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.
This was absolutely delicious! So super creamy and addictive. Thanks for sharing 🙂
So happy you loved it Olivia, thank you so much for the feedback!!
Pinenuts are generally (like always) from China. I don’t use them.
I never tasted Ceasar dressing because the raw egg scared me off, even
before I became vegan. So since I don’t know how it is supposed to taste,
what about using pepitas or sunflower seeds ?
Hi Nina, you can use cashews instead and that will be just fine 🙂
I just tried this dressing as a farce. I went on-line looking for a cesar salad dressing recipe and hit the jackpot!
Wonderful Jaynette, I’m so happy to hear that you love it so much!
This is brilliant! Closest thing that I’ve found that tastes like the classic caesar dressing I made for 35 years, before becoming WFPB! I might add a little soy sauce and a few capers to try and simulate the anchovie flavor next time, but man there will be a bowl of this salad in my fridge at all times! Thank you!
Wonderful Steve, I’m so happy to hear you loved this so much! Capers sound like a great idea. I’ve seen those used before in a couple of Caesar dressings, I just tried to keep this as simple as possible, but that does sound really delicious! Thanks for the feedback!
I’m making a very large salad & realized I don’t know if this dressing will be enough. Only have ½ cup pine nuts but plenty of cashews. Have you ever mixed both to be able to double this?
Yes, you can do a mix to get the needed amount and it will still be delicious!
Holy guacamole! I made this last night then went home on my lunch break and made more of it today! This recipe is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing:)
Yay! So happy to hear that Katie, thank you so much for the feedback!!
I’m so happy you loved it so much Katie, thank you very much for leaving feedback!
hi Brandi,
i’m new to nutritional yeast and wondering if there’s a brand that you use and love. Does it matter if it’s flakes or ground?
thanks!!! and can not wait to make this dressing 🙂
susan
Hi Susan! Yes, this is the one I use for all recipes now. It is not made with any synthetic ingredients and has a better milder taste.
http://amzn.to/1rrwt4P
I made this last night and it was delicious! Thanks for the great recipe. The only thing I changed was that I only added 2 T of nutritional yeast rather than three because I am not a big fan of it. I also added some fried tofu that was cooked with soy sauce, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper. It was delicious and reminded me of chicken Caesar salad — but without the cruelty.
Yay! SO happy to hear you loved it Wendy, thank you so much for the feedback!!
Hi! I would love to try this recipe but any ideas on what to use instead of nuts?
Hi Katie! The only other option would be sunflower kernels, but you are going to taste them since they are rather strong. It won’t be the same great flavor with the nuts unfortunately. Another option is to use white beans in place of nuts. I personally don’t love the difference in texture, but some people like it. That’s really the only other choices.
This recipe came across FB today… It sound delicious. I might put stevia in for the agave. Do you think that would be ok ??
Hi Debby! I am not a fan of stevia unfortunately so I can’t really say how well it would work, I would just suggest adding a very tiny amount or just leave it out since it is so much sweeter than agave.
Do you think this would be good as a coleslaw dressing? I’ve being hearing good things about savoy cabbage lately and thought I might try a slaw as a change from salads but didn’t know what to use as a dressing. Thanks
Hi Linda! I have never tried that but it sounds good actually! Coleslaw has a twinge of sweetness to it and so does this dressing, so I think it sounds great! Let me know if you try it!
Oh my! I made the slaw and used this as a dressing and it is wonderful. I’m eating it now. A nice change from kale.
Wonderful! SO happy to hear you loved it Linda, thank you so much for the feedback!
I made this tonight, along with another cashew-based vegan Caesar dressing I found on Pinterest and wanted to try (vegan Caesar face-off!). This recipe beat it by a landslide. I loved it so much, and I don’t even want to eat the other one now. I haven’t had real Caesar dressing for years, but this definitely reminded me of what I remember it tasting like. Thank you! I can’t wait to try your vegan ranch!
Wow, that is so awesome Emma! Thank you so much for the feedback, I’m excited it beat out the standard cashew based ones, haha! Yay!
I’m so excited to try making this (and your vegan chicken soup)! I love ceasar dressing so much and finding out I couldn’t have it anymore has been killer.
Maybe you can help me out though. So I’m actually not vegan, but due to an allergy I developed recently I found out I can’t have a lot of common ingredients (milk, eggs, soy, I can’t even have chocolate!). One of the big ones being garlic. Do you have any suggestions for what I could put in this instead of garlic? I know there’s nothing that tastes like garlic, but anything that would taste good in this that I could put in instead.
Thanks!
Hi Harley! Yes, I would just add 1/2 teaspoon dried onion powder instead, it will give a nice flavor to the dressing. Let me know how it turns out!
Ahh, thanks for responding so quickly. How’ve I forgot to mention onion is a no go either. As you imagine I’m having a hard time finding and making food. I’ll look around at other stuff, but thanks for the help!
Honestly it will still taste good without it, I’d just leave it out. The base dressing is very good.
I have been vegan for a yr and constantly looking for new recipes. I am trying to be oil free and plant based as much as possible too. I have seen so many recipes on your blog that has me drooling and wanting to try them out. They all look so good and healthy too. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much Tammy, I hope you love the recipes!
I know this is an old recipe, but I just made it and it was so so so good. I’m just starting yoga teacher training and we all eat lunch and dinner together on days we have class. I wanted something easy and impressive (I’m the only vegan in the group and want to show everyone else how easy and yummy it is!). This dressing definitely fit the bill. I’ve already given 3 women the recipe and the link to your blog. Thank you for doing what you do!
Wow Danielle, that is so wonderful to hear that it was a hit, even with non-vegans! My parents love it too and are not vegan. Thank you so much for making it and leaving such great feedback!
Oh my gosh; I am eating it by the spoonful straight out of the jar! Haven’t even made a salad yet!
Thanks for this, Therese!
Haha, awesome! I do the same! So glad to hear how much you enjoy it!! 🙂
I just found your website and made the cheese sauce for mac and cheese last night and Caesar dressing tonight and both were home runs! I’m in the process of transitioning to vegan and your healthy tasty recipes are making it a reality. You are a God send!
Aww thank you so much Tysha! I’m so happy to hear that my recipes are helping your transition that much easier, that is what I’m here for! So glad you love the cheese sauce and Caesar dressing, awesome to hear!
Ok seriously Brandi… I’m ditching all other vegan recipe sites and sticking with yours forever and always! You are now officially the star of my kitchen! I can’t tell you how many countless vegan recipes I have made (time consuming and requiring all kinds of crazy ingredients) that didn’t taste yummy and worth all that work!
Well… Back to your Caesar Salad recipe I absolutely loved it! Finally a recipe I didn’t have to modify and oh so simple!!! Tastes like the guilty version! I followed your recipe exactly and it is my new go to dressing! Thank you so much! Oh the only thing I added were some gluten free homemade croutons!!! 🙂
Oh my gosh, I missed this amazing feedback, so sorry! I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear this and how much you love this dressing Brenda! Thank you so very much for letting me know and I apologize for the delay! Sometimes I get so many comments, I miss one. Thanks again!
My favorite salad dressing of all times!!! Thank you for this recipe!!!!
Oh wow, thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear that!!
Absolutely love this dressing and so does my husband : ) we’ve been enjoying this amost every week for the last year.
He’s away in camp working and I had it 3 times this week. He made me promise to make it on Sunday when he gets home!
Thank you Brandi!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear that Linda! Thank you so much for letting me know! And I apologize for just seeing this comment!
Hi – I’m wondering what can be subbed for the pine nuts? I’m catering for someone who has a nut allergy who also reacts to pine nuts! Thanks!
Hi Madeline! I haven’t tried subbing with anything personally, the only thing I can think of subbing is with raw sunflower seeds (salt-free), but the flavor is very different so I can’t say what the final taste would be without trying it myself. You may need to adjust the seasonings a bit. Let me know how it turns out!
OMG! I just made your dressing exactly as the recipes is written. It is sooooo awesome. I’m serving it for Christmas dinner. Can’t wait to hear my family’s reaction. It truly taste like Caesar dressing as I remember it. Thank you. Thank you.
Yay Kathi!! Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback, it made my day! I really appreciate you letting me know, I love hearing from my readers! Merry Christmas!
This didn’t remind me of a true Caesar dressing, but that didn’t stop me from slurping it up as a veggie dip!
Hi Marlene! Yes, I shared that I created this based on a Ceasar dressing I used to get at a restaurant here in my town and that it is slightly different than traditional Ceasar, but it has always been my absolute favorite dressing. 🙂
So glad you loved it anyways, haha! I am actually working on another more basic Ceasar dressing, so stay tuned 🙂