Thousand Island Dressing - The Recipe Critic (2024)

FAQs

How long is Thousand Island dressing good for after expiration date? ›

If unopened and properly stored, it may even last until the manufacturer's intended expiry date on the package, which is usually a year from the manufacturing date. Once opened, however, it's best to consume it within 2-3 months, and always check the consistency and aroma before use.

Greens were on the menu, but the Boldts' chef forgot to bring any dressing with him onboard. So, he improvised with what was on hand — whipping together mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, Worcestershire sauce and a hard-boiled egg. Voila! Thousand Island dressing was born.

Thousand Island dressing is an American salad dressing and condiment based on mayonnaise that can include olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, tomato purée, and ketchup or Tabasco sauce.

This tangy, slightly sweet salad dressing is traditionally made with mayonnaise, ketchup, pickle relish, and vinegar or lemon juice. But as everyone's particular preferences for Thousand Island dressing develops, some use additions like minced onion, paprika, celery, even hard-boiled eggs.

Don't Eat Thousand Island Dressing If The Smell is Off

Thousand Island has a creamy mayo base and can spoil and potentially cause foodborne illness, she says.

“If it's unopened and it's past its best-by date, I would try tasting a little bit,” Schaffner said. “If it tastes OK, then it's good to go! Because of the way these products are processed and formulated, I think it's highly unlikely that you would find any mold upon opening.

The original recipe can mostly be traced back to the early 1900s in Thousand Islands, New York, where the tangy pinkish condiment got its namesake.

The ingredient that differentiates Russian dressing from Thousand Island is—drumroll, please—horseradish. When you have Russian dressing accenting a hearty sandwich like a Reuben, the horseradish can be hard to detect, especially when you've got the sharp, funky flavors of sauerkraut to contend with.

The Thousand Island dressing combines ketchup, mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish, vinegar, minced onion and garlic. In contrast, the French dressing is composed of olive oil, vinegar, mustard, ketchup, sugar, and paprika, among other seasonings. The former is mayo-based, while the latter relies more on vegetable oil.

As the company tweeted out in 2012, the Chick-fil-A sauce is just a mixture of honey mustard, barbecue sauce, and ranch dressing. Yes, that's it.

Is Secret Sauce just Thousand Island? ›

To start, "thousand island dressing" is also reffered to as "secret sauce" by many fast food locations (notably, usually without tomatoes), though this would be most accurate to Ed's sauce, as it's contents are literally a secret.

Some might think the special sauce is just Thousand Island/Russian dressing, but that's not quite right. The Big Mac topper is definitely similar to those two, but not quite the same. It has way more pickle relish than either of them, and there's another ingredient (or ingredients) that can't quite be placed.

However, if the dressing is significantly past the expiration date, or if there are any signs of spoilage (such as an off smell, appearance, or taste), it should be discarded.

Yes, you should be fine. The expiration dates on prepared foods have more to do with quality than food safety.

Is it safe to eat when it's expired? If your dressing is past that best-by date, it's still OK to eat, so don't feel like you have to throw out perfectly good dressing just because of an arbitrary deadline. That said, you definitely want to keep an eye on it and look out for any funky smells, bumps, or colors.

The exceptions are: Mayonnaise, which should only be kept for two months—maximum—after opening and Salad dressings, which can be kept in the fridge up to three months after opening. Unopened salad dressing is good for up to one year past its expiration date.