This crunchy superfood vegan kale Caesar salad recipe uses sunflower seed butter for the dressing and includes a walnut-based vegan parmesan “cheese.” Top with sweet and spicy roasted almonds for one epic salad!
Caesar salad recipes have bobbed and weaved their way through this site over the years (hint: this Spicy Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Garlic is still one of my favorites, even 2.5 years later), because I feel passion for them.
While I was in Maui a couple weeks ago, I ate a couple vegan kale Caesar salads and enjoyed the experience so much I decided to re-create it at home.
I had never made a vegan kale Caesar, you see, and I have to say, of all the Caesar salads I’ve made at home, this one’s my favorite.
The vegan Caesar salad dressing is just the craziest!
Ingredients for Vegan Caesar Salad:
The vegan caesar salad dressing is made with sunflower seed butter. I’ve also seen recipes for vegan Caesar dressing that call for soaked cashews. You can replace the sunflower seed butter in this recipe with ½ cup soaked cashews, or ⅓ cup cashew butter.
I added kalamata olives and coconut aminos (you can also use liquid aminos or soy sauce) to the dressing to give it that brininess you’d normally be getting from the sardines. It just works!
There will be extra dressing, “parmesan” cheese and roasted almonds for you to make an additional kale Caesar, so you should be able to get two large salads that feed 4 out of it!
I’ve been using the vegan “parmesan” and the vegan Caesar dressing for other purposes besides salad, if you can believe it.
For instance, I sprinkled the vegan parmesan on salmon and on my morning scrambled eggs, and used the dressing for flavoring a stir fry. The two have such delightful flavor, they can be put to good use elsewhere!
I topped the salad with roasted sweet and spicy almonds – you can replace the almonds with raw or roasted chickpeas if you’d prefer.
Don’t get discouraged by the long ingredient list – it does look intimidating.
The upside is the majority of the ingredients probably already exist in your pantry or refrigerator, so it’s just a matter of pulling them out. I pinky promise the salad is worth it!
Hail the kale Caesar!
Ingredients
Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing:
- 1/3 cup sunflower butter, see note*
- 3 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons stone ground mustard
- 1 small clove garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons coconut aminos, see note**
- 4 kalamata olives, pitted, see note***
Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 cup raw walnuts
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Sweet & Spicy Roasted Almonds
- 1 cup raw almonds
- 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1.5 teaspoons coconut aminos
- 1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon chipotle powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
For the Salad
- 2 heads lacinato kale, destemmed and chopped
- 2 Romain hearts, chopped
Instructions
Prepare the Caesar Dressing:
- Add ingredients for the dressing to a small blender. Blend until completely smooth. Set aside until ready to use (Note: dressing will thicken in the refrigerator, so stir in 1 tbl water if needed before using).
Prepare the Vegan Parmesan
- Add ingredients the raw walnuts to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add remaining ingredients and process to combine until small couscous-sized bits form.
Prepare the Roasted Almonds
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Toss together all ingredients for the roasted almonds in a mixing bowl until everything is well coated. Spread almonds on a large baking sheet in a single layer. Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden-brown and crispy.
Prepare the Caesar Salad
- Add the chopped kale and romaine to a large mixing bowl. Add desired amount of vegan caesar salad dressing (I use 4 to 5 tablespoons). Toss well until greens are well-coated. Add vegan parmesan cheese and toss again to combine. Serve salad with roasted almonds on top.
Cara
Wednesday 4th of July 2018
HOLY MOLY! Thank you! This is literally the best Caesar salad (vegan or not) that I have ever eaten, never mind made. I try out lots of vegan takes on non-vegan things and while there are some pretty good substitutes and "mock" recipes out there, this one is on another level. For real. The vegan Caesar dressing was spot on, the vegan parm was killer, and the almonds were a perfect touch. Loved, loved, LOVED absolutely everything about this and so looking forward to the left-overs (and there are only left-overs because it's surprisingly filling - one more plus).
Sarah @ Making Thyme for Health
Wednesday 5th of July 2017
Okay looks like we named our posts the exact same too, ahh! (insert monkey covering eyes emoji). I would have ever thought to try sunflower seed butter but it sounds incredible. I'll have to give this version a try next!
Also, I was majorly swooning over your Tahoe pics. I die over that place. I hope you had an awesome holiday!
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
Tuesday 4th of July 2017
This looks great! I love kale caesar salads and I love the vegan parm and the roasted almonds :)
Joanne Bruno
Monday 3rd of July 2017
I feel like I've been trying to conquer the veg caesar for forever but just haven't got it right. Can't wait to try this!
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
Monday 3rd of July 2017
This looks awesome! I've never made, let alone eaten, a vegan caesar but I'm intrigued and must remedy that. Have a great Fourth, Julia!