How to Make Classic Thousand Island Dressing

What is Thousand Island dressing?

Thousand Island dressing is made with mayonnaise and ketchup (or some other sweetened tomato condiment), thickened with a hard-boiled egg pressed through a sieve, and enlivened with vinegar and sweet pickle relish.

Thickening your dressing

Pushing a hard-cooked egg through a fine-mesh sieve isn’t something you come across often in a recipe nowadays, but it wasn’t uncommon as a thickener when Thousand Island dressing was invented.

As a technique, very finely mashing, sieving, or grating a hard-boiled egg works very well, adding not just taste, but also texture and depth not usually associated with salad dressing. It’s the backbone, like mustard in a vinaigrette.

It makes sense if you think about it: Tuna fish salad, a mid-century favorite, becomes creamy with some well-mashed or sieved egg yolks; homespun recipes from the same era showcase egg yolks to thicken gravies. Eggs moved from elegant to everyday in about 50 years and by the 1970s, even deviled eggs fell out of favor and were considered dated and old. This is when Thousand Island recipes began to change and suffer.

The origins of Thousand Island dressing

Thousand Island dressing has an overabundance of origin stories. It was invented in the resorts in the Thousand Island area of the most northern reaches of New York state and southern Ontario, Canada, just after the turn of the 20th century.

Russian dressing, Thousand Island dressing’s horseradish- and paprika-flecked cousin, has origins that are just as murky. It seems this dressing may have included caviar as an ingredient — hence the Russian moniker. As we know it, it was invented in the resorts of New Hampshire around the same time Thousand Island debuted.

Both dressings were thought of as upscale food, served with fresh greens, reserved for those privileged to “summer” away from the heat and masses of urban areas. Oddly, over time, Russian dressing was adopted by New York’s urban delis while the Thousand Island graced fine steakhouses.

Despite its origin as a sauce for the fanciest, Thousand Island dressing devolved through the 1970s into mass-market production, becoming the oft-maligned dressing that sits across from the cottage cheese in large squeeze bottles at salad bars and atop a Big Mac. Yup, it’s pretty much the special sauce!

Classic Thousand Island Dressing

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups prepared or homemade mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely minced or grated onion
• 3 to 4 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder or freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large hard-boiled egg, peeled
• 1 teaspoon minced pimientos or roasted red pepper, optional
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh chives, optional
• Few drops of any Louisiana hot sauce, to taste, optional

Directions:

1. Mix the dressing: In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, cider vinegar, onion, relish, salt, and chili powder or pepper and mix until well-combined.
2. Add the egg: Press the egg through a fine-mesh sieve into the bowl and mix well.
3. Customize the dressing: If you wish, add any combination of optional ingredients (pimientos, chives, and/or hot sauce) and mix well.

Recipe note: This dressing can be served immediately, but it tastes even better if refrigerated in a covered container for 12 to 24 hours. It will keep for about four days.

Tami Weiser is a contributor to TheKitchn.com, a nationally known blog for people who love food and home cooking. Submit any comments or questions to editorial@thekitchn.com.

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