An easy plant-based thousand island slaw that's so tasty. It's creamy, tangy, and crunchy, and a breeze to make. Add it to everything!
I love the flavour of Thousand Island dressing, so I thought it would make a tasty coleslaw dressing, and boy, was I right!
It's absolutely delicious, a real winner, and so easy to make.
Give it a try and see what you think.
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💭 What is Thousand Island dressing?
Thousand Island dressing is a creamy but tangy, coral coloured dressing that's just so tasty.
It's traditionally served with seafood, but I like to drizzle it on salads, add it to burgers (it's very similar to burger sauce and sometimes called special sauce), serve it as a dipping sauce or add it to a salad wrap or salad and falafel pitta.
This rather special sauce is an American classic and has been popular there for over a century.
The story goes that in the early 1900s, a fishing guide's wife, Sophia LaLonde (who lived in the Thousand Islands region between New York and Ontario), created this dressing to serve with lunch.
Eventually, the recipe was picked up and recreated by the chefs at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which helped make it popular across the country.
We have a similar sauce in Britain called Marie Rose sauce.
At a glance - thousand island slaw
⏲️ Ready in: 10 minutes
👪 Serves: 6
🍽 Calories: 86
🧾 Main ingredients: white cabbage, carrots, red onion, red pepper & simple dressing ingredients
👩🏻🍳 Suitable for: Vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, egg-free, vegetarian
Summarise & save this recipe:
📋 What you need to make Thousand Island Coleslaw
Here are the simple ingredients you need to make this crunchy slaw with a creamy vegan thousand island dressing, which is perfect for plant-based diets.
I skipped the gherkins (dill pickles) for this one, but I usually add them to Thousand Island Dressing.
Slaw
- Cabbage - I like to use white cabbage or a sweetheart cabbage
- Red onion - you can use white onion instead
- Carrots
- Red pepper - I don't usually add red bell pepper to slaw, but it works so well with the thousand island dressing.
Dressing
- Vegan mayonnaise
- Ketchup
- Mustard - Dijon mustard or American yellow mustard
- Lemon Juice
- Olive oil - I like to use extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) for everything
- Paprika
- Chilli powder
- Salt & black pepper
The printable recipe is at the bottom of the page after the step-by-step photos.
Keep reading, scroll down or use the index under the first paragraph to jump to the recipe.
🌭 Serving this tasty slaw
I could seriously eat this crunchy slaw with its delicious dressing, straight out of the bowl, but here are a few serving suggestions.
- On a falafel or vegan cheese sandwich - with salad leaves
- Piled on a pulled jackfruit burger - pile it high on top of the protein-rich jackfruit for a creamy contrast to the smoky BBQ flavour.
- As a taco or burrito filling - layered in soft flour tortillas with chilli or black beans, cheese, and salsa (add rice to a burrito)
- On top of veggie burgers - instead of salad, for extra flavour or crunch (I like to pile it on black bean burgers or these 10-minute spicy bean burgers
- In a salad bowl - with herby couscous or quinoa. roasted sweet potatoes, chickpeas, spinach, and falafel
- Stuffed in pitta bread or a wrap - with falafel (or a bean burger), cucumber, and tomato for a filling lunch
- As a side salad at a BBQ (or cookout), a mezze, or for picky plates - alongside salad, mini corn cobs, potato salad & roast veg
- Pile it on a hot dog - spread the bun with mustard, add your vegan dawg, then pile on this thousand island slaw
- On a baked potato - loaded with grated vegan cheddar and served with salad
I'm sure you'll have some good ideas too, if you can resist just eating it with a spoon!
🥣 Storing slaw
Store your slaw in an airtight container in the fridge and serve it with lunch or dinner (or as a wee healthy snacky snack, it is veg after all).
It will happily keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Try to take it out of the fridge for 5-10 minutes before serving to take the chill off it, so you can really taste all the wonderful flavours.
💭 Top slaw tip
Always give your slaw a good mix before serving, as the dressing will settle in the bottom of the container as it sits in the fridge, and you want a generous coating of the tasty dressing with each bite.
🥣 Different salad dressing to add to slaw
As a variation to making a classic slaw with mayo or this thousand island dressing, try adding these dressings to your next slaw:
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👩🏻🍳 How to make Thousand Island Coleslaw
These step-by-step photos will show you how to make this crunchy slaw (followed by the printable recipe card, which you can also hit print and save as a PDF on your device).
Step 1 - Make the dressing
- Add all the ingredients and flavourings to a bowl and season with salt and black pepper.
Step 2 - Crunchy veg
- In a large mixing bowl, add the shredded cabbage.
- Then add the thinly sliced red onion and grated carrots.
Step 3 - Add the dressing
- Add the thinly sliced red pepper, then mix the veg well.
- Finally, add the dressing and mix well.
- Serve and enjoy!
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Thousand Island Slaw - Dairy-Free Coleslaw
Ingredients
Slaw
- ½ small white cabbage (or half a sweetheart cabbage, thinly shredded, chopped)
- ½ red onion (thhinly sliced)
- 2 medium carrots (grated)
- ½ red pepper (thinly sliced)
Dressing
- 2 tablespoons vegan mayo
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon mustard (American yellow mustard or Dijon mustard)
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon chilli powder
- 1 pinch salt and pepper
Instructions
- First make the dressing in a large bowl or jug. Add all the dressing ingredients to a bowl and season, salt and black pepper and mix well.
- Taste, to check the seasoning (try not to eat with a spoon, you need it for the slaw!).
- In a large mixing bowl, add the shredded cabbage, sliced onion, grated carrot and sliced pepper and mix well.
- Pour in the dressing and mix well. If you like it really saucy, you can make and add extra dressing.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- You can add extra paprika and chilli powder if you like a bit of heat.
- Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
- Allow to come to room temperature and give a good mix (the dressing gathers in the bottom of the container) before serving to make sure there is plenty of dressing on the slaw.
Jill says
That looks tasty Jacqs, but I might take your advice and make it extra saucy and add it to a jacket potato. Jill x
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Well yes, it is good with extra sauce and definitely good on a baked potato, with or without cheese. Enjoy it!
Trisha says
What a brilliant idea. It sounds really tasty. Cheers Trish
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yes, it has a gorgeous flavour from the thousand island dressing.
Sam says
It makes quite a big batch but nevertheless we got through it quickly. My husband loved it.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Yes I never knowingly under cater. I am so glad you enjoyed it Sam.
Rachel says
Loved it! Will be using this dressing on salads too, it is very tasty.
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Oh yes, you are so right, delicious on salads too.