Learn how to make homemade Vegan Caesar Dressing and salad at home! Oil-free and dairy-free. This Caesar dressing is made with only 6 main ingredients (+salt/pepper/water) and with buttery pine nuts, is oil-free & is so creamy and a crowd-pleaser.
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My all-time favorite caesar dressing has always been at a restaurant called Houstons in my city of…wait for it….Houston. Their dressing is a bit different than typical caesar because it was a bit peppery. It was SO addictive and it always came on the largest salad you ever saw. My hubby and I used to always eat there and having the salad was the best part of the meal.
I kid you not….I’m so obsessed with this dressing, I have been eating a manly size salad every single day.
HOW DO YOU MAKE A VEGAN CAESAR DRESSING?
Easy, you just start with my secret ingredient..unlike most vegan caesar dressings, I did not use cashews!
The nut of choice is pine nuts. Reason being is that pine nuts have a more oily, buttery taste to them and are slightly sweet….which basically, means a perfect vegan Caesar dressing.
Your easy Vegan Caesar dressing ingredients:
- raw pine nuts
- fresh lemon juice
- nutritional yeast
- garlic cloves
- dried parsley
- black pepper and salt
I wanted to create a vegan caesar dressing that did not use cashews, oil or soy/tofu. Of course traditional caesar dressing recipes can contain raw egg yolks, anchovies or lots of oil/mayo….sounds kind of gross doesn’t it? Sure did taste good though.
Feel free to use your favorite greens for the salad. I used an Italian salad blend and also added lots of fresh broccoli and pine nuts because I love the added texture it gives. I also sprinkled some extra nutritional yeast on top…..so delicious!
I also have another Vegan Caesar Dressing with completely different ingredients and is used in this Vegan Caesar Smashed Chickpea Sandwich! That Caesar dressing contains NO nutritional yeast, so if you can’t have it, just use that recipe instead.
OTHER VEGAN OIL-FREE SALAD DRESSINGS
- Best Vegan Ranch Dressing or Easy Vegan Ranch Dressing. Both are great. One has yogurt, the other does not.
- Oil-free Creamy Italian Dressing
- Almond Butter Dressing
- Oil-free Tahini Goddess Dressing
- Vegan Thousand Island Dressing
Vegan Caesar Dressing (Oil-free)
Ingredients
- 1/2 heaping cup (75g) raw pine nuts (you can sub cashews if necessary, it will just taste less authentic)
- 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons (105g) water
- 2 tablespoons (30g) fresh lemon juice
- 2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes (I highly recommend this Sari brand, it is non-fortified with much better taste.)
- 2 large garlic cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (SEE NOTE)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- I use this scale.
NOTE
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper gives flavor without it tasting like pepper. 1/2 teaspoon will give a peppery taste like I noted in the beginning of the post. I make the peppery version since my take is on the Houston's Restaurant one locally.
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to your blender or food processor and blend until very smooth and creamy. I used my Vitamix, but I'm sure any blender or even a food processor would work since pine nuts are a soft nut. If you have a weak blender, I would suggest soaking the cashews (if using) overnight, drain and rinse, so your dressing isn't gritty.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes. It will be perfect for salads then as it gets well chilled and thickens up some.
- I used an Italian salad blend and added some broccoli, pine nuts, extra black pepper and nutritional yeast on top. However, feel free to use whatever greens you like.
Last night I took this to. Cinco de Mayo party full of Omnis. It was up against delicious meaty cheesy enchiladas and Rellenos, yet I got multiple compliments on this salad dressing!! Who compliments salad dressing?!? I had to use walnuts as my pine nuts were freezer burned and cashews seem to make things really sweet, but it was fantastic!!
Woohoo! That’s awesome!
This is so good. I’ve made over a dozen homemade, oil free dressings in the last few years only to be disappointed. This is by far the best. My husband, who still clings to his bottle of hidden valley ranch dressing despite eating 80% wfpb, tasted this, put his ranch back in the fridge, and proceeded to devour this dressing as both a dressing and a dip!
That’s so wonderful to hear Shannon, thank you for the feedback!
Another fabulous recipe this Caesar dressing was a real hit for everyone in my house! Thank you again for sharing all your love! LOL! No one could believe it was oil free! Sure does trump all those store bought brands!
Absolutely fabulous
Thank you so much Val!
Hi! I tried it with silken tofu per your suggestion and it was outstanding. Thank you!!!!
That is wonderful to hear!
I love it!!!!
This is a fabulous Ceasar dressing, vegan or otherwise! I made the recipe exactly as written, including the suggested Sari brand nutritional yeast. I opted to use 2.5 T. of the nutritional yeast as a nice halfway point my first run with this recipe, and used ½ t. black pepper. I weighed the ingredients vs measured with the exception of the smaller amounts like salt and pepper, and also used the tablespoon measure for the yeast.
Incredibly delicious. The Vegan 8 cookbook and Brandi’s recipes are my go-to for all things vegan. My daughter and I have been especially pleased with the salad dressings and soups.
Thanks again for another keeper recipe. 🙂
BTW … if you haven’t made Brandi’s Thai Rice Noodle and Bok Choy Soup or her Crowd Pleasing Brownies, you need to. Honestly, though, everything we’ve tried has been delicious.
You are the best, thank you so much Catherine!!
Next time I am using sunflower seeds as pine nuts are $8 at Walmart and 1 teaspoon of the nutritional yeast flakes. I like this receipt thank you. 🙂
This dressing is chefs kiss! Think I’ve found my universal salad dressing lol