Simple Nut-Free Vegan Caesar Dressing- Pantry Ingredients!

This 2-minute Vegan Caesar dressing comes together with just a whisk and bowl and uses only pantry staple ingredients! No vegan cheese nor nutritional yeast needed! Perfect for vegan Caesar salads with homemade croutons, veggie dips, dairy free burger sauces, and more!

The Vegan Caesar dressing that even DAIRY lovers will love:

Step aside, dairy caesar dressing- this dairy free, nut-free, soy-free and chickpea-free caesar salad dressing is ready to steal the show.

I kid you not, when my family tasted this vegan caesar dressing, jaws were on the floor. They couldn’t believe it was all dairy free- let alone that it took me only 2 minutes to make and didn’t even require a blender nor immersion blender.

This is the vegan Caesar dressing to make that legitimately tastes like traditional caesar dressing- without the anchovies nor the fake cheese.

It’s similar to my vegan garlicky tahini dressing, but way different in flavor profile- like a true caesar dressing that you’d never know is actually a vegan salad dressing. 

This vegan dressing literally only uses pantry staple ingredients for the quickest no-fuss dressing that packs in the garlicky, “cheesy,” umami flavor- and yes, all without nutritional yeast (because I KNOW most non-vegans don’t have that in their pantries!).

Now let’s dive in so you can finally enjoy a caesar salad again- but unbelievably without any dairy nor animal products!

Simple ingredients (with substitutions):

• Tahini: The base of this dressing is tahini, and it really adds to the umami flavoring of Caesar dressing. You can also, of course, use cashew butter if you’re not nut-free. I’ve made this Vegan Caesar dressing dozens of times with either or.
• Lemon juice or vinegar: Either or works here. If lemons aren’t in season at the time, use rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• Mustard powder: As opposed to dijon mustard, but either will work!
• Garlic powder
• Dried parsley
• Caper brine and capers: This is simply the liquid in your caper berries jar. We need both for that savory, salty, “briny” flavor of caesar dressing.
• Olive brine: Again, the olive brine (or liquid in your olive jar) will serve as flavoring and saltiness for the dressing. This also keeps it soy free, so you can leave the soy sauce and vegan Worcestershire sauce aside!
• Water: Water on its own whisked into either tahini or cashew butter creates this super fluffy texture- almost like you added eggs or dairy to the dressing when you actually didn’t! No need for any tofu whatsoever!

Now you’ll notice there’s no nutritional yeast nor vegan parmesan listed here. And truly, you don’t need it. With the proper saltiness and brine from the olives and capers, you’ll mimic that “cheesy” parmesan cheese flavor without needing an extra ingredient. 

Plus, I figured that more people will have olives and capers on hand than nutritional yeast, especially if you’re new to vegan cooking and baking!

Overview: how to make and store your Vegan Caesar salad dressing:

We really don’t even need a whole section for this part- you simply add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk! Literally done in 2 minutes, it’s astounding.

No high-speed blender, nor immersion blender, nor preparation of ingredients of any kind. 

Now for storage, the recipe below makes enough for 2 large caesar salads (or 24 tablespoons).  I store this caesar dressing in an airtight container and in the fridge for up to a week. We eat it often enough that we’ll run out within the week, and it’s super easy to prep again!

Ways to use Vegan Caesar dressing- other than caesar salad!

Of course, my husband, Jared, and I are huge fans of vegan Caesar salads (especially with these homemade sourdough croutons), so obviously a vegan Caesar dressing recipe would fit the bill there.

And when romaine lettuce isn’t in season, I love it in a kale caesar salad during the fall and winter months.

But what are some other ways you can incorporate Vegan Caesar dressing into your cooking? I’m glad you asked!

• Brush onto roasted red cabbage steaks or toss with roasted Brussels before roasting
• Use as a cruditè dip
• Toss with pasta salad
• Spread onto veggie burgers
• Toss in vegan chickpea tuna salad
• Drizzle over this roasted sweet potato salad
• Toss crispy tofu in!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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