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!
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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.
any other alternatives im allergic to nuts 🙁 Suggestions welcome
Hi Melody! You can try raw sunflower seeds! I have not tested this personally so I don’t know how it would taste. But this dressing is so bold in flavor, that it might cover up the sunflower taste? It works well (sunflower seeds) in this Ranch dressing, so I’m hoping it would here too. Let me know if you try it! https://thevegan8.com/2014/05/09/easy-vegan-ranch-dressing/
You can use cannelini beans or any white as a substitute
Brandi….I love that you’re giving me so many dressing options! I haven’t been eating salads as much as I’d like because I haven’t liked the dressings. I’ve tried the Best Vegan Ranch and it was so good! I’m working on all the rest soon. I’ll go back and rate as try each one. I can’t say thank you enough!
Yay, you are the best Shree! I’m determined to recreate all my favorite dressings I had before I went vegan, but in an oil-free healthier way and I’m super picky! I’m so glad you love the Best Vegan Ranch! Can’t wait to hear what you think of this one!
There is no link to “I use this kitchen scale”
Oops, sorry, fixed!
We love thousand island! It looks delicious! I have a similar burger special sauce which is just like thousand island in my book and my fam loves it!
I LOVE thousand island dressing on burgers. Can’t wait to try this ~ I haven’t had thousand island dressingnin years…
This dressing is delicious. I didn’t have the relish, and don’t like sweet dressings anyway, so added a little dill pickle. I am very pleased to have another oil free dressing that is good. I have tried many and this is the BEST besides the one I make with tahini. My hubby loves it too. I am wondering if half white beans and half cashews would be as good. Thoughts? Probably not but maybe?? Thank you.
Just made this and I want to thank you so much. I love love it and it was so easy to make!
I’m so glad you loved it Loretta, thank you so much for making it!
Hi Brandi, sorry to post this in a random place but I had a cookbook question. In your secret ingredient chili, are we supposed to drain and rinse the chili beans or keep the liquid. Sorry again to post question here.
Hi Allie! No worries at all, drain them and rinse 🙂
Cool thank you!
I love this thousand island dressing! Soooooo much better than tofu based ones. Thank you so much!
Yay, so happy to hear that Wendy! Thank you so much for making it, would you mind to please click the star rating, it’s so helpful, thank you!
Hi brandi
Just wondering what sweet pickle relish you use in the thousand island dressing?
Thanks
Deborah
Hi Deborah, I just use the Mt. Olive brand, but any sweet pickle relish brand should work.
Made it this weekend. Such an easy recipe and the results were delish! We used it over a St. Paddy’s day potato pancake and it tasted exactly like the real thing. We didn’t have pickle relish – so just cut up some dill pickles and you are all set!
So so happy you loved this dressing Dee and that it tasted just like the “real thing” yay! Thank you for the awesome review!
This is just delish! God bless the cashew! Thanks for this recipe!
Haha, yes, like I always say, cashews are a vegan’s best friend! Thank you Eva!
Fantastic Dressing! Thanks so much!
I’m so glad you love it Julia, thank you for the review!
Well this is a great salad dressing that can be made in a flash in the VitaMix. Wonderful to enjoy a 100
Island dressing that is Mayo free and is a real blast from my past! Highly recommend this dressing.
I’m so glad you loved this dressing so much Sue, thank you so much for making it!!
Love this dressing. I’m enjoying salad again. Thank you
Awesome Dawn, so glad to hear that!
Hi I’m wondering where you found vegan sweet relish. I’ve never been able to find any. Do tell.. Please and thank you!
Hi Chris! I’m not sure what you mean, pickle relish doesn’t contain dairy. There are many brands on the market. If you want one that doesn’t have preservatives or perfect ingredients, there are lots of homemade sweet pickle relishes on google!
LOVED this dressing. I feel like it’s so hard to find a good clean vegan salad dressing but this did the trick. My husband and I both love it. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m so happy to hear that you loved it Stephanie, thank you so much for making it!
Sooo good just made it thank you 😊
Awesome Mina, I’m so glad to hear that!
What can I use in place of lemon or vinegar?
The lemon is what helps provide the acidity to the dressing so the balance of flavors are correct and so it tastes like the classic Thousand Island. There isn’t really a replacement for it. I guess you can leave it out, but the correct flavor will be lacking.
I made your homemade ketchup and then decided to use some to make this dressing. Wow it is delicious! Love when you get a good vegan dressing…..so many uses. Thanks for another great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved it Debbie, thank you so much for making it!
I made this dressing and it is so amazingly good and tastes just like the original. Yummy yum yum!!!!
Hi! Easy to make and super tasty. Do you know the fat content for this dressing?
So glad to hear that Robin! No, I don’t. I try to do the calculations when I have the time, but I’m so pressed for time these days but this is the calculator I use if you want to plug in the ingredients. Otherwise, there are lots of nutrition calculators online. https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Finally made this today. Couldn’t find a relish that did not contain preservatives so I used McClures bread and butter pickles from Kroger’s. Just diced them up. I was out of regular paprika so used my Hungarian paprika, I couldn’t taste it in the final product. I blended everything in my vitamix and had to scrape side down 4 times because the splatters still looked gritty to me (although it didn’t feel gritty). It was very thin. Too thin for me but it sure tasted good with a spoon. I stirred in 2 TBLS of diced bread and butter pickles. Fantastic. Next time I’ll stir in 3 TBLS since I like sweet. Had some the next morning with some baked tofu. The dressing had thickened up A LOT. This was definitely as good as I thought it would be!
I just made this with no sugar added Vlasic relish and it is delicious! Thank you for a great recipe! Very close to the real thing!
This looks very tasty indeed! Wondering if cashew butter (just blended cashews) could work too. Thank you!
Yes, definitely! Just use the same gram weight listed! 75 grams, which is just under 5 even tablespoons.
This might be a silly question, but is the water for soaking the cashews or is it to put in the blender?
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!
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!
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!
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 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!
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/
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!
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!
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!
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!!!
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!
Fabulous!
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!!
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!