Hearts of Lettuce with Thousand Island Dressing

hearts of lettuce with Thousand Island dressing

If you were alive and eating solid foods in the 50s, 60s or even the 70s you probably remember hearts of lettuce salads with Thousand Island dressing. We needed a knife to carve our way into those crisp wedges of iceberg lettuce drenched in wonderful chunky pink dressing. This salad is either hopelessly old fashioned or mid-century chic, depending on your point of view, and it can seem a bit strange in an era of delicate spring mixes and microgreens. But trust me, hearts of lettuce with its epic crunch is definitely back.

what is Thousand Island dressing?

Thousand Island dressing is named after the Thousand Island region of upstate New York, in the St Lawrence River along the border with Canada, and it’s been around a long time. It was originally used as a sauce for fish, and because the area was popular with wealthy vacationers from big cities to the south, the story goes that it was discovered and put on the menu of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.

Besides the head of crisp lettuce that you’ll cut into wedges, you will need a list of ingredients to make the dressing. all of them are (or should be ) ingredients you have in your fridge or pantry. In its most basic form, Thousand Island could be compared to McDonald’s secret sauce. But the real thing is so much more complex than that…

ingredient list for homemade Thousand Island dressing

As written, my dressing is on the spicy side, feel free to moderate the heat to your liking.

• mayo ~ To make Thousand Island dressing you need to start with mayonnaise. You can use store bought mayo if you want, but I made mine from scratch. You can read all about the easy process in my How to Make Mayonnaise in 30 Seconds post.
• chili sauce ~ this can be Heinz, or an Asian style chili sauce. I’m borrowing this element from Thousand Island’s cousin, Russian dressing!
• ketchup
• white onion
• bell pepper
• relish ~ relish adds a sweet briny note, and also that characteristic lumpy texture we know and love.
• Worcestershire sauce
• horseradish ~ prepared horseradish in a jar adds an unmistakable punch.
• Tabasco
• mustard
• celery seed
• paprika
• salt and pepper

if you choose to make your mayonnaise from scratch

Authentic mayonnaise is a sauce made with raw eggs, and there is some minimal risk involved in eating them, so I opt for pasteurized eggs. That just means that the eggs have been specially heated to a temperature that kills any dangerous bacteria, without cooking the eggs, so you use them just the same way you use regular eggs, pretty cool, huh?

Look for them next to the regular eggs next time you grocery shop. They’re great for lots of different recipes that require raw eggs, like meringues,  Hollandaise sauce or Caesar salad dressing.

wedge salad with Thousand Island dressing FAQs

how to use your homemade Thousand Island dressing

This thick rich dressing is so full of flavor, and along with some crumbled bacon completely transforms a wedge of lettuce into a decadent treat. But that’s not where it ends!

• Substitute this dressing for the dressing in just about any salad recipe!
• Use it as a dip for raw veggies.
• Drizzle it on fish tacos.
• Dip your French fries into it.
• Use it as the dip for shrimp cocktail.
• Slather it on a Reuben sandwich.
• It’s basically a glorified ‘secret sauce‘ for burgers and Perfect Patty Melts. We love to dress our Burger Salad Bowl with Thousand Island.
• Try using it as a dressing for potato salad or pasta salad.
• Drizzle on pizza (no judgment here.)
• Are you serving an old fashioned relish tray? You need some Thousand Island!