My mom makes a killer Caesar salad and it was one my favorite dishes growing up. She left the anchovies out of it for me when I went vegetarian, but when I went vegan a couple years later, it was “bye bye Caesar salad” for me. Over the years, I played around with various ingredients to perfect this Vegan Caesar Salad recipe. I think this comes pretty close in flavor to my mom’s original recipe. And my omnivore fiancé even prefers it to dairy-based Caesar salads!
Notes – Vegan Caesar Salad Recipe
- This recipe relies on nutritional yeast for its “cheesy flavour”. If you don’t know what that is, check out my post: What is Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)?
- Use silken tofu and an extra teaspoon of lemon juice if you don’t have vegan mayonnaise.
- Most crouton recipes call for stale bread, but I use fresh bread as I prefer softer croutons in my salads. This way they don’t irritate the roof of my mouth.
- I just use my hands to tear the lettuce, but if you use a knife, be sure to use a porcelain or plastic one as metal blades will make the cut edges of the lettuce “rust” prematurely.
- Add/substitute spinach and/or kale for a super-duper healthy vegan Caesar salad.
- Sauté some tempeh or tofu strips in a little bit of tamari and add it to the salad to mimic a bacon/chicken Caesar salad.
More salads you’ll love
- Raw Pad Thai
- Black & White Bean Quinoa Salad
- Curried Chickpea & Veggie “Noodle” Salad
- See all my vegan salad recipes
Vegan Caesar Salad
This Caesar salad is so good, no one will know it’s not the “real thing”! Vegan / Gluten-Free Option
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 30 mins
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: Salad, Side
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 head romaine lettuce (called “cos” lettuce in Australia)
Dressing
- 1/4 cup blanched almonds
- 1/4 cup vegan mayonnaise
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt & pepper, to taste
Garlic Croutons
- 1 French baguette (or other thick bread such as sourdough or Focaccia – use gluten free if that’s an issue for you)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
To make the croutons
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C.
- Cut the bread into small cubes, about 3 cm thick.
- Toss bread cubes with the olive oil and garlic, and place on a baking sheet.
- Bake in oven for about 10 minutes, stirring them around about halfway and watching that they don’t burn. Set aside to cool.
To make the salad
- Wash and dry lettuce, and tear it into bite-sized pieces. Place into a large salad bowl.
- Blend all other ingredients in a blender until smooth. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water, as needed, to achieve desired consistency.
- Add dressing and croutons to salad bowl and mix to distribute dressing evenly.
Keywords: almond, caper, dijon, easy, favorite, gluten-free, nutritional yeast, original, under 30 minutes, caesar, salad, vegan
