Homemade thousand island dressing is great tossed with salad leaves but nothing beats it as the “secret sauce” on your burger. You’ve got to try it!
I’ll admit that I’m not a huge fan of store-bought thousand island dressing. Or at least, not a fan when it’s on a salad. But I truly love it on other things, like on a burger or spread onto a Reuben sandwich. It’s killer. The creamy tangy flavor cannot be beat and it’s so much better when you make this homemade version.
Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.
What Is Thousand Island Dressing?
Thousand Island dressing is a pretty basic mixture made of mayonnaise (sometimes I sub in yogurt to make it healthier), ketchup, sweet pickle relish (or chopped up bread and butter pickles), a few seasonings, and a little blast of hot sauce.
It’s worth noting that thousand island dressing is pretty similar to Marie Rose sauce, sometimes called seafood sauce or cocktail sauce in the UK. This is the stuff that Brits put on their shrimp cocktail, thus different from here in North America where we use a mixture of ketchup and horseradish sauce. Although you could trying mixing the two, like, make the thousand island dressing recipe below and then add horseradish to it. Yum!
Thousand Island Or Burger Sauce?
The base of this thousand island dressing is very similar to my burger sauce recipe, what some restaurants would call secret sauce. The salad dressing version has some vinegar and added seasonings, but you could totally substitute one for the other.
I think the reason it works well on sandwich-type things is that it has that creamy mayo thing going on and then a touch of sweetness and heat. So it adds a few things without being overly complicated.
Using Homemade Thousand Island Dressing
While of course you can use this homemade salad dressing on a garden salad or wedge salad, you can also use it as a condiment. My favorite use for thousand island is on burgers and sandwiches. Try it with my Classic Burger Recipe or these easy Air Fryer Burgers.
Some people also enjoy it as a dipping sauce for veggies or french fries. How do you use yours? A dressing, dip, or spread?
Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
More Homemade Sauce Recipes
Head over to TheCookful if you’d like to try some other homemade salad dressings. Or check out these great sauce recipes that work great for dipping or spreading on your sandwich.
Thousand Island Dressing Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 3/4 cup 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Mix
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
Homemade thousand island dressing is great tossed with salad leaves but nothing beats it as the “secret sauce” on your burger.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 Tbsp. ketchup
- 2 Tbsp. sweet pickle relish
- 1 tsp. apple cider or white vinegar
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp. onion powder
- 2 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco
Instructions
- Measure all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk until it is an even pink color.
- Use immediately or store in an air-tight container in the fridge.
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