Serves 4
Total time: 15 minutes
I rarely put the word “vegan” into a recipe because that would get tedious. But the reason I’m using it now is that I want to stress that this is a classic vegan Caesar. Not a classic Caesar, but a salad that vegans have been making for as far back as, I don’t know, the 1980s? The legend goes that some vegan awoke from a long VCR’ed Dynasty marathon, with a yearning for garlic and nutritional yeast… and the vegan Caesar was born.
When translating a Caesar salad, you want to capture the tanginess, the creaminess, the umami and the garlickyness. Vegan versions are all over the map, I’ve even published several kinds of Caesar, but this one is three things that cooks love to hear: quick, easy and simple!
The tahini is the creamy base, lending also an irresistible nuttiness. Nutritional yeast and dijon mustard provide the umami tang, and if your mustard is whole grain you get some texture, too. And then there’s garlic! This dressing is kept easy so that there’s no need to break out the blender, just a coffee mug and a fork will do. Use my tip below for a very lazy method of garlic prepping.
As for accoutrement, well, avocado and chickpeas are certainly my go to. But you can do it up in a gazillion different ways. Here are some of my favorite additions: toasted pine nuts, capers, olives, a handful of cooked quinoa, sliced baked tofu (from a package is fine), sliced warm Chickpea Cutlets (or any chicken-y thing), garlicky sourdough croutons, vegan bacon, (deep breath…ok, proceed), tempeh (Chimichurri or Garlicky Thyme), grilled seitan, grilled asparagus, grilled portobello, roasted squash. See? It’s really fun and versatile. And it will get you totally excited about salad! So crimp your hair, protest Reagan and get ready for some classic vegan deliciousness.
Notes
~ If you’re feeling super lazy about peeling garlic, here’s a trick: Grate it on a microplane, with the skin still on. The skin should stay on top of the grater and fall away. You won’t be able to grate the whole clove, but hey, all in the name of laziness! Just be sure not to start at the nub side (you know, that rough spot at the top of the clove) since it’s too rough to grate.
~ And another garlic thing: You don’t have to waste time measuring garlic into a teaspoon, just eyeball it. Since this dressing comes together in a snap, you can adjust to your tastes very easily.
~ Sometimes tahini does this thing where it seizes and looks curdled and stiff when you add water. I don’t know why! I do know that if you give it a minute, it will go back to normal. (Have you ever experience this weird phenomenon?)
Ingredients
Dressing:
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup water (plus more for thinning)
2 teaspoons fresh grated garlic (see note)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
2 teaspoons whole grain dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Salad:
8 oz romaine (2 hearts), chopped
Handful of baby arugula
15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 avocado diced
Fresh black pepper to taste
Directions
Stir together the dressing ingredients in a small bowl, or a coffee mug. Use a fork to blend smooth. Add additional tablespoons of water to thin, as needed. Taste for salt and seasoning. It should be slightly salty, because the saltiness will subside when you dress the salad.
In a large mixing bowl, toss the greens with the dressing. Add the avocado and chickpeas. Serve with fresh black pepper sprinkled on top.
Just had this for lunch and it ruled. I’m going to make this dang dressing all the time now!
woohoo!
I made this in a hurry to go with my parents “official” first vegan meal. It was whipped up in no time and they really enjoyed it. I didn’t tell them it was a vegan caesar and they didn’t pick up on it to the best of my knowledge. There was some taste reminiscent of it to me but I think we all just enjoyed the salad for what it was, delightful! My mom even said, Yeah, it’s good, but it had to be time consuming to make and was very surprised when I told her how simple it was and curious about the ingredients in it. Thanks So much for your lovely recipe and for sharing your creations with everyone!
That is so nice to hear, thank you!
Thanks so much for this! I am part of a CSA and have a steady stream of fresh greens all summer, and the old olive oil and vinegar gets a little old after awhile. I’m excited to mix it up with this!
Thanks, Isa! In an attempt to save money, I made my own tahini, which may have been why my dressing was less awesome than anticipated (I think I over-toasted the seeds… oops). However, I added more crap to it, namely lemon juice, more garlic, more pepper and a dash of Braggs and olive brine. Within minutes, it was ultra yummy! I halved the batch as it’s just me (hence the hesitation to buy a big thing of tahini), and I still have enough for one more caesar. Yum!!
PS As fledgling vegan, I am soooo blown away by the power of nooch! 🙂 Amazing stuff!
I made this tonight with tempeh bacon and it was delicious! I modified the dressing just a touch, adding about a teaspoon of lemon juice to give it a little more acidity. I also used a spicy dijon mustard to give it a little kick. It all came together nicely–it made for a tasty summer meal!
Awesome! I was wondering what to do with all the Romaine in my garden!
The tahini-freeze thing is actually due to temperature (tahini reacts really quickly to cold temps). If you add lukewarm water instead of cool or cold water it should all stay liquidy.
I read something about the tahini and water thing a little while ago! It’s because tahini has lots of oil in it from the sesame seeds, and oil and water don’t mix easily. That’s why you add oil really slowly when making Vegenaise 😉 so that the oil and plant-based milk (essentially water) emulsify! Maybe next time you’re adding water to tahini, add it little by little and slowly
I made this salad tonight, with crunchy seitan dipped in whole wheat & sauteed in olive oil (like in seitan piccata), then more of this scrumptious dressing on the seitan. So yummy. Your recipes can get me excited about making dinner even in this heat!
This was my first vegan ceasar dressing and I was super excited to try it! Mine came out tasting extremely bitter, is that to be expected? I poured it over a salad with avocado, onion, and Jamaican jerk tempeh so the bitterness wasn’t overwhelming, but I’m not looking forward to packing it for lunch 🙁 maybe I used too much tahini — any suggestions?
I think it’s because the fat molecules absorb water to a certain extent and then get saturated so then it starts to smooth out
Using tahini for Caesar dressing is so genius! Looking forward to making this, maybe with some chickpea cutlets!
Delicious! Made this 2 times in 1 week! loved it that much. Only thing we do different is roast the chickpeas with olive oil and cajun seasoning. In case your interested, just toss the chickpeas and seasonings together and bake for 20 minutes @ 425 degrees.
I love how you say to mix things in a coffee mug. Totally!!!
LOVE IT! I’ve made this dressing 3 times already! (But I haven’t done the full combo, yet). I love the Caesar dressing recipe from Appetite for Reduction, too, but this one is way faster to make!
This looks and sounds amazing! I’m with Anna (June 10th comment) in wondering if the yeast flakes can be skipped – or substituted with something else? I can’t get those where I am. Looking forward to trying this!
It’s really good for thickening, but you could leave it out and do a little extra tahini.
Hey Isa! How long does this dressing stay good for? Thanks!
I’ve had it for 5 days or so.
This dressing was delicious!!!! I love all of your dressings, especially your oil-free ones are always a home run. Thanks for sharing them.
Delicious!! We had tons of kale so I used that instead of arugula and romaine. Made it kind of bitter but I counteracted with more nootch and mustard and was satisfied with the results. Boyfriend added kalamata olives and pepperoncini. Also, my dressing turned out too thin so I blended in another avocado.
Thank you! Great inspiration.
Thank you Isa!!!! Just made this salad tonight for my family who are meat eaters who laugh at my vegetarian food. I have been craving so badly a Cesar salad, and this was so perfect! My mom and dad both were surprisingly loving the salad. My mom even asked for second helpings! My grandma got me your Veganomican for Christmas and now I am bound and determined to start cooking and make as many meals I can out of it! Thank you so much Isa! Please keep up your great work!
Thank you!!
What are yeast flakes? Can you make this without? I’m allergic to brewer’s yeast and baker’s yeast… doe yeast flakes come from either of those?
I love this dressing! I was addicted to the caesar chavez dressing from Appetite for Reduction, and I thought I could never love another caesar dressing as much, but I was wrong…This dressing is so easy to whip up. I make a double amount and keep it in a jar in the fridge. I use it as dressing on salad but also dip for veggies or pita chips. I even like to put it on sandwiches. I always add black pepper and lemon juice when I make it to give it some extra zing.
This Caesar is a favorite in my house, we’ve eaten it for about a week now & haven’t tired of it yet. Tonight I’m going to make your Ranch salad. You’re a very talented chef & we’re reaping the benefits, thanks! Being Vegan never tasted so good!
I’m obsessed with this salad dressing. Who the hell needs ranch? Or dairy caesar? Damn this is good. I wish I’d known about it earlier in life. Thanks, Isa!
Have any of you guys actually put the arugula in the salad?
I have literally EVERYTHING else just sitting around — except for the arugala!
Wondering if I should throw in some spinach, or just leave it entirely romaine. I see how arugula could add some nice bite to the Caesar, but spinach might be too…. spinachy.
I’m a lousy (and lazy) vegan cook, but I love Caesar salad and creamy vegan dressings. “No need to break out the blender” got me interested at once. I had all the ingredients at home – so good. Thank you for this recipe.
very good for manual to use it – thanks for share
BACON!!!
Thank you for this great recipe and making it OIL FREE!! I love you for that.
For those who may want to have vegan Caesar Salad, try Beyond Meat. their ‘chicken’ strips are fabulous and vegan.
I have been making a vegan Caesar with Beyond Meat lightly seasoned strips, croutons, capers, romaine and this dressing. It’s a staple in our house. Thanks so much for the dressing recipe. it is amazing!
Hi
I just discovered your site and LOVE IT! I feel like it’s Christmas all over again. Thanks!
Every time I see that picture, I say, Mmm, I have to go eat salad.
Really great Caesar dressing recipe. I made a couple of small adjustments: I used vegetable broth instead of water and I added a couple of tablespoons of lemon juice.
I also cut the romaine heads in half, drizzled them with oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper and then grilled them on the stove top for a couple of minutes on the cut side. I then drizzled the dressing on top. Delish!
Has anyone tried to make extra dressing and bottle it? How long do you think it would keep for?