Thousand Island Dressing Recipe

Thousand Island dressing can be used on prawn cocktail (shrimp) and is tastier than the traditional Marie Rose sauce. A simple salad dressing, a dip for fries, or a topping for burgers.

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*Post updated September 2025

Thousand Island dressing is an American salad dressing based on mayonnaise. It is tangy and slightly sweet at the same time.

I’ve come across online recipes for Thousand Island dressing that only require three ingredients. But trust me, they are not true Thousand Island dressing and therefore won't taste half as good. 😉

You can make it as little or spicy as you like; all I know is it's totally delicious!

Recipe Top Tip!

To achieve a thicker consistency, you can mix in very finely chopped boiled egg. This works particularly well if you're serving your Thousand Island dressing on a burger or a Reuben sandwich, though I wouldn't recommend it for a prawn cocktail.

How to serve Thousand Island dressing:

• a dip for fries, crudités or even tortilla chips

• use instead of mayonnaise in potato salad

• on prawn cocktail 

• as a salad dressing 

• as a spread in sandwiches, and is an ingredient in the Reuben sandwich

Ingredients

• mayonnaise - I use Hellmann's mayonnaise

• tomato ketchup

• Worcestershire sauce

• Tabasco sauce 

• sweet smoked paprika - I use La Chinata sweet paprika

• small gherkins 

• capers 

• fresh lemon juice

• freshly ground black pepper

Gather the ingredients and prepare the gherkins and capers (Full details in the printable recipe card below).

Mix together in a medium-sized bowl.

If you're making a prawn (shrimp) cocktail, refer to the recipe card below.

And, tuck in!

Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating in the recipe card below!

How to make Thousand Island dressing, Thousand Island dressing recipe, prawn cocktail recipe,

sauce, dip,

International

Yield: 2

Author: Jan Bennett

How to make Thousand Island Dressing

Prawn cocktail is usually served with Marie Rose sauce, but I prefer Thousand Island dressing.

Prep time: 6 MinTotal time: 6 Min

Ingredients

Thousand Island dressing ingredients

• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise - I use Hellmann's mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce - or to taste
• a dash of Tabasco sauce - or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
• 3-4 small gherkins (small dill pickles) - chopped very finely
• 12 capers in brine - rinsed to remove the salty taste - chopped very finely
• fresh lemon juice - to taste
• freshly ground black pepper

For prawn cocktail

• 2 small handfuls of cooked prawns (shrimp)
• iceberg (crisp) lettuce - shredded
• lemon wedges
• sweet smoked paprika - for sprinkling
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

To make the sauce

1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. The sauce should be vibrant in colour and have a nice, tangy flavour.
2. Feel free to adjust the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, Tabasco sauce, or lemon juice to suit your personal preference.

To make a prawn (shrimp) cocktail

1. Pour the sauce over the lettuce and prawns, then sprinkle with a touch of black pepper and paprika. Add a wedge of lemon on the side for squeezing over.

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