Learn how to make homemade dairy-free Vegan Thousand Island Dressing (No Mayo!) and oil-free! The perfectly sweet, tangy, bold, creamy and thick salad dressing for all of your salads or use as a dip for veggies!
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
VEGAN THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING
I’m so super excited about this homemade Vegan Thousand Island Dressing! I can pretty much guarantee if you served this to non-vegans, they would not know it isn’t the “regular stuff”. It tastes that authentic to me. I even giggled after the first taste because it was so delicious, haha. My daughter went absolutely nuts over it! Big smile and a thumbs up after the first bite. I used to love this stuff before going vegan and like many recipes on my blog, I’m all about teaching you how to recreate classics in a healthier vegan and oil-free way. I’ve already done that with this Vegan Caesar Dressing, this Oil-free Creamy Italian Dressing and this Best Vegan Ranch Dressing!
WHAT IS THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING MADE OF?
If you’ve had Thousand Island Dressing, you know that it is creamy, tangy, bold and sweet. It is pretty much one of the boldest salad dressings out there, flavor-wise. When I set out to recreate this dressing, like with other classics, I research what the non-vegan version uses as a base. So, what is in traditional Thousand Island Dressing? While some flavors and spices can vary, they all contain the following:
- mayo
- ketchup
- sweet pickle relish
Mayo of course means eggs and oil. Well, obviously I don’t want either of those. I want an oil-free vegan Thousand Island dressing! Even vegan versions use a vegan mayo, which is nothing but oil. I’m always focused on avoiding oil as much as possible. If you are as well, then be sure to check out my extensive expert tips and guide on How to Cook and Bake Without Oil! So, for the mayo, I of course created my own tangy creamy base. Cashews, water and lemon juice.
HOW DO YOU MAKE VEGAN THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING?
It’s so easy to make this vegan Thousand Island Dressing!
First, gather the following 7 ingredients (+salt):
- 1/2 cup raw cashews
- ketchup (use store-bought or my homemade ketchup)
- lemon juice
- dry mustard
- fresh white onion
- sweet pickle relish
- regular paprika
If you have a Vitamix, you can have it ready in 10 minutes! If you don’t, you will need to soak the raw cashews overnight (8-12 hours) in some water, drain and rinse. This is crucial so they are soft enough to blend into a perfectly smooth and creamy texture. Otherwise, you will have gritty dressing and nobody wants that.
Add all of the ingredients, reserving 1 tablespoon of the sweet pickle relish to stir in after blending to a high-powered blender. Alternatively, if you are using soaked cashews, it will likely get smoother in a food processor if you have a weak blender. Blend on high until 100% smooth, scraping down the sides a couple of times during.
Pour into a bowl or jar and stir in the reserved pickle relish. I added 2 tablespoons to stir in. This gives that classic textured look as well. If you would like a kick to your dressing, add a pinch of cayenne. This isn’t classic, but cayenne always tastes good to me! Enjoy right away, no need to chill! Serve over salads or as a veggie dip. The flavor is so bold and delicious, it will liven up anything you serve it with.
OTHER CREAMY VEGAN SAUCES AND DRESSINGS TO TRY:
- Vegan Pimento Cream Sauce
- Oil-free Romesco Sauce
- Vegan Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
- Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing (nut-free!)
- Vegan Red Pepper Curry Sauce
- Almond butter Dressing
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vegan Thousand Island Dressing (No Mayo!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (75g) raw cashews
- 1/2 cup (120g) water
- 6 tablespoons (90g) ketchup
- 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons (10-20g) raw finely diced white onion (I used 2, start with 1 if unsure)
- 1/4 teaspoon regular paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 tablespoons (20g) sweet pickle relish (reserve 1 tablespoon to stir in after blending)
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- If you have a Vitamix, you can make this in 10 minutes! If you don't, you will need to soak the raw cashews overnight (8-12 hours) in some water, drain and rinse. This is crucial so they are soft enough to blend into a perfectly smooth and creamy texture. Otherwise, you will have gritty dressing and nobody wants that.
- Add all of the ingredients, reserving 1 tablespoon of the sweet pickle relish to stir in after blending to a high-powered blender. Alternatively, if you are using soaked cashews, it will likely get smoother in a food processor if you have a weak blender. Blend on high until 100% smooth, scraping down the sides a couple of times during. If using my homemade ketchup, which is slightly less salty and sweet than commercial, taste and decide if you want to add more salt or relish. I do not and love it as is, but this dressing with my homemade ketchup is slightly less salty.
- Pour into a bowl or jar and stir in the reserved pickle relish. I added 2 tablespoons to stir in. This gives that classic textured look as well. If you would like a kick to your dressing, add a pinch of cayenne. This isn't classic, but cayenne always tastes good to me! Both my lemons and ketchup were cold from the fridge, so the dressing was cold and I could enjoy it right away. If you want to chill yours first, then go ahead, if needed. Serve over salads or as a veggie dip. It would be amazing on burgers or sandwiches as a spread, too! The flavor is so bold and delicious, it will liven up anything you serve it with.
- This will yield about 1 1/2 cups of dressing. Store in the fridge for about a week. You can freeze extra if you like. I have not tried freezing it, but I'm sure it would freeze fine. Just thaw in the fridge overnight and whisk back to a smooth consistency.
This dressing is amazing! It’s the closet dressing I’ve made so far that is almost exactly like the original! Only changes I made because of what I had on hand was finely chopped dill pickles and dried onion flakes! This one will be will always be on hand from now on!!
Love this dressing! My husband loves the store bought version…but this is now our go to!! He really liked it. I love that it is oil free, dairy free and just all around more healthier and tastes awesome. Thanks for creating such a wonderful recipe❤️
I’m so very happy to hear you both loved the dressing, Jess, yay! Thank you for the review!
Couldn’t you just use a healthy cashew butter in place of the cashews?
Yes, just use one without added oil and make sure to use the same gram weight listed.
Enjoyed this recipe. Definitely reminds me of 5housand islands dressing. I used 1/2 cup of garbanzo beans in place of cashews to keep the fat out. Thanks again for a delicious dressing recipe!
@Mim…🫶🏽your nut free option… aka garbanzo beans…is appreciated.
I made this yesterday and it was freaking delicious!
I used mustard from a jar and onion powder. Soooo good. Thank you
Yay!!!
If you have a vitamix, do you need to soak the cashews?
Nope, I don’t!
This was really good. I made some very small changes. I added minced garlic. And I wanted it chunky so I put the minced garlic, diced onion, and sweet relish in after mixing the other ingredients in the blender. A also added a little more water to make it slightly thinner. But again, the flavor was so good. I will definitely be making this again.
So happy to hear that Tami!
I just made this dressing this morning to have with salad later. Wow! What a perfect flavor and consistency! I just found your blog a few days ago and I can already tell that I will be trying many of your wonderful looking recipes! Thanks and best wishes!
Yay so happy to hear how much you loved it! Thank you for the kind words!! If you loved that dressing, you may want to check out my All Oil-free Dressings and Sauces Ebook! You can read about it here: https://thevegan8.com/oil-free-dressings-and-sauces/
Can you use cashew yogurt to make this recipe instead?
Hi, no yogurt has added other ingredients and would be too much liquid and tang. You need plain cashews.
Wow! I was having a hard time finding vegan non-oil salad dressings and this is a keeper – I had to make a batch for hubby with a kick of cayenne for his taste buds!
I forgot to put my 5 star rating!
Delicious – made with sunflower seeds and it was so good. I’ve tried with mushroom burger, as a dip for air fried chips and with new potatoes and salad so far. All five star.
So glad it was a hit!!
Fabulous!
Ok, this may be a silly question, but could you freeze this? (Or any of your salad dressings?) I find I never finish recipes like this in time 🙂
Yes definitely! They all freeze well!
Truly delicious and I agree that no one would know the difference. This is a keeper!! I made this recipe for vegan Ruben sandwiches and wow!! Oh and I already had an organic pickle relish that wasn’t sweet and added a tsp of date syrup which worked incredibly well to replicate the exact flavor of TID I recall. Thank you, thank you!!!
Super happy with this easy and delicious recipe! Thanks so much. Like Vitamix, my Blendtec makes this super fast and extra creamy. Kudos!! I will make this again and again as it;s so much healthier than the vegan mayo-based versions. Thanks for sharing!
This dressing!! You all will think I’m crazy but I have gone through 2 quarts of this!! A dbl recipe is darn close to a quart. I haven’t eaten this much salad in…never! Its so incredibly tasty. Tangy, sweet, umami…I cannot get enough.
If you want to eat more greens make this dressing!
10 tasty stars!
haha that is so awesome to hear, thank you Terri!
This taste as good if not better than any thousand island dressing, vegan or not. Love it, thanks for sharing!
I am so happy you loved it Shawna!
Hello. Do you have other fat free, dairy free dressing suggestions? Thanks
Yes, here is my whole list! https://thevegan8.com/oil-free-vegan-salad-dressings/
Made this last nght and we could not tell the difference from the mayo version I make. So great and now we can start our new diet. My partner (who thinks 1000 Island dessing is food group) hs been so worried about only vigrette. Can’t wait to try some of your other recipes. thanks so much.
Woohoo! That’s awesome!
Oh Brandi- this is such a great TI dressing- vegan or not!
I could serve this to anyone!
I only had dill relish so I use I T. and it was the perfect amount. I thought I might need to add some sweeetener but I didn’t think it needed it.
For the onion. I took a 1/4 slice of a medium onion (too late at night to chop) and it was just right.
You are our hero Brandi for blessing us with such stellar recipes! (Your book is outstanding!!)
SO happy to hear you loved it so much, Leslie! So thrilled you love my book, too, thank you so much!
Made this last night and it was great!! I used TBS measure for the ketchup, but think I over measured. Still good, but more ketchup-y than I expected. Next time I will weigh it or measure more carefully.
Also used the 3rd TBS of relish. So great to have a healthy, oil-free dressing. Thank you!
So happy you loved it!
This is by far the best dressing I have made! It’s delicious! I may even fool my husband, haha!
Curious, do you know what the fat content would be per serving?
Thanks for this great recipe 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
So happy to hear that Susan!! Will get it added today to the recipe card above!
Brandi, this dressing is absolutely fantastic lady! It tastes just like traditional thousand island dressing! The only change I made was that I replaced the cashews with a half cup of lightly cooked soybeans. I like to batch cook and freeze soybeans so that I can make fresh soy milk whenever I need it. They worked perfectly! I aim to follow a high carb low fat vegan diet and this was just what I needed for my salads, baked fries, and bean burgers. Thanks again!! I just can’t say enough about this dressing, I had to stop myself from eating it all with a spoon haha!