This easy homemade Vegan Caesar Dressing is just like the one you'd get in a restaurant, except it is dairy-free. It's tangy and well-balanced. Top it on a vegan caesar salad or use it as a dip for sprouts or veggies. A healthy alternative to bottled Caesar dressing.
Want to make an easy creamy vegan Caesar dressing recipe? This dairy-free Caesar dressing recipe beats any store-bought vegetable dressing.
It's packed with wholesome ingredients, stores well, and can be whipped up in under 5 minutes.
Healthy, creamy, and delicious are three adjectives that describe this best homemade vegan Caesar dressing recipe. Try it today!
If you like this recipe, try my homemade Italian dressing. It's a go-to recipe for your everyday salad.
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🧐 What Is Caesar Dressing?
It's a creamy salad dressing that is traditionally used on Caesar Salad. The salad itself was created by the restaurateur Caesar Cardini who was an Italian immigrant and owned restaurants in Mexico and USA.
Classic Caesar dressing contained garlic-infused olive oil, lime juice, and Worcestershire sauce.
Nowadays, Caesar dressing is made with anchovies, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, mustard, mayo, and Parmesan cheese.
Needless to say, the latter two ingredients and anchovies are not plant-based.
Thankfully, with just a few ingredients swapped, it's possible to make a delicious and easy vegan Caesar dressing that is totally irresistible.
💭 Here's Why This Vegan Caesar Dressing Works
- quick and easy. This dairy-free Caesar Salad Dressing is ready in less than 5 minutes and is much healthier than the traditional Caesar dressing. It's dairy-free, gluten-free, and oil-free. Plus, there are no cashews which means you don't have to wait until they're soaked to make a vegan Caesar dressing. No need for a vegan mayo either, this homemade vegan Caesar dressing is perfect.
- healthy. The vast majority of bottled salad dressings in the supermarket are vegan, but most are full of soybean oil, vegan mayonnaise, and sugars. My dairy-free Caesar Dressing is made with Tahini, which boasts quite a few health benefits. Tahini is a great source of vitamins B1, and B6 as well as such micro-elements as Phosphorus and Manganese which are important for bone health. In addition, this vegan Caesar Dressing contains garlic which might help fight inflammation and support immune function.
- multi-functional. This creamy dairy-free Caesar dressing is perfect as a marinade for tofu, dip for roasted vegetables, or dressing for a Potato Salad. Of course, don't forget about a classic Caesar salad, that this dressing was created for. Just combine some romaine lettuce, croutons, and roasted chickpeas, and drizzle with a dressing. Voila, a flavor-packed salad is ready.
Ingredients
Here's an overview of the specific ingredients for this recipe. For the exact ingredients and measurements, please scroll to the recipe card below.
📖 Ingredient Notes
- Tahini. For this vegan Caesar dressing, you need to use plain Tahini without any added oils or flavors. If you're using a new jar of Tahini, it might contain a naturally occurring oil on top. Stir it really well to evenly distribute the oil and Tahini is ready to be used.
- Miso paste. Miso acts as a replacement for anchovies. It has a distinctive savory flavor and works perfectly in vegan Caesar dressing. There are many varieties out there, but in this recipe, I specifically use white Miso paste. It's my literally go-to ingredient for every recipe. It has a bold umami flavor and works perfectly in pesto. I usually buy Organic Miso by Hikari Miso on Amazon. However, Kroger sells it too;
- Sea Salt. Recently I started using and recommend Jacobsen Kosher Sea Salt, as it contains one of the lowest levels of Lead and no microplastics.
- Mustard. For this vegan Caesar dressing recipe, I prefer and recommend Dijon or stone-ground Dijon mustard.
- Maple syrup. It's used to offset the acidity in the dressing. You can replace it with Agave if you want.
🔪 Instructions
It's so easy to make this dairy-free Caesar dressing. With a few pantry-staple ingredients and 5 minutes of your time and you'll have the most amazing creamy and rich vegan Caesar dressing.
- In a medium bowl combine creamy Tahini, garlic pushed through a garlic press, chopped capers, Miso paste, Dijon mustard, Maple syrup, and black pepper.
- Slowly start adding water and continue whisking until you reach the desired consistency. You might need to add more than ⅓ c of water.
- Give everything a good whisk to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Perfect vegan Caesar dressing should be creamy, rich, and runny. If the sauce is too thick, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Give the dressing a taste to see if it needs more salt and pepper. Transfer the vegan Caesar dressing to an 8-oz jar, cover it with a lid, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
💡 Top Tip
Miso paste is already quite salty so I recommend adding salt to a dairy-free Caesar dressing at the very end. This way it's easy to regulate the amount of salt in the dressing.
Use the knife to finely mince the capers. No need to use a food processor.
💭 Frequently Asked Questions
If you want to double the recipe, then using a blender is a good idea. Otherwise, whisking the sauce by hand works just fine, no blending is necessary.
It's recommended because it replaces one of the essential Caesar dressing ingredients which is anchovies. If you don't have Miso sauce, use 1 tablespoon of Tamari or Soy sauce instead.
You can use apple cider vinegar instead. 1 tablespoon might be enough. If not, add some more, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Capers are often found in the condiment aisle in all grocery stores along with olives and pickles.
👆Recipe Variations & Substitutions
This homemade vegan Caesar dressing recipe is delicious as is. However, if you want to take it to another level, here're the ingredients that you can add to it.
- Kalamata olives. Make sure they're pitted and drained. Add ½ tablespoon of finely minced olives to this easy dressing.
- Worcestershire sauce. Add 1 teaspoon to this dairy-free Caesar dressing.
- Roasted garlic. You can use it as a substitution for raw garlic. 1-2 cloves of roasted garlic should be enough for this recipe.
Storage Tips
Store this vegan Caesar Salad dressing in a covered jar in a fridge for about 1 week.
If you make this recipe, please leave me a comment below and rate it. I always appreciate the feedback. Also, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest.
Recipe
The Easiest And Most Delicious Vegan Caesar Dressing (Perfect For Salads)
Ingredients
- ¼ c Tahini
- 1 clove garlic medium
- 3 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon white Miso paste
- 1 tablespoon capers minced
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Maple syrup
- ⅓ c warm water
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- In a medium bowl combine creamy Tahini, garlic pushed through a garlic press, chopped capers, Miso paste, Dijon mustard, Maple syrup and pepper.
- Give everything a good whisk to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Slowly start adding water and continue whisking until you reach the desired consistency.
- Perfect Caesar dressing should be creamy, rich and runny. If the sauce is too thick, feel free to add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.
- Give dressing a taste to see if it needs more salt, pepper. Otherwise, transfer the vegan Caesar dressing in a 8-oz jar, cover with a lid and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- Kalamata olives. Make sure they're pitted and drained. Add ½ tablespoon of finely minced olives to the dressing.
- Worcestershire sauce. Add 1 teaspoon to the dressing.
- Roasted garlic. You can use it as a substitution for raw garlic. 1-2 cloves of roasted garlic should be enough for this recipe.
Iryna Bychkiv is the founder and writer of the culinary website Lavender & Macarons, where she shares clean, European-inspired recipes that are delicious, easy to prepare, and made with wholesome ingredients. Iryna loves creating meals that are simple yet healthy and unique, including vegan and vegetarian recipes.
Iryna is also a freelance writer for MSN and Associated Press Wire.
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