Thousand Island Dressing

At a glance

What stands out: Easily made from scratch, from-scratch Thousand Island dressing is so much tastier and more economical than store bought. Thousand Island dressing can be used on salads, as a sandwich or burger spread, or as a rich fry sauce.

How long it takes: 10 minutes
Equipment you’ll need: small bowl or jar
Servings: makes 1 ¾ cup

Thousand Island Dressing (It’s the Secret Sauce)

Ever wonder what that “secret sauce” on a Big Mac is? Or maybe you wonder what makes a Reuben sandwich taste so good (besides the corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese)? Well, here’s the secret: Thousand Island dressing!

Top your salads and bowls. Some salads just call for a good creamy dressing, especially salads with romaine or iceberg lettuce. (Be sure to try our main course Big Mac salad!) Have you ever tried Thousand Island dressing on taco salad? Yum! Mix Thousand Island dressing with packaged coleslaw mix to make a knock-out coleslaw. We love this burger bowl with roasted potatoes, ground beef, and burger-style toppings, drizzled with creamy Thousand Island dressing. So good!

Add it to sandwiches and burgers. Please don’t settle for plain ol’ mayonnaise on your sandwich! Make it much more interesting and rich with creamy, tangy and slightly sweet Thousand Island dressing. It is just as memorable on a sandwich, whether it’s a beef burger or turkey burger, a classic Reuben or a California Reuben. It’s the reliable dressing for these oven baked turkey sliders (aka the kitchen sandwiches).

Straightforward ingredients. You make your own from-scratch version using ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. Nothing compares to from-scratch dressing! It’s so much fresher tasting and you can customize it to your own preferences.

Jennie Said:

“we can now delete all other Thousand Island recipes…this one is perfection. Best salad ever….and we have never tasted a better restaurant dressing. Thank you kindly. We have looked so long for the standby and this is it.”

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Origin of Thousand Island dressing

Here’s a little bit of history if you’ve ever wondered where the name Thousand Island comes from. The dressing originated in the Thousand Islands region, an archipelago of 1,864 islands located along the upper St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada. Who created this dressing first is sort of a mystery, as there are many people claiming to have been the first person to make it.

How it comes together

Straightforward ingredients. You’ll need only nine ingredients, and two of those ingredients are salt and pepper. While there are often only 3 ingredient recipes for this dressing (mayo, ketchup, pickle relish), the extra ingredients add more layers of flavor.

You’ll only need one small bowl. Begin by stirring together mayo, ketchup, sweet pickle relish. Next, stir in a tablespoon of white vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar, amping up the sweet/sour flavor. For the final touch, stir in a little finely chopped onion and garlic. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Make it ahead. For a standby flavor, prepare the dressing at least an hour or up to 24 hours in advance so the flavors have a chance to integrate, and the onion and garlic soften up a bit.

Ways to change it

There are many ways you can customize Thousand Island dressing. Make your own “secret” sauce!

• Add an egg. Many Thousand Island dressing recipes call for a finely chopped hard boiled egg. Keep in mind, this will reduce the length of time you can store the dressing in the fridge. We'd toss it after a week.
• Make it without garlic or onion. You could substitute finely chopped peppers or olives, if you like.
• Try a different kind of vinegar. Cider vinegar, rice vinegar, or white wine vinegar would all be fine although each would lend a slightly different flavor to your dressing.
• Pickle relish options. We confess that we don’t always have sweet pickle relish in our pantry so we often use dill relish for this dressing and it tastes great! Alternatively, make it without relish. Or just chop up a few pickles and add those.
• Add spicy heat. If you want to spice it up, add a little hot sauce, chili sauce, or horseradish, to taste. If you like Russian dressing, it is similar to Thousand Island but usually has a spicy element.
• Make it keto. Use avocado oil mayonnaise and a no-sugar-added ketchup. Skip the sugar, and use dill pickles instead of sweet.

Keeping leftovers

Refrigerate leftover Thousand Island dressing in a glass jar or airtight plastic container. It should keep for at least a week.

• Yield: 14
• Prep: 10 minutes
• Total: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ¼ cup sweet pickle relish (dill relish or chopped pickles can be substituted)
• ¼ cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
• ½ teaspoon finely minced garlic (about 1 clove)
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper

Method

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or jar. Refrigerate for at least one hour to let the flavors blend.

Notes

Storage: Refrigerate dressing in an airtight container or jar for up to 1 week. Makes 1 ¾ cups.

Variations: Add hot sauce, chili sauce, or horseradish. Add 1 chopped hard boiled egg, if desired (use dressing promptly). Omit garlic and onion, if desired.

Serving suggestions: Thousand Island dressing is great on lettuce salads (try our Big Mac salad ). It makes a reliable dressing for taco salad. Try a burger bowl! Mix it with a bag of coleslaw mix for a knockout Thousand Island coleslaw. It also makes a great sandwich spread. Try it on burgers or Reubens. Add it to your chicken sandwich. It makes a tasty dip for French fries or sweet potato fries, too.