Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

In the South, if someone says their burger or sandwich is made with a "secret sauce," you can almost guarantee it goes by another name: Thousand Island dressing.

This sweet, tangy, creamy dressing may be best known as a salad dressing, but that's not where its utility stops. You'll also find it on burgers (it's the secret sauce of a Big Mac at McDonald's), on Reuben sandwiches, even as a dip for French fries.

Learn how to make homemade Thousand Island dressing and how long you can keep it stored in the fridge.

Ingredients for Thousand Island Dressing

This tangy, slightly sweet salad dressing is traditionally made with mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, and vinegar or lemon juice. But this recipe is famously versatile (and can have many different names and versions: Russian Dressing, French Dressing, Catalina Dressing, and even Comeback Sauce). Have fun with this recipe, and lean into your particular preferences, using additions like minced onion, paprika, celery, even hard-boiled eggs. Here's what you'll need:

• Ketchup: Provides acidity and sweetness as well as a subtle pinkish hue to the dressing.
• Mayo: Creamy and consistent, tangy mayo carries the base of this dressing.
• Sweet pickle relish: Tart and tangy and also sweet, sweet pickle relish more importantly provides delightful bursts of pickle.
• Sweet onion: Finely chopped, sweet onions adds a mild oniony tang without too much bitterness.
• Fresh garlic: Gives the dressing some heat and sharp flavor.
• White vinegar: Tempers and balances the flavors of onion and garlic with the sweetness of ketchup and tangy mayo.
• Sugar: Balances the savory notes of the dressing and mellows out some of the acidity.
• Salt and pepper: For seasoning and balancing the emulsion of flavors in this recipe.

What Is the Difference Between Thousand Island Dressing and Russian Dressing?

Thousand Island Dressing and Russian Dressing are essentially the same thing: a combination of mayonnaise and ketchup with spices and piquant flavorings—though some may disagree when it comes down to the details.

Russian Dressing is spicier and not as sweet, and more often used for classic Reuben sandwiches. Most recipes for Russian dressing do not include sweet pickle relish, which lends more sweetness to Thousand Island dressing iterations.

But as with many dressing combinations that share the same or similar ingredients, there are no hard and fast rules. Both dressings are often used interchangeably regardless, and there are other versions with a higher mayo-to-tomato ratio that are affectionately called "French" or "Catalina" dressing.

One uniting factor is true: All of these dressings, no matter what they are called, are a foundational iteration of special sauce that is beloved on burgers across the South. With or without relish, it's a dressing that is fairly sweet, thanks to the added sugar and natural sugars of tomato in ketchup. It's also tangy, thanks to lots of mayo (and we're probably using Duke's). Thousand Island dressing is great topping for salads in which the greens might have a bit of bitterness, or wedge salads where the thick, creamy dressing looks beautiful on the hunk of iceberg.

Why Is It Called Thousand Island Dressing?

The history of the Thousand Island dressing is a little fuzzy, but most accounts trace it back to the Thousand Islands region of the St. Lawrence River, between the United States and Canada. So while it's not Southern, we've certainly taken a liking to it and love to eat it on everything from fried bologna sandwiches to burgers.

How To Store Thousand Island Dressing

With homemade dressings, it's best to plan to use up the batch within about a week. Unlike store-bought salad dressings, homemade versions won't last as long in the fridge. Once mixed, seal the mixture tightly in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator; enjoy within 3 to 4 days.

Editorial contributions by Kimberly Holland and Catherine Jessee.