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This healthy vegan caesar salad recipe is packed with delicious flavors and textures. Chickpeas, homemade croutons, and vegan parmesan are tossed with romaine lettuce and drizzled with a cashew and vegan mayo based caesar dressing for a filling lunch or dinner.
Vegan Caesar Salad Recipe
I love coming up with healthy salad recipes that aren’t totally boring. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a basic spring green salad with julienned carrots and a simple oil and vinegar dressing, but sometimes you just need…more! More crunch, more flavor, more creaminess, more texture. And definitely more protein to make it a meal.
That’s why this Caesar salad recipe is one of my favorites – crunchy homemade croutons, deliciously spiced chickpeas, super creamy caesar dressing, and “parmesan cheese”.
The creamy Caesar dressing is made with a base of cashews and vegan mayo. Trust me, it will blow you away! It tastes just like authentic Caesar dressing to me.
You can make your own vegan parmesan or use store-bought parm – my favorite is by Follow Your Heart.
More Yummy Vegan Salads
- Chopped Salad with Cashew Bacon Bits
- Sweet Potato Quinoa Salad
- Apple Lentil Salad
- Kale & Cranberry Quinoa Salad
If you make this recipe, leave a review and tell me how you like it!
Vegan Caesar Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Spiced Chickpeas
- 1/2 tablespoon oil – – ex. grape seed or olive oil
- 1/3 cup chickpeas
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- pepper to taste
Vegan parmesan
- 1/4 cup cashews
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
Caesar Salad
- 4 cups chopped romaine
- garlic croutons
- caesar salad dressing
- optional: pepper to sprinkle over top
Instructions
Spiced Chickpeas
- Add oil and chickpeas to a skillet. Mix in salt, garlic powder, parsley, and pepper. Heat on medium until warm and golden, about 5 minutes.
Vegan Parmesan
- Blend together cashews and nutritional yeast until it becomes the texture of traditional parmesan cheese.
Bringing the Salad Together
- Toss together chickpeas, vegan parmesan, and romaine lettuce.
- Top with croutons and salad dressing – and more vegan parmesan if you wish!
- Optional: Freshly grind pepper over the top.
- Enjoy!
Emmillie Ritz says
In place of the oil I used tahini and a bit of filtered water. Turned out pretty good
Karissa says
Sounds great!
Deena says
Wish there was a dressing for this that was oil free! Finding a good salad dressing that is oil free is sooooo hard. There aren’t any vegan oil free mayonnaise products yet. Love your blog and use lots of your recipes!
Karissa says
You can substitute more cashews in place of the mayo, or you can try it with this recipe: https://www.karissasvegankitchen.com/vegan-oil-free-mayo/
Anna says
Can I omit the nutritional yeast. It causes stomach issues with one of my kids. I have been trying to find an alternative to it that isn’t processed product. Have any suggestions?
Karissa says
Yes, you can just leave it out.
Nicky says
Soooo…where do you get your vegan caesar dressing from? I was hoping for a recipe for actual vegan caesar.
Karissa says
It’s linked to within the post 🙂 Here it is again: https://www.karissasvegankitchen.com/vegan-caesar-salad-dressing/