Healthy Thousand Island Dressing

By Updated on

Healthier homemade Thousand Island Dressing that tastes just like the real thing! Made with Greek yogurt and common pantry ingredients, this dressing is great for salads, burgers, and more!

28 CAL 3g CARBS 1g FAT 2g PROTEIN
7 Comments

This rich and creamy Healthy Thousand Island Dressing is easy to make, much healthier than the store-bought kinds, and packed with delicious flavors. It’s a salad dressing staple in my home and soon it will be in yours too!

There’s nothing like a tasty sauce to elevate a dish from good to great. Whether you’re eating french fries, salad, or tacos- I guarantee that pairing the dish with a good sauce would make it infinitely better. As a major sauce addict with tons of different sauce recipes here on my website, maybe I’m biased, but I stand by my saucy beliefs!

Thousand Island Dressing is one of those insanely versatile sauces that work well with a ton of different foods. Unfortunately, the store-bought versions tend to be incredibly high in calories, carbs, and fats. This healthy homemade version is just as delicious (if not more) than the unhealthy ones, making for the perfect guilt-free indulgence.

I’ve used this dressing on all my favorite salads, sandwiches, and burgers. I’ve even used it as a dipping sauce for baked potato wedges and it has yet to disappoint. This Healthy Thousand Island Dressing recipe has the perfect combination of savory and sweet to make everything taste a little more delicious.

Once you try this recipe, you can say goodbye to those unhealthy and expensive store-bought dressings and hello to your new favorite homemade version! Serve it up on salads, wraps, burgers, or as a dipping sauce for raw veggies and baked fries.

Ingredients to make homemade Thousand Island Dressing including yogurt, mayonnaise, ketchup, relish, onion, and spices.

What is Thousand Island Dressing?

Thousand Island Dressing is an American salad dressing and condiment that is traditionally made with a base of mayonnaise, ketchup, and sweet relish. While we don’t know the exact origins, we do know that the salad dressing was invented in the early 20th century in the Thousand Island area of New York (hence the name). The original recipe calls for a hard-boiled egg pushed through a sieve, which is used as a thickening agent in the dressing. However, in this recipe, we’re going to keep it simple and opt-out of this component. Feel free to add a hard-boiled egg if you’d like!

What’s in this homemade dressing?

This flavorful and healthy salad dressing recipe comes together with under 10 ingredients. The best part is that you probably have most of these items at home already! The key ingredients you will need for this recipe include:

  • Greek yogurt: While the traditional version uses mayonnaise on its own as the creamy component, we lighten up this recipe by using mostly Greek yogurt with a little bit of mayonnaise.
  • Mayonnaise: I like to use light mayonnaise to keep this recipe on the healthier side, but you can use whichever kind you prefer.
  • Ketchup: Any kind of ketchup will work for this recipe.
  • Sweet relish: I use regular sweet relish, but you can also find sugar-free sweet relish at the store if you want to keep the recipe low-sugar.
  • Worcestershire sauce: This ingredient has a strong umami flavor that helps to balance out the sweet ingredients for a sweet and savory combo.
  • Onion: We use minced fresh onion in this recipe to add some depth to the texture and a nice, sharp bite.

Recipe Tips

Here are some tips to help you when making this recipe:

  • For a sugar-free recipe, you can easily find sugar-free options of any of the ingredients we use.
  • To make this recipe vegan, simply swap out the mayonnaise and Greek yogurt for your favorite dairy-free alternatives.
  • If you don’t have fresh onions at home, I would recommend leaving this ingredient out altogether rather than substituting it for onion powder.
  • To store this dressing, I have found that using glass containers like mason jars keeps it fresh for the longest amount of time.
  • If you prefer your dressings with a bit of heat, add a few drops of your favorite hot sauce.

Green salad with thousand island dressing being poured over top and drizzled with a spoon.

What to Serve With This Dish

While this recipe makes an incredible salad dressing, it can be used for so much more! Here are some of my favorite ways to use this recipe:

  • Use it to dress your favorite salad
  • Spread it onto a wrap or sandwich
  • Add it to the top of a grilled burger
  • Bake it into sandwich sliders like mini Reubens
  • Use it as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables or baked potato wedges

How to Store Homemade Salad Dressing

This dressing can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. I have found that keeping it in a glass jar or container keeps it fresh for the longest amount of time, so if you have a mason jar or glass Tupperware container then I would highly recommend using that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this dish:

What is Thousand Island Dressing made from?

Thousand Island Dressing is traditionally made with mayonnaise, ketchup, sweet relish, and hard-boiled egg as the base. We switch it up a bit in this healthier version and add flavorful ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, sweet paprika, and minced onion. We also combine the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt for a lightened up twist.

Can you freeze salad dressing?

Yes and no. While oil-based salad dressings tend to do pretty well in the freezer, dairy-based salad dressings like this one should not be frozen. The dairy will likely separate in the freezer, leaving you with a runny and clumpy mess once it’s thawed out.

Thousand island yogurt dressing served on a green salad with tomatoes, carrots, and greens.

More Healthy Salad Dressing Recipes

Like this tasty salad dressing recipe? You’ll love these!

The Recipe
Healthy Thousand Island dressing in a bowl with ketchip, yogurt, relish, and salad on the side.

Healthy Thousand Island Dressing

28 CAL 3g CARBS 1g FAT 2g PROTEIN
PREP TIME: 5 Min
COOK TIME: 30 Min
TOTAL TIME: 35 Min
7 Comments
  • Print
  • Download
  • Send to your inbox

Ingredients

US METRICS
  • 3/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp light mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tbsp sweet relish
  • 2 tbsp onion, minced
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/16 tsp hot sauce (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Like this Recipe? Try our Meal Plans!

Slender Kitchen Meal Plans
  • Weekly Meal Plans
  • Easy Shopping List
  • Healthy, Low Carb, & Vegetarian
  • Nutritional Information

Instructions

(Hide Media)

Switch to prevent your screen from going dark.

1

Mix together all of the ingredients in a small bowl or container. Taste and season as needed. Refrigerate for at least 60 minutes before using for best results.

Ingredients for thousand island dressing being mixed in a glass bowl with a wooden spoon.
2

Store in the fridge for up to one week. Stir well before serving.

Yogurt thousand island dressing stored in a glass jar.
Nutritional Facts
Serving Size: 2 tbsp
Amount Per Serving
Calories 28
Calories from Fat 9
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 1g
2%
Saturated Fat 0g
1%
Monounsaturated Fat 0g
0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0g
0%
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 93mg
4%
Total Carbohydrate 3g
1%
Dietary Fiber 0g
0%
Sugars 3g
Protein 2g

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

The Nutritional Values provided are estimates only and may vary based on the preparation method.

user image
About the author Meet Kristen McCaffrey
Hi, I’m the cookbook author, recipe developer, and food enthusiast behind Slender Kitchen. I am obsessed with making healthy food that is easy to prepare and absolutely delicious. Meal planning is my secret weapon and I hope I can make meal time easier for you with our tried and tested recipes and foolproof meal plans. Learn More
7 Comments
On Healthy Thousand Island Dressing
user image
user image
Susan Shelden-Cohen
June 4, 2024 - 16:09
Add a Rating:
5
Very Good, easy to make and easy to clean-up.
Stayed pretty much with recipe but used 0% yogurt as that is what we had...along with a bit of garlic powder added to the recipe.
user image
dquinn
April 8, 2024 - 18:00
Add a Rating:
5
My husband and I are school teachers and eat salads for lunch daily. This is our FAVORITE salad dressing!!!! We do NOT use a lot of salad dressing so I've found I have to triple this recipe to get us through a week for a total of 10 salads. I also have to add water to thin it out because it's very thick -
user image
Courtney McGrale
March 16, 2024 - 15:18
Add a Rating:
5
This is so delicious! I love that I can kick it up w different hot sauce or sriracha!
user image
Ashley
March 9, 2024 - 14:48
We aren’t fans of mayo in our house, would this be OKAY without? Or should I change up anything in the recipe?
user image
March 11, 2024 - 08:46
It will still taste great without the mayo, it will just be a little more tangy since the mayo softens the flavor of the yogurt. You could swap in sour cream or just skip it.
user image
Lee A Cleveland
August 31, 2023 - 02:20
Add a Rating:
5
I’ve made a small batch of this a few times now to go onto Vegetarian Rueben sandwiches. Delicious!
user image
Jeanine
June 19, 2023 - 12:18
Add a Rating:
5
This is soooo good. I am a salad dressing snob. I hate low-fat and no fat salad dressings in the bottle. This is amazing and so healthy without the VERY unhealthy ingredients in most bottled salad dressing.
Instagram Icon
Did you make this?

Snap a picture and show us what you made on Instagram or Facebook. Tag us using @SlenderKitchen or #slenderkitchen.