by The keys to a good plant-based caesar salad in my book are a garlicky, creamy, lemon dressing paired with fresh lettuce or kale and a delicious, salty vegan parmesan made with sunflower seeds , plus, a boost of protein from white beans! While this salad definitely isn’t a classic Caesar, it’s still wildly delicious and only takes 20 minutes to throw together!
Friends, as a Registered Dietitian, I’m no stranger to sharing tons of healthy and delicious salad recipes, and this one might be one of my favorites!
Okay, okay I know I say that all the time, BUT it was featured in my cookbook for a reason! It takes a classic and transforms it into something fully plant-based, lighter, fresher, and absolutely loaded with protein!
White beans do the protein heavy lifting!
And where does that protein come from? Beans!
Yup, this is a salad recipe with white beans. You probably already know that I’m no stranger to adding white beans to pretty much everything, like my delicious, 30-Minute Coconut Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup with White Beans! I love that they have a super mild flavor, so whether it’s in this dairy-free caesar salad or a silky soup, they blend in without stealing the show.
Tested and true swaps for an amazing vegan caesar
Look, I totally get that a classic caesar is kinda hard to replicate, which is why I tested this recipe so many times to make sure I was hitting that lemony, garlicky, signature flavor of
To make this a vegan caesar salad, we do a few key things:
- We use nutritional yeast instead of parmesan in the dressing to get that signature cheesy flavor.
- We use tahini in the dressing to replace the creaminess of mayo.
- We use sunflower seeds, nutritional yeast and salt for the easiest vegan parm you’re gonna want to sprinkle on everything!
If you want to kick up the protein in this salad even more, you absolutely have to try this plant-based caesar salad with my Healthy Air Fried Tofu Nuggets! They take less than 20 minutes to make, so you can make them alongside the salad pretty easily!
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It’s caesar salad time!
Okay, I know this recipe may look like a lot of steps and ingredients, but you have to trust me when I say that I’ve made this so many times before and am constantly shocked by how little time it actually takes to make!
Lemon-Tahini Caesar Salad with White Beans (Vegan)
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 1⁄4 cup tahini, make sure it's runny
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice, about 1 lemon
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or other sweetener
- 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper, or to taste
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) water, plus more as needed
For the vegan parmesan
- 1/3 cup raw, hulled, unsalted sunflower seeds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
For the salad
- 8 cups kale
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 540 ml canned white beans, drained and rinsed
Optional additional toppings
- Additional vegan Parmesan
- Cracked black pepper
- Fresh lemon juice
Equipment
Instructions
Make the Dressing
In a small bowl or blender, whisk or blend together the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, nutritional yeast, maple syrup, salt, pepper and water to make the dressing. Add more water to adjust the consistency to your liking.
Make the Vegan Parmesan
Using a small food processor, coffee grinder or blender, blend the sunflower seeds, salt and nutritional yeast until the vegan Parmesan has the texture of sand.
Assemble the Salad
In a large bowl, sprinkle the kale with apple cider vinegar. Using your hands, massage the kale and apple cider vinegar together until the kale is slightly wilted and darker green, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the white beans, 2 tablespoons of the vegan Parmesan and the salad dressing to the kale. You may not need to use all of the salad dressing! Toss well to combine everything. Feel free to serve it with additional vegan Parmesan, pepper and lemon juice.
This looks delicious!
Thank you Jenny!