Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
Mmm, Thousand Island Dressing. That tasty “special sauce” that elevates salads and burgers and Reubens and is super easy to make at home.
In fact, it is so easy to make thousand island dressing that I’m sort of kicking myself for ever buying it ready-made. Five minutes and a little chilling time in the fridge, and you’ve got a tangy, zesty, “secret” sauce that’s equally at home on a piled-high burger as it is atop a nice, simple bed of greens.
It’s far less expensive than store-bought and it tastes, well, 1000 times better.
What’s in Thousand Island Dressing?
My recipe calls for ketchup, mayo, and relish; along with some finely minced onion and garlic. Then a bit of vinegar, salt, a dash of hot sauce if you like, and bam. Homemade Thousand Island.
How to Make Thousand Island Dressing?
Just mix the ingredients together in a small bowl and, like magic, Thousand Island Dressing! The flavor develops when you refrigerate it, so try to make it in advance if you can.
More frequently asked questions
Why is it called Thousand Island Dressing?
When I first shared this recipe, I didn’t know why! But some research turned up that “the name presumably comes from the Thousand Islands between the United States and Canada in the St. Lawrence River. In the Thousand Islands area, one common version of the dressing’s origins says that a fishing guide’s wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George’s shore dinner.” (source)
Reader CJ shared, “They call it Thousand Islands Dressing – originally known as Sophia’s Sauce because the recipe originated in the Thousand Islands. This unique and once the play ground of the very rich during the gilded age was and is a fisherman’s paradise. Today, although and nonetheless beautiful, and still a vacation destination, like most of upstate New York, the evidence of poverty can not be denied … I have a copy of the original, hand written recipe …”
Reader Kathy also shared, “Just wanted to let you know that Thousand Island dressing comes from the Thousand Island area of up state NY. Where are over a thousand island in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Fishing guides would take them out to fish and then cook them a ‘shore dinner’ One of there wives came up with the recipe. They lived in Clayton NY and who can still go there and get the original dressing..I grew up there and when I moved I realized most of the country had no idea that’s how it originated.”
Scroll down to read the comments for even more interesting information about the origin of Thousand Island Dressing.
How can I pep up this Thousand Island Dressing recipe?
- Many people like to add a finely diced hard boiled egg to the recipe, in fact, the original recipe (mentioned above) apparently included that. The egg adds a nice rich texture.
- Worcestershire sauce adds some nice flavor. One reader adds that and a pinch of ground cloves! Sounds delicious.
- Others like to use tomato sauce or tomato paste instead of the ketchup – the tomato paste would add a nice concentrated tomato element along with a bit of that coveted umami flavor.
- Many readers like to add some horseradish for a nice bit of zip. Others add a bit of cocktail sauce or even substitute the ketchup completely with cocktail sauce.
- To spice it up, add a dash of Tabasco as the recipe suggests. One reader adds chili-garlic sauce; another loves Sriracha. Yum!
So many ideas to make it your own!
If I don’t have sweet relish, can I use a different type of relish?
Yes! Dill relish is also delicious, or you could even finely chop some sweet or dill pickles and add them to the mix. We had a reader report using a spicy zucchini relish with success too! Make it your own.
Can I use onion powder instead of fresh onion?
Absolutely! I have not yet tried it this way personally, but a reader reported 1/4 teaspoon onion powder worked well.
Does Thousand Island Dressing have dairy?
No, this recipe is dairy-free.
Does Thousand Island Dressing have eggs?
Mayonnaise has eggs, so, yep! But you can use a vegan mayonnaise to omit the eggs.
Is Thousand Island Dressing vegan?
No, it is not, because the mayonnaise has eggs. But it’s a really easy swap – just use Vegenaise or another fave vegan mayonnaise instead of the classic mayo. Done!
Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
Five minutes and a little chilling time in the fridge, and you’ve got a tangy, zesty, “secret” sauce that’s equally at home on a burger as it is over a salad. Far less expensive than store-bought and it tastes, well, a thousand times better!
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 2 teaspoons finely diced onion (I use red onion but yellow or white would work just fine)
- 1/4 teaspoon finely minced garlic (about half of a small clove)
- 1 teaspoon white vinegar
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste
- 2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (optional)
Directions:
- Add all ingredients to a small bowl and mix well. Taste and add additional salt if desired. Refrigerate for at least an hour to allow the flavors to meld. Serve.
- Keeps refrigerated for up to a week.
Vegan option:
Use a vegan mayo such as Vegenaise.
Nutrition Information
Yield: About 3/4 cup, Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Amount Per Serving:
- Calories: 89 Calories
- Total Fat: 6.6g
- Saturated Fat: 1g
- Cholesterol: 5mg
- Sodium: 287mg
- Carbohydrates: 7.8g
- Sugar: 3.9g
- Protein: 0.3g
Adapted from Food.com
// All images and text © for Kitchen Treaty.
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I didn’t have all of the ingredients, but this looked so good that I had to make it! I had no ketchup or Sweet pickle relish, so I just used tomato paste, chopped dill pickles and a small amount of pure maple syrup. It was so yummy that I wanted to eat it with a spoon!! Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
This is so easy and really tasty. Why does the bottled stuff have to be so yucky? Doesn’t matter now, I won’t have to buy it again!
Delicious! I ran out of Thousand Island dressing and searched online and found yours.
Oh, No! I never buy relish! Then I remembered a trip I took over the summer where I purchased ‘Spicy Zucchini’ relish, thinking wow, this is… different.
I was a bit concerned when I read ‘sweet’ relish on your recipe knowing the only relish I had available was ‘spicy’ relish. When I took a sample taste of the spicy relish, it wasn’t super spicy. I used a bit less relish and simply added a dash of sugar to the relish, to sweeten it up.
With fingers crossed, I added my relish to the ingredients. I tasted the end result just before refrigerating and it tasted good, so good, I didn’t need to add salt.
Once chilled and ready to serve, this salad dressing was delicious.
Thank you for sharing your recipe, Kari! I am excited to try and taste more recipes you post!
-Gina in Delray Beach
Thank you so much, Gina! 🙂
I tried it both exactly as written and also by adding a 1/2 teaspoon of horseradish.. Delicious both ways.
Wonderful recipe! I didn’t change a thing and really enjoyed this much more than any bottled, commercial dressing.
Good recipe. We ended up using onion powder instead of fresh onion. It no doubt would have been better with fresh onion, but is was good with the powder. (I used about 1/4 tsp onion powder.) I added ~1/8 tsp garlic powder and that seemed to enhance it.
Thank you so much; I appreciate the review! 🙂 Great info re: substitutions.
I had an urge for some thousand island dressing for a sandwich, but we didn’t have any. My wife suggested I make some and so I did.
First, it’s vary tasty. It was certainly brighter than store bought, but that could be me too. As a “demo” I made a half recipe (and how many sandwiches could I eat?).
As made per directions it has the color, texture and taste of a thousand island dressing. Except the colors were not as muted, and the taste was slightly brighter than jarred thousand island. Thank you, it really is inexpensive to make. I’ll be making this recipe often. According to my wife, “It’s really good!”.
I’m so glad you liked it! Thanks so much for coming back and giving it a review. 🙂
I was just thinking the other day how to make thousand island dressing from scratch. So great timing. Instead of ketchup, can you use some emulsified tomatoes? Also what is your recipe for Mayo? I have one and am just interested in comparing – thank you !
Amy
Hi Amy, I have yet to try my hand at homemade mayo! I’ve not tried emulsified tomatoes either but if you give it a try please report back on how it goes! Thanks!
Made this about an hour and a half ago to go on my burgers. I taste tested it , delicious! Obviously the longer you let it sit in the fridge, the better the flavor. I highly recommend making this.
1170 calories??? Only if you swig the whole mason jar! A tablespoon on your salad will be about 80 cal, I figure….at most 120.
Just made it for the first time but substituted fill relish for more tang. BEST EVER! Thank you!
This was the BEST Thousand island dressing I ever had, minus garlic though. A keeper for sure!
I’ve bought many bottles of salad dressing in my life (thrown away quite a few as well!) but i’ve Always made my own Thousand Island dressing. This is a good basic recipe, but for those who thought it too bland (1) always use Best Foods mayo (or homemade if you do that kind of thing); (2) always use Chile Sauce, not ketchup ( it’s not hot, just more complex flavor than ketchup); (3) I use a lot of Chile sauce, at least 2:1 ratio, mayo to Chile sauce, maybe more depending upon your taste; (4) add 1/2 tsp. paprika and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of horseradish per 1 Cup of mayo, (5) add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce – not too much! If i’m Making this to go with seafood I replace the vinegar with lemon juice and double the horseradish. If i’m making a Wedge Salad I sometimes add a finely chopped hard boiled egg and garnish with some crumbled bacon.
Also this makes a great dressing for a Taco Salad!
Excellent vegan option.
Thanks so much!
Love it, can’t wait until my husband tries it.
He’s a big fan of thousand island. So easy to
make and will never make store bought again.
Thanks Mattie!
I think it’s great! It’s the same recipe that my Mother made but she added a cut up hard boiled (or two) eggs to it. I love it on a lettuce wedge. Thanks for your delish recipes.
I mix mayo, ketchup, dill weed, grated parmesan , and grated onion. We love it for chicken fried filets, or salad.
Love it!
LOVE this dressing! Needed it for our Reuben Sandwiches but it’s so delicious I will be using it on other things! (I used diced dill pickles instead of sweet relish, just personal preference)
I love dill pickles too! Thank you so much for your review. 🙂
Thank you so much! My boyfriend is making corned beef and it’s just not my favorite thing. I can handle it with thousand island, but all the store bought ones have more sugar than I care to have. I made this and it’s doing it’s flavor melding thing. It tastes great already! I just substituted finely chopped dill pickles for the sweet relish (personal preference and what I had on hand), and omitted the onion, just because I don’t like raw onions. I love the Tabasco addition and definitely went heavy handed on that. I can finally have thousand island again without the sugar guilt!
I’m so glad you liked this one! Love the dill situation. 🙂
I don’t consider something homemade when you’re using pre-made mayonnaise and ketchup.
I make all sorts of things “homemade”… biscuits, cornbread, pimento cheese spread… I don’t grow my own wheat or corn or pimentos… but it’s still homemade LOL.
1/2 cup mayonnaise (ok, you can actually make this)
2 tablespoons ketchup (this too, if you’re growing your own tomatoes)
2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish (grow your own cucumbers, then pickle ’em?)
2 teaspoons finely diced onion (I use red onion but yellow or white would work just fine) (onions are easy to grow)
1/4 teaspoon finely minced garlic (about half of a small clove) (ditto)
1 teaspoon white vinegar (no idea how to make my own white vinegar)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt plus more to taste (I live nowhere near an ocean or sea or salt flat)
2-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (optional) (peppers grow well where I live)
Who trolls a recipe website???? LAWD : )
Then make your own and don’t be rude. People leave FREE recipes. I will never understand people who complain. Use it or don’t but be kind.
absolutely delicious!!!!
This is from McCalls cook Book 1970, given to my dear wife when we bought a house in Oakville by an oil heating co.
1/4cup chopped stuffed olives, 3tb/sp Finley chopped green peppers, 2tb/so finely chopped onion, 1cup cooked salad dressing, 2 tb/sp chilli sauce and 1/4 cup milk.
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl refrigerate for 2 hours before use.
We are unfortunately only one now, 49 years later but I still refer to this cook book. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing!
I used the basics of your recipe and then used chili garlic sauce instead of Tabasco and a garlic clove, and I used chopped homemade pickles instead of relish…and a shallot instead of red onion. Hey, use what you got! It turned out fabulous! Thanks for the great starting point!
That sounds great! Thank you for sharing!
Amazing! I ran out when making rubens and had all of these ingredients on hand. I don’t think I’ll ever buy store bought again! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks so much for coming back to share your review! 🙂
Anything this easy and good gets a 5 in my book! We made it to put on cheesburgers and it was perfect! Thanks!
Wonderful! So glad you liked it!
It’s a great base. I’ve been mixing in sour cream and chipotle in adobo sauce(Embassa brand) for taco salad.
We are hunkered down because of the Covidvirus, didn’t want to venture out to the store, found this recipe & decided to try it. It was my youngest son’s Birthday , he wanted burgers, fries, onion rings. I too used dill relish, dash of paprika, refrigerated it for a couple of hours. That’s the key to let the flavors meld, did I mention I doubled the recipe. There were 4 adults & 2 littles (3&4), I thought my son would lick the bowl clean! Will be using only this recipe & no more dressing with stuff you can’t pronounce! DELICIOUS 😋
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thanks so much for your review, and happy birthday to your son. Hang in there – craziness right now, eh?
My favorite thousand island dressing! I love it on tempeh reubens!
Thanks so much for the review! And I need to try a tempeh reuben stat – YUM!
Instead of just assuming that only Americans or Canadians
Will be using your recipe.
Why not put other measurements like fl oz (fluid ounces)
or ml ((millilitres) on your website. It may stop people
like me ignoring the recipe because it is measured in cups.
Also, to make it truly home made add a further two recipes
for home made mayonnaise and ketchup.
Thank you for your suggestions.