• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Vegan 8

  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • My Cookbooks
    • The Vegan 8 Cookbook
    • 8 Ingredient Desserts Ebook
  • SHOP
You are here: Home / Dips/Sauces / Vegan Oil-Free Creamy Italian Dressing

Vegan Oil-Free Creamy Italian Dressing

4Kshares
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Pin
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

A delicious, homemade Vegan Oil-free Creamy Italian Dressing that is vegan, raw, dairy-free and soy-free! So good you will never need store-bought again! Made with cashews, red wine vinegar and Italian dried herbs and ready in 5 minutes!

White bowl with large salad, carrots, pecans and vegan creamy Italian dressing.

VEGAN OIL-FREE CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING

I don’t eat salads very often, I’m more of a rice, beans and potato eater. However, I DO love salads when I do eat them and I love to load them up and drizzle on some amazing, creamy and bold-flavored dressing all over it. Most salad dressings are so loaded with oil, it’s rather gross. This Vegan Oil-Free Creamy Italian Dressing will not have you missing the oil one bit.

HEALTHY AND OIL-FREE SALAD DRESSING

This dressing was a reader request for her son who loves Italian dressing, but of course, consuming the oil versions are unhealthy. This one is not only oil-free, but it’s made from healthy ingredients and all plant-based, as well as raw. Learn all of my oil-free tips at How to Cook and Bake Without Oil. Using raw cashews gives it the creamy factor and red wine vinegar and lemon juice give it that signature tart flavor. I added dry yellow mustard powder, Italian dried seasoning, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, salt and just a small touch of syrup to help balance out the acidity. The result is a creamy, deeply-flavored and amazing.

Small white bowl with vegan creamy Italian dressing.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN CREAMY ITALIAN DRESSING

It only takes 5 minutes to make this oil-free Italian dressing. You will just blend the raw cashews with the Italian herbs, spices, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, syrup, water and salt/pepper and boom, done. While it sure is delicious straight out of the blender, the true flavor is best after it has chilled and settled in the fridge for a bit. It reaches it’s optimum flavor that way and thickens even more.

It couldn’t be easier either, you only need 8 ingredients (+ s&p and water):

  • raw cashews
  • red wine vinegar
  • lemon juice
  • maple syrup or agave
  • garlic powder
  • dry yellow mustard
  • paprika
  • Italian seasoning

I hope you all love this Vegan Oil-Free Creamy Italian Dressing! Be sure to leave me feedback below after you make it and if you take a pic, I’d love to see it on Instagram or Facebook!

OTHER VEGAN OIL-FREE DRESSINGS RECIPES TO TRY:

  • Best Vegan Ranch Dressing
  • Vegan Thousand Island Dressing
  • Almond Butter Dressing
  • Vegan Caesar Dressing

Vegan Oil-Free Creamy Italian Dressing

Brandi Doming
A delicious, homemade Vegan Creamy Italian Dressing that is dairy-free, oil-free and soy-free! So good you will never need store-bought again! Made with cashews, red wine vinegar and Italian dried herbs and ready in 5 minutes!
4.97 from 26 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 mins
Total Time 5 mins
Course Salad
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup (112g) raw, unsalted cashews (While I prefer the flavor with all cashews, for a lower fat version, you can sub half white beans and half cashews, but I would not recommend all beans or it really does change the taste/texture)
  • 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (150g) water
  • 3 tablespoons (45g) red wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon (15g) fresh lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup or agave (use 2 teaspoons for less acidic flavor)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry yellow mustard powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tbsp + 1/4 teaspoon to add after blending dried Italian seasoning blend without salt or red pepper (I use McCormick brand)
  • scant 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • If you do not have a high powered blender, then you will need to soak your cashews for 8-12 hours, the longer the better. Drain and rinse, then proceed with the recipe. They may not get 100% smooth in a regular blender and I find blending in a food processor (if you don't have a Vitamix/Blendtec) gets things smoother than a standard blender.
  • Add all of the ingredients to a high powered blender (I use a Vitamix) and blend until completely smooth and creamy. I found the flavor to be perfect, but if you want more tart, then add a bit more lemon or red wine vinegar. Keep in mind, that the flavor reaches it's true taste after chilling, as well as thickens even more. Stir in the remaining 1/4 teaspoon Italian dried herbs.
  • Chill in the fridge a minimum of an hour and then enjoy! When is sits overnight in the fridge, it will thicken up to the consistency of a dip, you can leave as is or add just a tiny bit of water to thin.
Tried this recipe?Tag @thevegan8 on Instagram and use tag #thevegan8!
Keyword vegan Italian dressing, creamy vegan Italian dressing, oil-free Italian dressing

Filed Under: Appetizers, Dips/Sauces, No Bake, Raw, Salads Tagged With: Cashews, Creamy, Dressing, Italian, Salad

Previous Post: « Vegan Gluten-Free Funfetti Birthday Cake
Next Post: Vegan Mango Caramel Cheesecake »

Reader Interactions

Comment and Rate This Recipe Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Bev Selby

    February 10, 2021 at 8:00 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Brandi,

    I love all your recipes. I made a YouTube on salad dressings. I linked to your account. Your cookbook has been a blessing to me, I wanted to share it with others, this is a new thing for me. My family loves this salad dressing! ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojhU4e2_x_Q

    Reply
    • brandi.doming@yahoo.com

      February 10, 2021 at 11:06 pm

      Thank you so much Bev! So honored to hear that!

      Reply
  2. Lashay

    March 4, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    5 stars
    Wow! I can’t believe how spot on this is. Delicious. Thank you for the recipe!

    Reply
    • brandi.doming@yahoo.com

      March 4, 2021 at 11:41 pm

      So happy you loved it Lashay!

      Reply
    • brandi.doming@yahoo.com

      March 5, 2021 at 3:38 am

      Yay, that is awesome, thank you!

      Reply
  3. Vivian

    March 14, 2021 at 5:04 am

    5 stars
    I made 1/3 recipe in my Vitamix cup. It was very easy and very delicious. It actually turned out better than I expected. We will definitely make this again. Thanks for posting it.

    Reply
« Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Search this blog…


I'm Brandi, creator of this vegan blog and cookbook author of The Vegan 8 Cookbook. The majority of my recipes focus on 8 ingredients or less, not counting salt, pepper or water. I'm an expert on oil-free cooking and baking! We went vegan to help control my husband's debilitating gout. Our lives and health improved dramatically. While my husband still has some challenges, his health is much better than when we were eating animal products! I create delicious vegan comfort food in a healthier way. read more →

ORDER NOW!!

Join 368,079 Followers!

FacebookInstagramPinteresttumblr

The Vegan 8 is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please see my full disclosure policy here.

MOST POPULAR RECIPES!

WHAT’S IN MY VEGAN PANTRY

THE BEST VEGAN FLUFFY PANCAKES

Fluffy vegan pancakes stacked on plate

THE BEST VEGAN ALFREDO SAUCE

Best Vegan Garlic Alfredo on white plate

THE BEST VEGAN QUESO

Hand dipping chip into bowl of vegan queso

VEGAN STUFFED RICOTTA SHELLS

Vegan Stuffed Shells with Spinach

VEGAN THAI GREEN CURRY

Bowl of vegan thai green sweet potato curry

CHEESY MEXICAN TORTILLA BAKE

Vegan Cheesy Mexican Tortilla Bake in casserole dish

CLASSIC VEGAN NOODLE SOUP

Classic Vegan Noodle Soup in turquoise bowl

THE BEST VEGAN RANCH DRESSING

Best Vegan Ranch Dressing pouring over a salad

THE BEST OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Vegan Gluten-free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies stacked

THE BEST VEGAN FUNFETTI CAKE

Slice of Vegan Gluten-free Funfetti Birthday Cake

THE BEST VEGAN SNICKERDOODLES

Vegan Gluten-free Snickerdoodles stacked on plate

BEST VEGAN GLUTEN-FREE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

scattered vegan chocolate chip cookies on white board

Recent Posts

  • Vegan Pesto Pizza (Easy Flatbread!)
  • Easy Vegan Flatbread (No Yeast!)
  • Vegan Spinach Pesto (Oil-free)
  • The Best Vegan Blueberry Muffins With Lemon
  • Healthy Vegan Gluten-free Brownies (So Fudgy!)
  • How to Make Hazelnut Butter (Roasted)
  • Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-free)
  • Vegan Mint Chocolate Fudge
  • Vegan Instant Pot Lentils (Smoky and Savory!)
  • Healthy Vegan Ranch Dressing (Oil-free, No Mayo!)

CLICK HERE FOR THE VEGAN 8 MEAL PLAN!

Copyright The Vegan 8 © 2021 · Privacy Policy

  • 304
  • 3.6K