Vegan Caesar Dressing (in 5 Minutes!)

Wow, this vegan Caesar dressing recipe is irresistibly delicious and creamy! It’s easy to prepare in just 5 minutes.

Here’s a vegan dressing so creamy, umami-rich, and irresistible you might like it better than the real thing. Meet your perfect Vegan Caesar Dressing! You won’t believe the taste here: It’s every bit as satisfying as a classic Caesar, with no parmesan, mayonnaise, or anchovies required. All you need is 5 minutes and a blender! Add it to a vegan Caesar salad with capers, avocado, and croutons, and it’s an absolute crowd favorite no matter what your diet!

Ingredients for vegan Caesar dressing

This vegan Caesar dressing is a new family favorite here. A classic Caesar dressing is based on mayonnaise, parmesan and anchovies to make a umami– Feeling of packaged taste. So how do you recreate that… without the standard cast of characters? For this dressing, we also wanted to avoid the standard trick of using soaked cashews to make a creamy dressing (which we do at this vegan ranch). Why? Well, we don’t like having to think 1 hour ahead to soak the cashews! Plus, it makes this vegan Caesar dressing nut-free. Here are the tips for this dressing:

• Chickpeas and aquafaba make it creamy! Aquafaba is the liquid in a can of chickpeas, and it’s an amazing way to add a silky texture to sauces (like this vegan avocado mayonnaise). It even becomes magically fluffy for vegan meringues! It just gives the dressing the right silky richness here.
• The miso paste adds a massive savory flavor. Look for yellow or white miso paste; Red or brown is not recommended. See below for more!
• Dijon mustard also brings a spicy and savory taste.
• Fresh garlic and lemon juice add classic Caesar flavor
• Olive oil + neutral oil combine to create the right nuanced flavor and color

Use yellow or white miso

miso paste is one of the secrets to the great taste of this vegan Caesar dressing recipe! It is a Japanese fermented soybean paste known for its intense savory flavor umami: the fifth taste. Umami is what makes meat and cheese so filling, which is why it’s sometimes equated with meat. It’s perfect for using in vegan recipes to mimic cheese and meat: in fact, we use it in our vegan pesto as a substitute for parmesan! You can find miso near Japanese ingredients at your local grocery store, and there are several varieties. Here’s the guy you need to be looking for for this recipe:

• Yellow miso is preferred here. It ferments a little longer than white miso and has a mild, slightly sweet flavor
• You can also use white miso (aka Shiro Miso). It is mild in flavor, more delicate and less salty than red or brown.
• Avoid using red or brown miso in this dressing! This type of miso is fermented longer; It has a very strong flavor and can overpower the flavors of a dish. It would also affect the color of this miso dressing.

Why use both olive oil and neutral oil?

You’ll notice that this vegan Caesar dressing uses a blend of olive oil and neutral oil. This is mainly due to the color of the bandage. You’ll notice that it’s slightly yellower than regular Caesar dressing: that’s because of the olive oil! Here’s why we decided to use it:

• Olive oil is the healthiest oil, but it also brings a yellow color. Olive oil is one of the healthiest cooking oils in the world. But it gives a yellow color to salad dressings. You can use 100% olive oil here if you don’t mind that it’s light yellow.
• The neutral oil keeps the color closer to a Caesar dressing. It also adds nuance to the taste. Use grapeseed oil or organic canola or vegetable oil.

Make it into a vegan Caesar salad

Of course, once you toss this dressing on, our favorite way to serve it is in a vegan Caesar salad! You don’t really need a recipe for this, but we have some tips for toppings that will make it delicious. Here’s what we recommend:

• Romaine (and/or Tuscan cabbage): Crispy veggies are all you need! We like to add some Tuscan cabbage to the mix to vary the flavors.
• capers: It is necessary! Adding drained capers to your salad gives each bite a salty kick that makes them taste like parmesan shavings. (Really!) Here’s our top tip for a vegan Caesar.
• Croutons: Croutons make this a classic Caesar salad. We love making homemade croutons and tearing them into chunks rather than dicing them into beautiful organic shapes to scoop up the delicious dressing.
• Lawyer (optional): Add even more richness and make it savory with chopped avocado.

Other ways to use vegan Caesar dressing

Not just for salads! You can use vegan Caesar dressing in so many ways besides veggies. In fact, our son Larson loved dipping veggies in it, we do that regularly! Here are a few ideas:

And that’s it! Let us know what you think of this dressing and how you served it in the comments below.

This Vegan Caesar Dressing Recipe is…

Vegetarian, gluten-free, vegan, plant-based and dairy-free.