This vegan Thousand Island dressing is rich, creamy, and full of tangy flavor! It tastes just like classic Thousand Island, but it's totally egg and dairy-free.
Thousand island is one of those salad dressings that's really SO much more than a salad dressing. Personally, I grew up dipping fries, chips and veggies in it, or slathering it all over sandwiches.
These days I still crave that creamy texture and tangy flavor, so I decided to get to it and finally create a recipe for vegan Thousand Island. It's pretty simple! All it takes is a couple of simple ingredient swaps to veganize this delicious dressing, and these changes take absolutely nothing away from the flavor or texture.
You're going to want to pour this dressing on everything.
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Thousand Island vs Russian Dressing
The differences between these two dressings can cause some confusion.
Contrary to some beliefs, they are different, although similar! Both are creamy orange mayonnaise-based dressings with a touch of tomato. However, Thousand Island dressing is generally milder and sweeter than Russian dressing, being made with ingredients like sweet pickle relish and sugar.
Russian dressing, in contrast, it generally spicier than Thousand Island, being made with horseradish and hot sauce. If this sounds more like what you're looking for, head on over to my vegan Russian dressing recipe.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Vegan mayonnaise. Most grocery stores carry this, and it can usually be found near the regular mayo or in the natural foods section. Hellman's Vegan and Vegenaise are a couple of brands you'll probably see out there.
- Ketchup. Use an organic brand of ketchup. Conventional ketchup may be made with refined white sugar, which may be bleached using animal bone char.
- Sweet pickle relish.
- Red wine vinegar. You can try another type of vinegar if you've got one on hand. White vinegar, white wine vinegar, and apple cider vinegar will all work!
- Granulated sugar. This also needs to be organic, for the reasons mentioned regarding ketchup.
- Paprika.
- Onion powder.
- Salt.
How It's Made
Below is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you'd like to skip right to the recipe!
This is one of the easiest salad dressings you can make. Grab a bowl and a spoon and get ready.
Step 1: Place all of your ingredients into a small bowl. Just throw them right in there!
Step 2: Stir them up! Keep stirring until the mixture is smooth and creamy, making sure to work out any big lumps.
Step 3: Taste-test the dressing and make any adjustments you'd like. This could mean more sugar for extra sweetness, more vinegar for more tartness, more onion, paprika, salt...whatever you like!
Stir it up once more and it's ready to enjoy.
Shelf-Life & Storage
Homemade vegan Thousand Island dressing will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for at least a week.
More Vegan Salad Dessings
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons organic ketchup
- 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons organic granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- Pinch salt, plus more to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a bowl.
- Stir the ingredients until well combined.
- Taste-test the mixture and adjust any seasonings to suit your taste. Stir again.
- Serve.
Notes
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I hadn't eaten Thousand Island for about 60 years, because I'm a vegan. This brought back great memories, and I will make it again. I substituted maple syrup for the sugar. Thanks very much for this easy recipe.