Caesar Salad Recipe - Vegan Option Included

This Classic Caesar salad with romaine lettuce topped with croutons parmesan cheese drizzled generously with simple and easy vegan caesar salad dressing is one crowd-pleaser salad recipe.

Caesar salad is one of the most popular restaurant salads and sides in America and it is super diverse and versatile. Caesar salad is a basic dish and you can customise it to fit your preferences.

You can add a variety of ingredients to give it your own twist. I like to add sliced avocado for added richness, and sometimes crispy tofu. You can also add your own spin to this basic recipe and each time enjoy a different taste. 

Jump to:

• Why We Love This Recipe
• Ingredients
• Caesar Salad Dressing
• Instructions
• How to Make Caesar Salad Dressing without anchovies?
• Do I need A blender?
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Top tip
• Serving suggestions
• Storage
• More Such Recipes
• Watch Video
• 📖 Recipe

Why We Love This Recipe

• Well-balanced + healthy This Caesar Salad is dairy-free and egg-free, as well as well-balanced and produced with healthy whole food plant-based components! 
• It's simple to create. Everything you'll need for this salad is simple, readily available, and quick to prepare. 
• Make it ahead of time. The Caesar dressing and chickpeas can be made ahead of time and kept on hand at all times. After that, all you have to do is chop the romaine.

Ingredients

• Romaine lettuce: one of the crispiest lettuces out there in the market with a mild bitter flavour that is just perfect and delightful.
• Chickpeas/croutons: Traditionally, Caesar salad includes croutons, so you can either go for the traditional bread croutons.
• Mayonnaise: For real caesar salad dressing mayonaaise is used. You can use vegetarian/vegan mayonnaise.
• Vegan Worcestershire: This gives the caesar salad dressing a richer flavour. Substitutions are listed in the recipe card's notes.
• Lemon: Toss in some tanginess. Apple cider vinegar can be substituted. 
• Parmesan cheese: Regular parmesan cheese. If you are making it vegan use any non-dairy version of parmesan like the almond parmesan cheese.

Caesar Salad Dressing

See the recipe card for quantities.

Regular Caesar Salad Dressing

• Caesar dressing has a creamy texture and a zesty taste. The basic recipe asks for rand anchovies to achieve that richness, but I know a lot of people either dont have the taste for it or they simply dont wanna go and buy this special ingredient.

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing

Cashews: For making Vegan caesar salad use either vegan mayonnaise or cashew paste for a healthier option. The vegan caesar dressing is made with cashews. For a neutral flavour, use raw cashews.

Vegan Worcestershire: This gives the caesar salad dressing a richer flavour. Substitutions are listed in the recipe card's notes. Lemon: Toss in some tanginess. Apple cider vinegar can be substituted. 

Instructions

Prepare the dressing:

1. In a bowl combine mayonnaise and all other dressing ingredients and blend until dressing is completely smooth.
2. Add 2 tablespoons of hot water to help easy blending.

Making Caesar Salad

1. Tear the lettuce leaves into large pieces into a bowl.
2. Place bread croutons over salad leaves.
3. Drizzle caesear salad dressing generously over lettuce and croutons and garnish with shaved parmesan.
4. You can also grate some cheddar cheese if you wish to.

How to Make Caesar Salad Dressing without anchovies?

This easy homemade creamy Caesar dressing is better than store-bought and contains no raw anchovies or anchovy paste! 

This recipe has you covered if you're wondering "how to make Caesar dressing without anchovies." Anchovies have a salty, umami flavour that we're trying to replicate using Worcestershire sauce and Dijon mustard. You may definitely add additional Worcestershire sauce if you like the anchovy flavour. 

If you're looking to make this dressing vegan, don't worry there's a vegan option for Worcestershire sauce available. 

Oil is a requirement. The idea is to select a neutral-tasting oil that does not overshadow the dressing's flavour. If you're going to use olive oil, go for extra light olive oil. 

Do I need A blender?

To make this dressing creamy, it needs to be emulsified, which is much easier to do using a food processor or a high-powered blender. So I'd say blender makes this job much easier and I'd definitely recommend using one if you own it. But if you don't own a blender, don't fret. If you want, you can whisk it by hand, but be aware that it will take longer.

Substitutions

If you can't locate vegan Worcestershire or want a gluten-free version, combine the following ingredients: 

• 2 teaspoons tamari sauce
• A quarter teaspoon of lemon juice 
• A sprinkle of spicy sauce ¼ teaspoon cane sugar or pure maple sugar

Variations

Nut-Free option: To make a nut-free Caesar dressing, use ⅔ – ¾ cup plain, unsweetened, non-dairy yoghurt or vegan mayo instead of cashews. To thin, add a little water as needed. It should be equally tasty and delectable! 

Oil-free: Instead of using oil to roast the chickpeas, mix them with a little canned chickpea juice or tamari.

You can also toss in crispy homemade croutons. 

Top tip

You can make this caesar salad vegan by using suggested replacements. Also, you can prepare Caesar salad dressing in advance and keep it in the fridge for later use.

Serving suggestions

Caesar salad is super versatile and can be served with a variety of options:

Bread: Serve this vegan caesar salad with a side of bread. Check out the Georgian pide recipe to pair it with this simple homemade vegan caesar salad.

Pasta: it will pair absolutely well with cheese Manicotti or vegetable lasagna. Check out the spinach pasta and four cheese pasta recipes that I have included. 

Soup: Pair this Minestrone Soup or Tomato Basil Soup with a salad. 

Sandwich: This

Storage

Leftover salad and dressing can be stored in an airtight container before putting it in the refrigerator. It will stay fresh for about five days but it's recommended to consume it fresh since fresh vegetables are the most nutritious. 

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• Thai Cucumber Salad (Video Recipe)
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