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Vegan Caesar Salad

28 min

Salad

Side

This deconstructed vegan caesar salad recipe features lightly grilled romaine lettuce heads, a creamy dressing, a handful of crunchy croutons and a sprinkling of "cheesy" vegan parmesan. It's a beautiful and delicious variation on the familiar classic salad.

Servings

Total

28 min

Prep

18 min

Cook

10 min

Contains

Soy symbol

soy

Treenut symbol

tree nut

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Gluten symbol

gluten

Free from

Peanut symbol

peanut

Sesame symbol

sesame

Ingredients

Vegan caesar salad dressing

  • ½ cup (65 g)
    raw cashews, soaked overnight, drained
  • ⅓ cup (80 mL)
    water
  • 3½ Tbsp (8 g)
  • 1
    lemon, zested, juiced
  • 3
    garlic cloves
  • 1 Tbsp (15 mL)
    extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp (15 mL)
  • 2 tsp (6 g)
    capers
  • 1 tsp (5 mL)
    dijon mustard
  • ⅛ tsp
    ground black pepper

Vegan parmesan cheese

  • ¼ cup (32 g)
    raw cashews
  • ⅛ tsp
    salt
  • ⅛ tsp
    garlic powder

Vegan caesar salad base

  • 4
    mini romaine lettuce heads, pre-washed, thoroughly dried
  • 2 Tbsp (30 mL)
    olive oil
  • ½ cup (15 g)

Optional garnishes

  • chili flakes
  • lemon slice

Directions

  1. To a blender, add all of the dressing ingredients. Blend until smooth. Set aside.
  2. Add the vegan parmesan ingredients to a small food processor and blend into a coarse sand. Alternatively, mince the cashews with a knife and mix the ingredients together in a bowl.
  3. Preheat a griddle pan on high heat. Cut the romaine lettuce heads in half lengthwise*. Lightly brush olive oil over the cut sides. Place the heads cut-side down on the pan for 10 - 15 seconds, or until there are light grill marks on the lettuce, then remove from the heat.
  4. To assemble, place the lettuce heads grilled-side up on a platter. Drizzle over some dressing, and add a sprinkle of croutons and vegan parmesan. Serve the remaining dressing, croutons, and parmesan on the side. Enjoy!

Notes

  • If the cashews are unsoaked, cover with boiling water and let sit for at least 15 minutes.
  • * The lettuce heads must be completely dry when grilling! Any water droplets will cause the lettuce to steam rather than sear, resulting in wilted lettuce.

Storage

  • The salad is best enjoyed immediately.
  • The dressing will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.
  • The vegan parmesan will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.

Let us know what you think

Watch it step-by-step!

Nutrition info

Focusing on numbers can harm our relationship with food. Instead, our philosophy is to Nourish the Cells & the Soul. For specific nutrition needs due to a medical condition, consult a dietitian or physician. While we strive to provide accurate nutritional information, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. See our disclaimer for details.

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More for the eyes

grilled romaine lettuce heads A cup of vegan cesar salad dressing a plate with toppings for the cesar salad, including dressing, croutons, and parmesan Pouring cesar salad dressing over the decontructed cesar salad vegan ceasar salad heads topped with crunchy croutons and parmesan cheese Cutting into the vegan cesar salad recipe

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David Hewitt - June 25, 2024, 7:41 a.m.

Lekker. made this for my daughter and we added olives, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and crispy tofu. she loved it thanks so much for this amazing App by the way.

PUL small logo PUL Team - June 26, 2024, 3:24 a.m.

Woop woop! So glad to hear this, David. Thanks for the love, support, and for welcoming us into your kitchen💛


Martunia - June 4, 2024, 10:10 a.m.

I made this salad once when I had a ton of romaine lettuce that I didn't know what to do with, and I must admit I was extremely skeptical. But ever since, this salad has been on repeat at my home, and I can't recommend this recipe enough!

PUL small logo PUL Team - June 5, 2024, 12:38 a.m.

Gosh how exciting! Love it when recipes exceed our initial expectations. Thanks a bunch, Martunia 🫶


Evi - Feb. 24, 2024, 12:07 a.m.

I have this recipe on repeat (the version with chopped lettuce), literally can’t stop making it! One suggestion from me would be to swap step 1 and 2 for those who use the same blender for both the dressing and the cheese. Starting with the dry one saves a lot of time and dish washing. Also when I made the recipe for a first time, I used 3 garlic cloves (small ones) as suggested and it was an absolute garlic overkill. Be careful in case you want to avoid a strong and long lasting garlic breath 😜. One clove is more than enough in my option.

PUL small logo PUL Team - Feb. 25, 2024, 6:05 p.m.

Thanks for sharing your feedback and tips, Evi! Garlic breath is not for everyone 😜


Nikisha - Nov. 6, 2023, 9:14 a.m.

Again a winner of a recipe. And it is much healthy hand the original version. I'm loving the use of various flavours to make it a good vegan option.


Sigrid - Aug. 5, 2023, 2:07 p.m.

Delicious salad!


Lara - July 2, 2023, 11:44 a.m.

Soooo good


Ilse - Feb. 23, 2023, 3:18 p.m.

Exquisite recipe! The flavours go so well together. I did switch things up a bit by adding roasted chickpeas (seasoned with garlic, onion and paprika powder) and by chopping up the romaine lettuce. The 'parmesan' is sooo tasty :) I will definitely make this recipe again.

PUL small logo PUL Team - Feb. 23, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Mmm love the modifications, Ilse, we appreciate the kind words so much 😃


Tiffany - June 28, 2022, 6:09 p.m.

A very good salad with a very good dressing that will make me smile all summer :) Although it did not remind me of a caesar salad, it was easy, tasty, healthy... What's not to love?

PUL small logo PUL Team - June 29, 2022, 1:53 a.m.

We appreciate the glowing review so much, Tiffany, it's one of our favourites! Enjoy 🌻


Renée - June 10, 2022, 4:25 p.m.

This was sooo good. The sauce is amazing :)


Sebastian and Luise - June 8, 2022, 6:29 p.m.

If anyone told me a year ago, that a salad would make it to my personal top 5 dishes I wouldn't have believed it. But here we are. There are very few dishes I would prefer to eat over this salad, if any. Truely feels almost like a hidden gem of this site. And we only made it because we searched at the last minute for something quick to make on a long and tiring monday evening. Now we have made it a couple of times and love it more each time.

PUL small logo PUL Team - June 9, 2022, 5:31 p.m.

Aw beyond thrilled to hear, Sebastian and Luise, and it means so much!


Ashley - Feb. 7, 2022, 5:32 p.m.

Incredible flavor and so easy to whip up in a blender. I added cucumber, avocado, and chickpeas to make our salad a very filling meal. I’ll definitely be adding this one to our weeknight recipes :)

PUL small logo PUL Team - Feb. 8, 2022, 10:37 p.m.

Mmm lovely additions to the recipe, Ashley, thank you 😃


Catalina - Jan. 28, 2022, 9:07 p.m.

Great idea l, now we always finish the salad because everyone has their own.

PUL small logo PUL Team - Jan. 29, 2022, 12:45 a.m.

We're so glad it's being enjoyed, Catalina!


Marie - July 26, 2021, 12:11 p.m.

Great recipe! Thank you so much!


cha - July 24, 2021, 11:09 p.m.

Such an easy and flavourful recipe! Made it for a dinner party and everyone enjoyed it ❤️❤️


Lindsay 🇺🇸 - July 12, 2021, 9:38 p.m.

We loved this salad! This definitely took me some time to do all of the different parts, but it was well worth it! The dressing is so delicious and it all felt really healthy. Usually a Caesar salad is super unhealthy, but I felt good about eating every element of this salad (especially because we used gluten free bread for the croutons, which still turned out fantastic).

PUL small logo PUL Team - July 16, 2021, 1:29 a.m.

So happy the labour of love was worth it, Lindsay! Thanks for sharing ✨


Aurora - July 9, 2021, 9:02 a.m.

This post has changed my life (and I never overexagerate...)! I didn't really follow the full salad recipe but I now regularly make this incredible salad dressing and I always have a jar of the vegan parmesan in the fridge. I am still amazed at how it makes everything better! Thank you so much

PUL small logo PUL Team - July 13, 2021, 7:20 a.m.

Aww this is so wonderful to hear, Aurora! Thank you for the glowing review and for helping make the PUL community so incredible 💖


Bhavani - June 6, 2021, 10:23 p.m.

So going into making the dressing, I didn't really get the combination of ingredients and how it would taste like a ceaesar dressing at the end. It doesn't taste like a ceaser dressing.....its more tangy and way better than a ceaser dressing! I would definitely make this dressing for diffrent type of salad again!!!

PUL small logo PUL Team - June 6, 2021, 10:31 p.m.

Ahh so glad you enjoyed the dressing, Bhavani, thank you for the honest review 🤩


Carla Poot - May 29, 2021, 3:56 p.m.

Just had this salad for lunch. So simple yet so delicious. It’s a keeper!

PUL small logo PUL Team - May 30, 2021, 8:26 a.m.

Thank you for the review, Carla!


Michaela - May 28, 2021, 5:07 p.m.

Cool idea with the roasted salad and very tasty! But if you press your lemon with a citrus press you will get to much juice and the dressing is too sour. Next i will try the vegan feta salad :-)

PUL small logo PUL Team - May 30, 2021, 8:03 a.m.

Hi Michaela, thanks for the tip! We will stick to squeezing with our hands 😃🍋