Substitute your store-bought Thousand Island Dressing for this fresh and amazingly flavorful recipe, simply the best Vegan Thousand Island dressing.  Also, try Vegan Ranch Dressing. Vegan Tzatziki Dressing and Coconut Chia Salad Dressing.

Vegan Thousand Island Dressing

Making your own salad dressing is not only easy to prepare but it costs far less than store-bought salad dressings, you get to choose what ingredients you include, for instance, you can make it oil-free, sugar-free, dairy-free,  salt-free and preservative-free. You basically have way more control over the ingredients. 

My hubby would rather eat his salad without a dressing than to use store-bought salad dressings, so I usually prepare salad dressings for him and keep them in the refrigerator for about 5-7 days. 

I first enjoyed Vegan Thousand Island Dressing many years ago, when I made a recipe from the Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook, I believe the recipe was a cashew-based one, unfortunately, my copy of the cookbook is in storage so I don’t have the exact ingredients, so I decided to make my own version using a simple cashew-based vegan mayo recipe, add some ketchup and relish, simple and easy.

vegan thousand island dressing being spooned on a salad in a white bowl with a large salad bowl in the background

What Is Thousand Island Dressing?

Traditional Thousand  Island Dressing is an American sauce or salad dressing made from mayonnaise, ketchup, and chopped pickles (some traditional recipes included boiled eggs).

It is traditionally served with burgers, sandwiches, salads. 

What’s In Vegan Thousand Island Dressing?

  • Cashews – a perfect non-dairy substitute that results in a smooth and creamy salad dressing when cashews are soaked and blended with liquid. Soak cashews for about 2 hours if you don’t have a high-speed blender like a Blendtec. 
  • Ketchup – you can use store-bought or homemade ketchup.
  • Lemon Juice -use fresh lemon or bottled lemon juice, if you don’t have either then lime juice is a good substitute
  • Onion Powder – added for flavor, you can eliminate since the recipe has fresh minced onions.
  • Garlic Powder 0 added for flavor.
  • Salt – add to taste.
  • Sweet Pickle Relish – I used Pa’s Pickles brand. 
  • Onion – added for flavor, you can use yellow or red onions

How To Make Thousand Island Dressing?

  1. To make thousand Island dressing, rinse cashews and add to the high-speed blender along with water, ketchup, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. 
  2. Process until the dressing is smooth and creamy, pausing the blender to scrape down the sides.
  3. Pour salad dressing into a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, add sweet pickle relish,  onion, and stir. 
  4. Keep salad dressing refrigerated for about 1 week.

How Long Will Thousand Island Dressing Last?

Keep salad dressing refrigerated for about 1 week in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

How Can You Use Thousand Island Dressing?

vegan thousand island salad dressing recipe in a glass jar on a burlap napkin

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Categories

Nutrition

(Per serving)
  • Energy: 74 kcal / 309 kJ
  • Fat: 4 g
  • Protein: 2 g
  • Carbs: 9 g

Cook Time

  • Preparation: 10 min
  • Ready in: 10 min
  • For: 1 cup

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. To make thousand Island dressing, rinse cashews and add to the high-speed blender along with water, ketchup, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, and salt. 
  2. Process until the dressing is smooth and creamy, pausing the blender to scrape down the sides.
  3. Pour salad dressing into a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, add sweet pickle relish,  onion, and stir. 
  4. Keep salad dressing refrigerated for about 1 week.

Notes

Note: If your dressing is too thick, add extra water being careful not to add too much.

Recipe author's Gravatar image

Michelle Blackwood, RN

Hi, I’m Michelle, I’m the voice, content creator and photographer behind Healthier Steps. I share vegan and gluten-free recipes because of past health issues. My goal is to help you make healthier choices and show you how healthy eating is easy and delicious.