This quick and easy Vegan Caesar Dressing recipe comes together in minutes with the help of your immersion blender. No dairy needed!
When I was a kid, we always had Thanksgiving supper at my aunt Sherry's house, and she would make her signature, super-authentic Thanksgiving dish: Caesar salad.
And she always made the dressing from scratch.
For whatever reason, that she made this dressing from scratch made her seem like a magician, as far as I was concerned. That food memory made working on this Vegan Caesar Dressing recipe even more special.
Thanks, Aunt Sherry. You'll always be a kitchen magician to me!
More Creamy Salad Dressing Goodness: Chili-Ginger Tahini Dressing, Warm Ginger-Cranberry Dressing
Vegan Caesar Dressing Without Anchovies
This dressing is adapted from this Food Network Kitchen recipe, and the real trick was finding a substitute for the anchovies, because I wanted this to taste like the real deal.
Which is why I found myself googling, "What do anchovies taste like?" at 11pm on a Tuesday last week.
Google wasn't much help, so I turned to my go-to resource for bouncing around flavor ideas: my little sister, Amanda. My original idea was to use part of a nori sheet to get that fishy taste and add extra salt, since anchovies are very salty.
Amanda said that was close, but that anchovies have a stronger taste than I was probably remembering, and that's when she said the magic word: MISO! YES! That was the ticket.
The base for this recipe is aquafaba and oil. You're basically making mayo from scratch. Which may sound hard but is actually so, so easy!
To make this dressing, you just combine everything but the oil in a jar, then drizzle in the oil while you run your immersion blender. It thickens up like magic in minutes! You can see this process in action in the recipe video.
Quick & Easy Vegan Caesar Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon red miso paste - (If you can't find red miso, you can use yellow or white, but red miso is going to give you the best results.)
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 tablespoons aquafaba - (White bean or chickpea would work best for this recipe.)
- ½ cup sunflower oil - (Or other neutral-tasting oil, like organic canola. I do not recommend olive oil for this recipe. You'll end up with bitter dressing. YUCK!)
- 1-2 tablespoons additional water - as needed
- salt and black pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Combine all of the ingredients - except the oil, additional water, salt, and pepper - in a small bowl with high sides OR a wide-mouth pint jar. Use the immersion blender to puree until smooth.
- With the immersion blender still running, slowly drizzle the oil into the bowl until you have a thick, smooth mixture. This should take about 5 minutes.
- Whisk in the additional water to reach your ideal consistency, season to taste with salt and pepper, and chill until ready to serve
Jenn
My husbands fave salad is Caesar. I'm definitely going to have to try this!
Becky Striepe
Hooray!
Sarah De la Cruz
What a dreamy looking dressing! Caesar salad is my fave!
Becky Striepe
Thank you! Enjoy it, Sarah!
Amy Katz from Veggies Save The Day
I can;t wait to try this! I've bought vegan Caesar dressing, but I never knew how to make it myself.
Becky Striepe
It is so fun to make! Doing the emulsion feels like magic.
Dianne's Vegan Kitchen
Caesar is my favorite dressing! I used to buy it all the time when I was vegetarian, until I discovered it had fish in it. I went years without it before I discovered vegan versions, and now I pour it all over everything. I'm looking forward to trying your recipe!
Becky Striepe
Hooray! Enjoy it, Dianne!
Mel | avirtualvegan.com
Oh yes! I love Caesar Dressing and I like how you replaced the anchovy flavour with miso. That's a great idea!
Becky Striepe
Thank you, Mel!