Homemade Thousand Island Dressing Recipe - Rachel Cooks® (2024)

Easily made from scratch, homemade Thousand Island dressing is so much tastier and more economical than store bought.

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.

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.

Storage Tips

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