Healthy Fat-Free Easy Vegan Caesar Salad
The zesty garlic, and bright lemon flavours shine in this oil-free dressing with a tofu base. Dijon mustard and black pepper make it a little spicy.
What makes Caesar dressing taste awesome? Garlic and lemon.
This vegan simple Caesar salad dressing recipe is low calorie, won’t clog your arteries, provides plant powered protein, many essential nutrients, and tastes awesome.
You may get garlic breath, so, sorry about that…
Jump to RecipeA crunchy, fresh, dairy-free vegan Caesar salad means no lactose intolerant stomach ache, or bloat, so you feel great after.
Caesar salad is popular, and perfect as a vegan meal idea.
One of the first recipes my husband and I veganized in 2013, was Caesar Salad Dressing, we love it.
With hearty homemade whole grain croutons you can have this oil-free salad as your entire meal.
Or, how about with store bought vegan burgers or veggie hot dogs, grilled on a panini press, seved on whole grain buns. Sounds like an easy summer supper to me.
We tried a few different oil free vegan caesar salad recipes,
and found this simple, classic, tangy, dairy-free, vegan Caesar salad recipe to be:
the simplest… the easiest… and THE BEST!
I hope you give it a try.
How Do You Make Vegan Caesar Salad?
1) Blend vegan caesar dressing ingredients.
Use soft silken tofu (medium works too), fresh zesty garlic cloves (just throw the peeled clove in the blender), freshly squeezed tart lemon juice (or bottled), spicy dijon mustard, freshly ground black pepper, and a good amount of salt.
Let the dressing sit for 5 – 10 min, for the flavours to blend while you prepare the Romaine lettuce.
2) Cut Romaine lettuce into bite sized pieces.
Lately I like to cut the lettuce first, then spray the cut pieces in my sink in a spinner basket, then spin dry.
If the lettuce is too wet, the salad dressing can become runny instead of thick.
If you have prewashed lettuce you are going to save time.
FOLLOW and SUBSCRIBE to VeganEnvy.com on Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook!
Get FREE healthy vegan information and recipes!
FOLLOW HERE!
3) Pour dressing on lettuce.
The dressing will coat the greens and has a good creamy thickness.
4) Add awesome homemade croutons
Making your own delicious croutons – will taste better than the ones you buy at the store, by leaps and bounds.
You may not realize that toasting good, whole grain bread, and cutting it up makes WAAAY better croutons than dried up oily refined bread cubes from a store.
Try experimenting with different types of whole grain bread, some have seeds, or flax, or other nutritious ingredients. There are so many great choices available, and each has a different flavour profile.
Use one to two slices of whole grain bread per person, depending how much other carbs you are serving with the salad.
Toast, then pile the slices up as a tall stack, and slice into bite sized cubes.
A 4 slice toaster, makes this really easy.
You do not need to season the croutons, the dressing will.
I like it when the croutons have more time to sit with the dressing.
This salad lasts for a few days in the fridge and, is great as leftovers.
5) Add vegan bacon bits.
Use imitation soy bacon bits, and this vegan Caesar salad will pass the test of any non-vegan crowd with strong approval!
Some people like crunchy bits, some like them softer. The longer your bacon bits are in the salad, the less crunchy they will be.
To avoid artificial food color, look for simulated bacon bits coloured with paprika.
Take vegan Caesar salad to a party
We have served this Caesar salad to many a guest, and taken it to parties, no one bats an eye, they just enjoy it.
Or just eat it at home.
As a family we make this every few weeks. I often serve it with vegan burgers, or with vegan ‘chicken’ nuggets.
Hail Caesar! And Hail to Your Health as Well
Ok, I just learned the original Caesar salad was named after an Italian immigrant, who invented the salad in his Mexican Tijuana restaurant that catered to Americans trying to get away from Prohibition for a drink, so maybe the reference to Roman Caesars isn’t appropriate… 🙂
What's Special About VeganEnvy Recipes?
VeganEnvy recipes are easy, low-fat, whole-foods, plant-based and nutrition rich. Real food my family eats, and techniques we use to cook.
- less than 25% calories from fat, and no added oils (why no-oil cooking?)
- whole-foods instead of processed foods (why switch to whole-foods? Our journey 🙂)
- whole grains (how to choose healthy grains)
- low or no sugar
- high fibre (cure IBS and digestive issues)
- high nutrient plants, including fruit, greens, beans, legumes, soy, spices, seeds and nuts.
- no animal products, dairy-free (you don't need meat for muscle)
- no tricks (I am not going to say a recipe is healthy if it isn't).
I choose ingredients that are proven to prevent and reverse disease, based on scientific studies, such as those reviewed on nutritionfacts.org and findings published by whole-foods plant-based (WFPB) experts featured in the Forks Over Knives (FOK) and What the Health documentaries FOK trailer.
Eating VeganEnvy recipes will make you lose weight, look better, feel better and live longer. PLUS spend your money to cruelty free food systems, cut your environmental impact, and likely increase your compassion for, and awareness of, lives other than your own.
Zesty Vegan Caesar Salad with Croutons
Instructions and Ingredients
- 3 heads romaine lettuce washed, dried, and chopped
Dressing
- 340 g silken tofu soft or medium firm tofu works as well
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed is best
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp black pepper fresh ground
Garnishes
- 4 slices whole wheat bread or more. Use whole grain to get better nutrition.
- 1/3 cup soy imitation bacon bits
- Combine tofu, garlic, salt, lemon juice, dijon mustard, and black pepper in a high speed blender.
- Blend until creamy. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes for the flavours to combine.
- Chop, wash and dry romaine lettuce into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
- Make the croutons - toast the bread, stack 4-6 pieces at a time, and cut with a long bread knife, into cubes - your favourite crouton size. 1 - 2 slices per person.
- Add dressing to the lettuce and stir to combine. Add the croutons. Sprinkle with soy bacon bits and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Adding Healthy Plant Based Meals to Your Menu is Easy!
Help others learn – share on social media!
