This Vegan Thousand Island Dressing recipe is just as delicious as the classic original! Jazz up your favorite vegan sandwiches, salads, or fries with this versatile condiment that’s so easy to make.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links.
Why is it called Thousand Island?
It’s uncertain who created the first Thousand Island salad dressing recipe. Some say it was Sophia LaLonde of Thousand Islands region in upper New York state, or George Boldt, of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City. Maybe it was someone else. What’s clear: it has become a very versatile condiment on a huge variety of popular sandwiches.
What’s so “special” about Thousand Island dressing?
This dressing has been used as “secret” or “special” sauces in many restaurants throughout the years since it creation (does Mickey “D’s” come to mind?). It’s such a simple sauce to have made such a wonderful addition to every day food!
A Reuben wouldn’t be a Reuben without Thousand Island dressing, as it is with so many sandwiches in the standard American diet. This is still true for all the veganized versions of these favorites.
Traditional Thousand Island dressing is made with some non-vegan ingredients such as mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and sometimes hard boiled eggs.
Alternatively, this Vegan Thousand Island dressing is plant pure without any eggs or dairy in it! With this Thousand Island dressing there’s no need to use expensive, store bought versions.
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing Ingredients
This salad dressing prep time is a quick 5 to 10 minutes to make. You can put it together in a pinch if you need an additional tasty topping for those party food.
The following ingredients are all common staples in most pantries.
- Vegan Mayonnaise – adds the main creaminess and richness to the dressing. Use any store bought vegan mayo (preferably oil free) or our delicious low fat oil free Vegan Mayonnaise with only 17 calories per 1 tbs serving.
- Onion – red or yellow finely diced, for a slight savory addition. As an alternative, you can use onion powder.
- Ketchup – adds a sweet, slight tangy flavor balance to the more mellow mayo and creates most of the pink color to the dressing.
- Sweet Chili Sauce – for a bit of sweet spice.
- Cider Vinegar – adds a little more tang and complexity to the blend.
- Sweet Pickle Relish – for some interesting morsels of pickle and more flavors to blend.
- Paprika – additional color and another kind of mild spiciness.
- Salt – for flavor enhancing.
- Vegan Worcestershire Sauce – a little more tang, color, and savoriness.
How to make vegan Thousand Island dressing
Measure out the various ingredients small mixing bowl. Once you have everything in the bowl, just stir everything together with a spoon or whisk until it’s well blended. It will have a bit of texture to it, but if you prefer it somewhat smoother you can instead place everything in a blender and mix until smooth.
This Thousand Island dressing is ready to use immediately but will have a richer flavor if left to sit for about a half hour for the flavors to meld together better.
The dressing will last in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks in a sealed container.
Serving suggestions
You can add it as a topping to any number of your favorite sandwiches. How about on veggie burgers like our Black Bean Burgers or our Chickpea Burgers, or a vegan Reuben? You can use it as a dip sauce for our Baked French Fries, our Waffle Fries, chips, or sliced raw veggies. It’s also great on steamed or baked veggies. All of these options and more are available with this vegan Thousand Island dressing!
Frequently asked questions
In most Thousand Island dressing recipes, there is no dairy added. There is oil and eggs in the mayonnaise, however. This recipe uses an oil free vegan mayonnaise.
The main ingredients in Thousand Island dressing are mayonnaise, ketchup, and sweet pickle relish. Other ingredients are often vinegar, paprika, and onion.
You can store it in the refrigerator for up to 10 days in a sealed container.
Explore our Plant-Based Staples cookbook
Looking for more plant based salad dressings?
- Vegan Ranch Dressing
- Vegan Caesar Salad
- Vegan Creamy Italian Dressing
- Vegan Honey Mustard Dressing
- Vegan Garlic Dressing
- Green Goddess Dressing
- Hummus Salad Dressing
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a rating and feedback below. It only takes a few seconds, but helps other visitors to my site. Thank you for taking the time to leave your comment!
And come join my Oil Free Vegan Recipes and Support Facebook group, where you can share your favorite oil free vegan recipes, and give and receive support on your plant based journey.
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
- ¼ cup ketchup
- 1 ½ tablespoons onion red or yellow
- 1 ½ tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- 1 teaspoon sweet chili sauce
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon Vegan Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Measure out the various ingredients small mixing bowl. Once you have everything in the bowl, just mix everything together with a spoon or whisk until well blended. It will have a bit of texture to it. If you prefer it somewhat smoother, you can instead place everything in a blender and mix until smooth.
- This Thousand Island dressing is ready to use immediately, but will have a richer flavor if left to sit for about a half hour for the flavors to meld together better.