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.
And they said it couldn’t be done! This is a must try for two reasons: 1) I desperately need a new dressing (I also eat daily salads); and 2) I’m just plain curious to see if you pulled it off! Even though I have no doubt that you did.
I laughed out loud Annie!! Gosh, I sure hope you like it! 😉 The 4 people who’ve tried it have all said it tasted like Caesar and I’m kind of obsessed with it myself, but I’ll let you be the judge. We all have our own opinions. Please let me know if you try it girl! 🙂
Looks like a winner — thanks! Any ideas for a “whole food only” fanatic to sub for the agave? Do you think a few golden raisins might work?
If you aren’t vegan, then I would try honey, but start with 1/4 teaspoon and taste, since honey is much sweeter. Otherwise, maybe half of a date?? Not sure, you don’t want it to taste sweet, just need a small amount to balance the acidity. It makes a difference. I’ve never tasted golden raisins before, but I imagine that might work too. Please try it out and let me know 🙂
I will 🙂
This Cesar dressing is interesting and will eventually get around to it . One can use logan honey as used here in Thailand.
Maybe swap in some maple syrup?
Lol “wait for it…” I’ve never been to Houston’s! I will have to try it now 🙂
This salad dressing sounds SO amazing and your photos are gorgeous!! Can you please come be my person chef. Kthx.
Haha Erika! Oh girllll it’s so delicious!! I don’t even know if it’s still there, it’s been so many years, but my hubby and I had our very first date there and ate there for years….same thing everytime…smoked salmon, baked potato, steak and their amazing out-of-this-world Caesar salad. Thank you so much! By the way, your new photo is be-u-ti-ful!!
Is there nothing you can’t veganize? You are amazing. Well, this sounds delicious. I LOVE caesar salad (minus the anchovies, yuck) I will give this a try!
You are so sweet, thank you Suzanne! I’m working on another major classic recipe that is full of non-vegan ingredients and trying to make it vegan, gluten-free and oil-free and there isn’t a recipe like it out there that I’ve ever seen, I’m hoping after several trials I can get it done, but it’s quite the challenge. :/ Anyways, I’d love your feedback if you try it 🙂
I’m with Suzanne – everything sounds wonderful – This is a definite try!
Thank you Cindy, I sure hope you like it!
Brandi, you are in Houston, too? We should totally have a potluck. I want to eat everything you make. Yum!
Oh you are in H-town?! Cool beans! Sounds awesome and thank you 🙂
So glad I found your blog. Too many times vegan recipes call for a ton of ingredients and are complicated. I love pine nuts and i’m interested to see how they taste in this.
Thank you so much Reba! So glad you found me. I agree….delicious doesn’t have to be complicated or need 15 + ingredients 🙂
Wow! You are a genius. Does this store well for a few days?
Hi Pavithra! Thank you, but not really, haha! I’m not the first person to make a caesar dressing, but the very few that I’ve seen all had tofu/soy or oil or cashews. I didn’t want any of that 🙂 YES, I make a double batch of the recipe and it keeps about a week. Please let me know if you make it!
Caesar dressing and salad are my favorites. That you could make a tasty, vegan Caesar dressing is wonderful, Brandi. I bet you’ve made many people happy with this post.
Thank you John! It’s amazing how authentic it is…I’ve been eating it daily it is so good 🙂
This dressing looks AHHHmazing! I’ve been eating a bunch of salads lately, so I would love to try this dressing. I think I need to buy some pine nuts now. yum!
Enjoy Melanie!
You have done it again, Brandi!
A truly alternative Vegan Ceasar dressing & it looks like the real thing too! I can’t wait to make it too! 🙂 Yum Yum Yummm! x
You are so sweet, thank you Sophie!
This looks delicious! A vegan Ceasar salad dressing sounds amazing!
Thank you, it truly does taste just like it! 🙂
Brandi, I’m always blown away by your persistence and ingenuity. This is absolutely brilliant and it looks amazing! I never order Caesar salads because of how fatty (but delicious!) the dressing is. Now I can eat it with no guilt! I love this!
Ahh love you Nancy, thank you!! I eat it daily, it is THAT good!
This was a great recipe an expensive recipe, I don’t know what u pay but 1/2 cup pine nuts are about 7 dollars !! but dead on the Caesar flavour. I halved the recipe so I can keep the other half pine nuts for another day . thank you for a great recipe
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Yes, unfortunately nuts aren’t the cheapest of ingredients. Pricey, but I feel good knowing the ingredients are good and not full of processed junk versions from the store or the version filled with egg yolks, anchovies and oil, haha! 🙂
Mk, just made this dressing and I didn’t find it reminiscent of Caesar. Something was off/missing. It’s a nice dressing, added dulse to make it more Caesar-ish, but still not quite. It’s creamy and beautiful though. Keep the recipes coming, I love trying new ideas.
Hi Shawna! Thank you so much for making it and so glad you enjoyed it! Hey, that is perfectly ok because we all have different opinions as everybody in my family has thought it tasted just like caesar and the review right above thought it was “dead on”. The inspiration came from a caesar peppery dressing I used to get at a local restaurant. It certainly does NOT contain the typical caesar ingredients of egg yolks, oil or anchovies so I did my best to replicate it using a completely different set of ingredients. Glad you still enjoyed it though! We can’t get enough of it around here. Thanks for your feedback 🙂
Have they made cloning salad dressings legal? This caesar dressing is a dead ringer for the “real” stuff. I made it a couple of nights ago and both my husband and I were deliciously surprised. This is definitely a keeper for the recipe file.
Haha that is a funny description and made me laugh! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it so much! Thank you for your feedback!
OMG I cant wait to try this – I turned Vegan about 4 months ago and I had this horrible realization that I will never be able to have a ceasar salad again. You have given me hope again hehe! Thanks 🙂
Haha! I know how you feel, I recreated this version from a restaurant Caesar dressing I used to love here locally and I thought I’d never enjoy it again…I was wrong. We have been eating salads daily drizzled with this stuff and I swear a blind taste test if this was served in a restaurant without somebody telling it’s caesar, you wouldn’t know the difference! Please make it and let me know what you think here 🙂
Awesome dressing-sauce. I made an adhoc formula using cashews and walnuts. A drizzle of olive oil, three tbsp of water and a tbsp of Dijon mustard, using your recipe. It’s so tasty and healthy and all natural. Love it! This will be a staple in my fridge.
Thank you so much Scott! I’m so glad even with your adaptions, it worked so well! I really appreciate the feedback 🙂
This recipe is a keeper! Yummmmmmmm!
Thank you so much Rika! SO glad you liked it!
I’ve tried several different vegan Caesar dressings and this is by far the best. I think the pine nuts are genius. I’ll be using it a lot this summer. Thank you!
Thank you so much Kristine! I am so happy to hear that! I have to admit the flavor of the pine nuts is just so much better than cashews for a Caesar dressing flavor. They work perfectly. Thank you so much for the feedback 🙂
WOW!! Thank you!!! This was great! I had this on my salad one night and then used the dressing on a wrap with lettuce, tomato and some Gardein chicken strips, that I have occasionally, the next day. So yummy!! I used to love Caesar salad wraps and now I can enjoy them once again :). I would LOVE to know if you have a recipe for homemade vegan ranch dressing?! That was an old favorite that I’m missing but can’t seem to find a good one anywhere!!!
Hi Jessica! I am SO truly sorry for just NOW seeing this message, I don’t know how I missed it. I get notifications and sometimes I get so many, one gets lost. I always, always will respond to my readers, so I apologize for the late response. If you ever have a question or concern and I don’t respond within 24 hours, please feel free to email me at any time on my contact page!
So, with that said, thank you SO much for the amazing feedback! I’m super thrilled you loved it so much! And yes, since your question was posted, I now have a vegan ranch dressing on my blog HERE: https://staging.thevegan8.com/2014/05/09/vegan-ranch-potato-salad/
Please let me know if you make it!
This was amazing! I loved the tangy flavor and it clinged perfectly to the romaine lettuce. I didn’t even miss the parmesan cheese. I am a new vegan and am so thankful for your website and all the wonderful recipes.
Wonderful Roxanne! Thank you so much for coming and leaving me feedback, it means a lot to me and I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much!!
I am allergic to yeast. Any recommended substitution or is this recipe a no-go without it?
Hi Bridgette! The BEST sub, if you aren’t vegan, is parmesan cheese. I hate to recommend cheese since I am vegan, but I realize not everybody following my blog/making my recipes is vegan. It is definitely needed for the flavor. If you are vegan, then I would suggest adding a little bit of tahini and a teaspoon or two of low sodium soy sauce in place of the yeast. I would try adding 1-2 tablespoons of tahini. Taste it and see how you like it. You could also sub with some miso. I would start with the tahini/soy sauce since that combo gives a similar “cheesy” flavor. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
I was just cruising the web looking for a Caesar salad dressing and I stumbled upon your site. I just happened to have all the ingredients on hand so I blended some up.
OMG! This dressing is fantastic. Not only is it easy to make, super healthy, but it is also delicious. In fact I ended up making a salad right away, and enjoyed it thoroughly. I’ve also just subscribed to your site and look forward to future recipes.
Thank you for such a great Caesar Dressing. 🙂
That’s so wonderful Linda! Thank you so much for the feedback, I really appreciate it and I’m so glad you love the dressing!! 🙂
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 🙂
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!
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!
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!
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!!
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!
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!
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 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!
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’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 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!
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!
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.
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.
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 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
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!