What Is Thousand Island Dressing?

The "Thousand Island Dressing" is a type of Salad dressing that dates back to the early 20th Century. It is based on Russian dressing that was pretty common at that period of time.

The Thousand Island dressing has a variety of chopped vegetables including finely chopped onions, green olives, bell peppers, chives and pickles mixed with ketchup and mayonnaise. Boiled egg slices may or may not be an addition to the salad. On the other hand the Russian variant or original used chili sauce and ketchup along with a yogurt base.

Though there are several legends as to how the dressing got its name, the most reliable one stems from the upstate New York region of the Thousand Islands. The salad was first prepared by Sophia LaLonde who lived in the area. The salad was named by a dinner guest of Lalonde, a popular actress called May Irwin.