The Best Vegan Caesar Salad Recipe
Discover a delicious and healthy vegan Caesar salad recipe with homemade dressing, crispy lettuce and kale, and roasted chickpeas. This gluten-free and dairy-free salad is packed with protein and perfect for a quick and satisfying meal. It is all creamy and crispy.
This delicious salad recipe is for me and my daughter our ultimate vegan salad. This salad is incredibly easy and makes a tasty lunch or side dish (a good companion with quinoa, poke bowl, or even chicken or salmon).
And this Caesar salad is entirely plant-based. There are no anchovies in this recipe. But as the dressing contains capers, it still brings some umami depth to this vegan dish.
All you need is 5 STEPS: (1) cut some small crispy sucrines (lettuce) and kale leaves into pieces, (2) prepare a creamy vegan Caesar dressing (see my previous recipe), (3) bake the chickpeas in the oven, (4) prep your vegan parmesan (see my recipe) and (5) slice one avocado.
About the creamy vegan Caesar dressing and the vegan parmesan
To make this vegan Caesar recipe, you will need to make my creamy vegan Caesar dressing. See my previous post with the full recipe. It has olive oil, silk tofu, lemon, mustard, nutritional yeast, coconut aminos sauce (or soya sauce), and capers. And it is simply blended all together.
And you know probably already my vegan parmesan that I use to sprinkle on everything. This is a sunflower and almond vegan parmesan made with roasted sunflower seeds, almond flour, nutritional seeds, onion powder, and smoked paprika. And it is ready in a whizz.
Nutritional powerhouse
This vegan Caesar salad is packed with nutrients. The chickpeas provide a hearty dose of protein and fiber, while the lettuce and kale offer essential vitamins and minerals. Avocado adds healthy fats and contributes to a feeling of fullness.
The dressing on the other side is another dose of protein thanks to the tofu it contains.
Is this salad nut-free, dairy free and/or gluten free ?
This Caesar salad is entirely plant-based (no anchovies) and contains lots of protein and vitamins. It is dairy-free thanks to the tofu that makes the dressing incredibly creamy and gluten-free as I use chickpeas instead of bread croutons.
Is this salad recipe versatile ?
Experiment with different flavors by adding a pinch of chili flakes for a spicy kick, an extra squeeze of lemon for added brightness, more capers for a briny flavor, or go for some green beans, extra nuts, cucumber, or tomatoes.
How to make it in advance?
If you want to save this delicious vegan Caesar salad recipe for later, it is easy to prepare everything in advance.
You’ll start by washing and chopping the salad into pieces and keep in an airtight container in the fridge. You can make ahead the vegan parmesan and the dressing too, keeping them in separates container in the fridge. Finally you can prep the chickpeas croutons too. They will keep their crispiness depending of where you are in the world (their crispiness last longer in France than in Bahrain where the humidity is higher). And if they soften, you simply roast them for few minutes more right before serving the salad. And last but not least, you need to cut the avocado at the last minute.
Then when you are ready to eat, assemble all the ingredients together with the creamy vegan dressing and mix well.
More salad options for this September
If you enjoyed this vegan Caesar salad and its dressing, you might also like this beautiful and delicious salad that will bring joy to any lunch or dinner:
fulfilling salad with avocado sauce,
radicchio and brussels sprout salad.
The Best Vegan Caesar Recipe, healthy and…
When crispy meets creamy, fresh and fulfilling!
If you make it
If you make the best vegan Caesar recipe, tag me on Instagram as @live.and.taste and use #liveandtaste hashtag.
Feel free to ask me any question or leave me a comment (reply) below the recipe, I will be thrilled to reply to you.
Healthy greetings from Laetitia
THE BEST VEGAN CAESAR SALAD RECIPE
Ingredients
CHICKPEAS CROUTONS
- 1 can (or glass bottle) chickpeas
- 2 tsp dried oregano and thyme
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Himalayan salt and pepper to taste
SALAD
- 3 to 4 tbsp vegan parmesan, (see recipe on the blog)
- 3 small/medium sucrine (small lettuce), (or a medium lettuce)
- 3 big curly kale leaves
- ½ cup (or more) creamy vegan Caesar dressing, (see recipe on the blog)
Instructions
CROUTONS
- Preheat oven to 200 C.
- Rinse and drain well the chickpeas. Dry them with a kitchen towel (to help them crisp more).
- In a bowl, first mix well the spices with the olive oil. Add the chickpeas and stir well to combine.
- Spread the chickpeas evenly on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Reduce oven temperature to 180 °C and bake them for 20 minutes. Then check and stir the chickpeas, and cook on grill mode (fan) for an extra 10 to 15 minutes more (continue checking regularly during the last minutes being careful not to let them burn).
- Stir again and switch off the oven. Let the tray in the oven (off and door slightly open) for approx. 10 to 15 minutes more for an extra crisp.
THE SALAD
- In the meantime, make sure you have some dressing ready in the fridge, or make it now (click for recipe). Same for the vegan parmesan.
- Then, wash the sucrine and the kale leaves. Dry them well.
- Chop the sucrine into medium pieces (remove hard bottom). Add them to a medium bowl. For the kale, remove ribs (and keep for juice), then chop the kale leaves into medium pieces. Add them to the bowl with the salad.
- Add the caesar sauce to the bowl and mix well. Add the chickpeas croutons and the vegan parmesan. Mix again. Divide into 2 plates and decorate with 1/2 avocado. Serve and eat immediately.
