25 Calorie Thousand Island Dressing

One memory I have growing up in central Phoenix was an occasional visit to Bob’s Big Boy restaurant for their double decker cheese burger with Thousand Island dressing. The meal was superior to McDonald’s Big Mac™ and fries.

Their was no secret to Bob’s sauce. Thousand Island dressing has been around for for over 100 years. Unlike most salad dressings, thick Thousand Island dressing became a popular sandwich spread during the 1950’s.

Like most salad dressings, full-fat Thousands Islands can have 70 calories per tablespoon. You need more of a thick salad dressing, compared to oil and vinegar dressings, to cover the same amount of salad greens. A quarter cup of Thousand Island or other thick dressing (4 tbsp., 60 ml) can easily add about 280 calories dressing to 100 calories of salad greens.

With 25 Calorie Thousand Island Dressing, you have the flavor and texture of full-fat Thousand Island dressing without the calories.

For this recipe, I used reduced fat mayonnaise made with olive oil. You can use an reduced fat mayonnaise. Avoid low fat mayonnaise made mostly with water, additives, and thickeners.

Half of the mayonnaise required for many Thousand Island dressing recipes is replaced with zero fat Greek yogurt. You can substitute unflavored natural yogurt if desired.

The flavor of 25 Calorie Thousand Island Dressing is similar to Bob’s Thousand Islands, but with almost two-thirds less calories per tablespoon (25 vs. 70).

Adjust herbs and spices to taste. Thin with milk or water to desired consistency.

You can serve this dressing immediately after making it, but refrigerating it for a few hours and preferably overnight intensifies the flavor.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (120 g) reduced fat mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup (120 g) Greek or natural unflavored yogurt
• 2 to 4 tablespoons (30 to 60 ml) milk or water
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) white vinegar, wine or distilled or lemon juice
• 1/4 cup (66 g) tomato ketchup
• 1/4 cup (60 g) sweet pickle relish or minced sweet pickles
• 1/8 teaspoon (0.625 ml) onion powder
• 1/8 teaspoon (0.625 ml) garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon (0.625 ml) dried yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon (5 ml) fresh chives or parsley, minced
• Worcestershire sauce to taste
• Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste

Method of Preparation