Who doesn't love Caesar salads?! The traditional Caesar salad dressing is made with eggs and anchovies but this Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing is made with a cashew base. It comes together in just minutes in the blender. It's so creamy and tangy and tastes just like the traditional dressing- you won't even know it's vegan!
My girl Ali over at Empowered Autoimmune, who is a wealth of autoimmune disease knowledge posted a picture on Instagram of a salad with a vegan Caesar salad dressing from a restaurant in L.A. a while ago. I had never heard of making Caesar salad dressings vegan, so of course I had to try it! What I love about Caesar salads are how simple they are. Salads can require a lot of chopping which means a lot of work. But Caesars are made with just a few ingredients- parmesan cheese, croutons, and romaine lettuce. Add a piece of grilled chicken and you have a quick and easy dinner. Since I don't eat dairy and have a hard time finding healthy grain-free croutons, I leave off the cheese and make my own croutons with my Paleo Sandwich Bread. The salad remains just as yummy as the traditional version!
A couple notes about Vegan Caesar salad Dressing:
This salad dressing is so easy to make! It starts with soaking cashews in hot water for a short amount of time. Then they are added to high speed blender with the other ingredients and blended until super smooth and creamy. Easy right?!
-Use as a dip for raw vegetables
-Spread on a slice of grain-free and gluten-free bread like my Paleo Sandwich Bread and use on a sandwich
-Use as a marinade for chicken or beef before grilling
The salad dressing will last up to 5 days covered in the refrigerator. Please note if you plan on making this salad dressing ahead of time, make sure to place it in a glass container in the refrigerator. When you take it out of the fridge, you may notice it has thickened slightly. It will still coat the lettuce nicely but I recommend adding a touch of either water or olive oil to help bring it back to a thinner consistency.
Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews, raw
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp caper juice
- 1 tsp capers
- 1 small clove of garlic
- ½ tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Place the raw cashews in a heat safe bowl. Boil water and pour on top of the cashews until they are just covered. Allow to sit from a minimum of 30 minutes
- While the cashews are soaking, place the remaining salad dressing ingredients in a blender
- Once the cashews are done soaking, strain to remove all the soaking liquid and add to the other ingredients in the blender
- Blend on high until the dressing is super smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes
- Use immediately or place the refridgerator for up to 5 days
My entire family loves this salad dressing! Great on salads and dipping veggies in. Delicious!
I'm so glad to hear that! 🙂
Laura, do you have a 1000 Island Dressing you could create and share?
Great suggestion! I do not have a recipe at the moment but I will consider creating one!