Easily made from scratch, homemade Thousand Island dressing is so much tastier and more economical than store bought.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: The dressing can be used on salads, as a sandwich or burger spread, or as a delicious 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!
- It’s so versatile. We love Thousand Island dressing because it has so many uses. It’s just amazing on a sandwich, whether it’s a hamburger or turkey burger, or a classic Reuben or Rachel sandwich. It’s the perfect dressing for these oven baked turkey sliders (aka Rachel sandwiches).
- Add it to sandwiches and burgers. Please don’t settle for plain ol’ mayonnaise on your sandwich! Make it much more interesting and delicious with creamy, tangy and slightly sweet Thousand Island dressing.
- Top your salads. Some salads just call for a good creamy dressing, especially salads with romaine or iceberg lettuce. Have you ever tried Thousand Island dressing on taco salad? Yum! Or try mixing Thousand Island dressing with coleslaw mix to make a knock-out coleslaw. Don’t these Reuben eggs Benedict made with Thousand Island dressing sound delicious? Can’t wait to try those!
- Easy ingredients. You make your own homemade version using ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry or fridge. Nothing compares to homemade dressing! It’s so much fresher tasting and you can customize it to your own preferences.
Why Is It Called 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 To Make Thousand Island Dressing
It’s pretty simple. 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 the best 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.
What’s the Difference Between Thousand Island and Russian dressing?
Although the two dressings are similar, it appears that Russian dressing was created first, sometime in the mid 1800s. Thousand Island dressing is most likely a variant of Russian dressing, appearing in the early 1900s. Both dressings are mayonnaise based and contain ketchup or chili sauce. Russian dressing tends to have hot sauce or horseradish, while Thousand Island dressing more often includes chopped pickles, onions, peppers, and/or hard boiled egg.
Ways to Make This Dressing your own
There are many ways you can customize Thousand Island dressing. Here’s a few ideas but feel free to experiment. 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. I’d toss it after a week.
- Don’t care for garlic or onion? Leave it out. You could substitute finely chopped peppers or olives.
- 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: I confess that I don’t always have sweet pickle relish in my pantry so I 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.
- Make it keto. Use avocado oil mayonnaise and a no-sugar-added ketchup. Skip the sugar, and use dill pickles instead of sweet.
Refrigerate leftover Thousand Island dressing in a glass jar or airtight plastic container. It should keep for at least a week.
More Dressing Recipes
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
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
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl or jar. Refrigerate for at least one hour to let flavors meld.
Notes
- Makes 1 ¾ cups.
- Refrigerate dressing in an airtight container or jar for up to 1 week.
- Variations: add hot sauce, chili sauce, or horseradish. Add 1 chopped hard boiled egg, if desired (use dressing promptly).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
This is one of the best I’ve ever made! My late Daddy would have highly approved !
Thank you, that makes me so happy! Thank you for leaving a review!
Yummy!!!!!
Much better than store bought!
So glad you like it! Thank you for leaving a review!
This was the closest recipe to a salad dressing from an old (now closed) restaurant we used to frequent. I made a few small changes, but it is so tasty, I just wanted to say thanks for sharing!
I’m so glad you liked it!
I use this recipe all the time! My favorite Thousand Island dressing! Thank you for sharing!
I do use light mayo- Delicious!
I’m so glad you like it! Thank you for leaving a review!
I do not eat dressing, but my husband eats this type of dressing with his salad. There is no healthy alternative on the market, and it concerns me, because 3/4’s of the year we eat a lot of salad from our garden. Do you think I could get away with diluting my husband’s salad dressing with small increments of this dressing and slowly increasing the amount till he might not know the difference? If I downright ask him to try the homemade version, I know it will be a resounding no, but I worry about him eating a lot of seed oils in the store-bought version, so even though the dressing is still fattening at least it will have better ingredients. Just want to gage your opinion~! LOL
Haha well that kind of trickery is between you, your husband, and God. ;) But I’m supportive, lol!
It really is delicious! But hubby doesn’t like onions or garlic so I omitted them. But no worries, I love it! Will make again and again and again!
I’m glad you liked it – thanks for leaving a review!
Rather than cutting up an onion, I often reach for my bottle of dried minced onion. I mix 2 tablespoons of dried diced and onion with 2 tablespoons of water, let it sit for 10 minutes, and voilà, minced onions without the tears.
Not a bad idea!