as a 6-ounce “soup.”
Jimmy John’s removed that particular dressing — spiced with peppers, garlic, onion, parsley, black pepper, and paprika — from its menu in January of last year as part of a regular menu update, “but its absence was strongly felt by fans,” a spokesperson said. Indeed, change.org petitions were created to bring it back, and comments on social media inspired the chain of more than 2,600 restaurants to create a song called “Bring Back My Kickin’ Ranch.”
Among those comments were declarations that customers loved the sauce so much they could eat it with a spoon, hence the “soup,” which is priced starting at $2.89.
Additionally, Jimmy John’s is offering the returning sauce as a free addition to any sandwich or wrap. It also has introduced Kickin’ Ranch Jimmy Chips as a limited-time offer. Priced starting at $1.69, the chips are an extension of the chain’s existing Jimmy Chips potato chips.
Jimmy John’s has also introduced a Kickin’ Ranch Chicken Wrap as a permanent addition to the menu. Starting at $8.59, it’s made with grilled chicken, provolone cheese, onions, lettuce, tomato, a hot cherry pepper mix called Jimmy Peppers, and Kickin’ Ranch in a flour tortilla.
Jimmy John’s isn’t the first chain to introduce a giant portion of ranch dressing. In October Burger King started testing an eight-ounce cup of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing for $1 at select locations in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, and San Francisco.
Called The Big Dip, the container was intended for dunking sandwiches into rather than eating it with a spoon, but what customers actually did with it is anybody’s guess.
Taco Bell also introduced a spicy ranch in mid-December. The Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce was introduced on Dec. 19 as a dipping option for the new Crispy Chicken Nuggets.
"The Crispy Chicken Nuggets deliver a crispier, more flavorful nugget experience, and combined with the Hidden Valley Fire Ranch Sauce, we hope it will test people's devotion to their favorite nuggets," Taco Bell chief marketing officer Taylor Montgomery said in a statement at the time of its launch.
Ranch dressing is already on 32.3% of all menus in the United States, according to Technomic’s Ignite Menu data, and over the past year, its mention as an add-on to existing items has increased by 14.2%.
Smaller chains are getting in on the action, too. Fajita Pete’s, a 31-unit chain based in Houston, just introduced a jalapeño ranch sauce, priced at $1.59 for two ounces and $4.49 for five ounces, as a permanent menu option.
Wings Etc. Grill & Pub, a chain of around 80 units based in Fort Wayne, Ind., is testing Ranch Fire Sauce and related items at locations in the Missouri communities of Cape Girardeau, Dexter, and Jackson, as well as in Boiling Springs, S.C.
The Ranch Fire Sauce is a combination of traditional ranch dressing and Wing’s Etc.’s Wall Sauce, its spiciest condiment, made with habanero peppers as well as cayenne pepper and garlic.
It’s being offered on the Ranch Fire Burger made with two seasoned smash burger patties and a slice of pepper Jack cheese, plus two slices of bacon, grilled jalapeño peppers, lettuce, tomato, and the new sauce on a toasted bun with a jalapeño popper on top.
A Ranch Fire Chicken Sandwich also in test has a similar build but with a choice of a fried or grilled chicken breast instead of beef.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected]
