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–+ servings
thousand island dressing in a small bowl with a spoon
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5 from 3 votes

Thousand Island Dressing

This dressing is a super-savory, slightly sweet, wildly versatile dream come true. Use it as salad dressing, burger sauce, reuben sandwich spread, and more. Includes vegan and keto versions.
Prep Time5 minutes
Additional Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Sauces and Condiments
Cuisine: American
Keyword: keto thousand island dressing, thousand island dressing, vegan thousand island dressing
Servings: 1 cup
Calories: 100kcal
Author: Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (224 grams) mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup (70 grams) ketchup
  • ¼ cup (40 grams) minced yellow onion
  • ¼ cup (40 grams) minced dill pickle
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Place all ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir to combine thoroughly.
  • Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least an hour before serving to let the flavors combine.

Notes

  1. Use good old supermarket brands of mayo, ketchup, pickles, and paprika for the most relatable version of this classic American recipe.
  2. I recommend making this recipe at least an hour in advance to give the flavors a chance to commune. It keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge for a week.
  3. Keto version: Since this recipe is mayo-based and doesn't use the dreaded sweet pickle relish, it's very easy to make it keto-friendly. The original recipe only has 1.(7 grams) of total carbs (1.(2 grams) sugars) per tablespoon. Depending on your needs, you can further reduce these numbers by using a sugar-free ketchup or swapping in two tablespoons of tomato paste instead of the ketchup. That's it!
  4. Vegan version: All you have to do to make this recipe vegan is to swap in a good-quality vegan mayo for the regular mayo. Also be sure that your brand of ketchup is vegan (some brands use sugar that isn't processed in a vegan-friendly fashion). Keep everything else exactly the same — you won't even notice the difference between versions.
  5. Thousand Island is a great choice of dressing for an old-school wedge salad. It tastes great on a classic burger or veggie burger (and is highly reminiscent of In-N-Out, Shake Shack, Whopper, and Big Mac sauce, but arguably even better). And I wouldn't make a corned beef on rye without it.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tablespoon | Calories: 100kcal | Carbohydrates: 1.7g | Protein: 0.2g | Fat: 10.3g | Cholesterol: 5.8mg | Sodium: 218.2mg | Sugar: 1.2g