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Looking for a delicious vegan caesar dressing? Try our oil-free cashew caesar dressing made with simple ingredients.
I can’t be the only one who misses a good caesar salad
Caesar salads, while seemingly simple and sad to look at, are one of those meals that are so refreshing and delicious. Growing up, I went through a huge caesar salad phase. Looking back, it was probably my gateway to healthy-ish foods.
Our caesar dressing reminds you of the good old days of youth, perhaps it was a simpler time. I know for me it was. Traditionally, caesar salads are enjoyed with romaine lettuce, dressing, parmesan cheese, and croutons, but we prefer to use romaine lettuce, noochy crunchy chickpeas, hearts of palm pieces, and tomatoes.
What about the anchovies?
The grossest ingredient in caesar dressing is by far the anchovies. I remember being so disgusted as a kid when I would make caesar dressing with my mom. I couldn’t believe that little fish was the key ingredient to making it taste so briny and salty.
We’ve done the research, we tried kelp powder and pickle juice, we’ve tried olives, and finally, we’ve landed on capers as our anchovy substitution. Thankfully, these little guys are really easy to find at any grocery store and are very affordable beating kelp powder out by a mile.
This recipe only calls for one tablespoon of capers. If you’re curious about what to do with the rest, I suggest making our delicious cauliflower piccata. Maybe you can serve a side of caesar salad with it too.
What ingredients are in cashew caesar dressing?
I really tried to make things simple for this one with the hope that you can make it at home without ordering a bunch of extra ingredients. The base of the dressing is a good old raw cashew and water combo. We do recommend soaking you cashews for about an hour prior to blending.
For the rest of the liquids, you’ll need dijon mustard and lemon juice. While it’s always great to use fresh lemons, you can totally get away with using pre-packaged lemon juice here. It honestly doesn’t make too big of a difference taste-wise.
And lastly, to complete the cashew caesar dressing, you’ll need some spices. We don’t ask for anything too out of the ordinary – just some nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper.
How to make cashew caesar dressing
The process of making cashew caesar dressing is really easy. All you need to do is soak the cashews, drain them, and then blend with the rest of the ingredients until everything is smooth and creamy.
Salads are supposed to be really easy and low maintenance and our cashew caesar dressing is no exception. While you can absolutely use this as a base for caesar salad (Hint: recipe for that coming soon) you can also use this as a delicious topping for roasted vegetables, toss it in some potato salad, or use as a dipping sauce on a veggie tray. The ideas are endless with our delicious cashew caesar dressing.
What about your other dressings?
If you haven’t noticed, I’m a sucker for homemade dressings. I really think they’re a thousand times better than anything you can buy at the grocery store and they’re also inexpensive! If you were to buy a bottle of Daiya caesar dressing, it would cost you $5 and would last for maybe four salads. This costs half of that and makes twice as much. Score!
If you enjoy our cashew caesar dressing and are looking for other delicious dressings and sauces by yours truly, check these out below:
I love a good salad combo
I’m not sure if many of my readers know this, but Hell Yes It’s Vegan was born out of a salad database I built in Airtable. It was a really fun project and I tried a lot of different salad options but I wanted to expand my horizons and reach, so I started this site.
I am always looking for different ways to make salad. It’s undoubtedly my favorite food because there are so many ways to prepare it. If you, dear reader, have a salad suggestion for me, I am 100% all ears and would love to hear your ideas.
Recipe jam
In this segment, I suggest a song for you to listen to while you make cashew caesar dressing! You can even stream it right here in your browser. Today’s recipe jam is Raum (Naum Gabo Rework) by Grauzone.
If you try this recipe, I want to hear about it! Feel free to post your creations to Instagram or Facebook and tag Hell Yes It’s Vegan or #hellyesitsvegan. I look forward to seeing your work!
Cashew Caesar Dressing
Equipment
- medium-sized bowl
- blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 ¼ cup water, plus more for soaking
- 2 Tbsp dijon mustard, *
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp capers
- 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
- In a medium-sized bowl, soak the raw cashews for an hour.
- Drain cashews and add to blender with the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth and creamy.