Vegan Caesar Salad with Chickpea Croutons

Feb 22, 2019

This Caesar salad is flavorful, perfectly garlicky and filling. It’s made vegan using a tahini dressing, vegan parmesan and chickpea croutons, which also offers a satisfying crunch. Serve it as a side salad or have it as a meal. Either way, this salad is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

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This vegan Caesar salad with chickpea croutons is flavorful, perfectly garlicky and filling. It’s made vegan using a tahini dressing, vegan parmesan and chickpea croutons, which also offers a satisfying crunch. Serve it as a side salad or have it as a meal. Either way, this salad is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

If there’s one salad I could eat for the rest of my life, it would be this vegan Caesar salad with chickpea croutons.

I’m a bit paranoid when it comes to eating raw eggs, which is just one reason why I prefer vegan Caesar salad over the original. That’s my opinion of course, but really, you’re not missing out on anything with this salad.

The dressing is salty and full of flavor. The salad is topped with crispy roasted chickpeas and a delicious vegan parmesan. It’s the most flavorful (and garlicky) salad and I LOVE it.

This vegan Caesar salad is inspired by Oh She Glow’s recipe, which is made with a cashew-based dressing. I made her recipe countless times over the past 4 years and with time, I developed my own version. While I absolutely love her recipe (and always will), I wanted a Caesar salad that didn’t necessitate a blender or pre-soaking cashews.

This is what I came up with. A tahini dressing that’s whisked together in 5 minutes and that’s packed with flavor. You can also use cashew butter in this recipe. Almond butter may be another option, but I can’t say for sure!

You can serve this salad as an appetizer or side dish, or you can do like me and serve it as a main dish. I always love a salad that’s the size of my head. This may be the only meal I’ll truly enjoy and feel satisfied with that doesn’t contain carbs (or at least not many carbs). That says a lot.

Honestly though, this salad is perfect for serving a crowd. I love making it for potlucks or family dinners!

I’ll be forever grateful for Angela’s life-changing salad recipe and I hope you’ll enjoy my tahini-version as well.

If you want to try her cashew-based recipe, you can find it here!

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Vegan Caesar Salad with Chickpea Croutons

Course Salad

Cuisine vegan

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

6 cups leafy greens of choice (Romaine, kale or mixed greens)
1 (19oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 1 3/4 cup)
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
Vegan parmesan, for topping

Tahini Caesar Dressing

2 tablespoons tahini
1 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small garlic clove, finely grated
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon vegan Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 1/2 tablespoon water, more as needed

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F. Place the chickpeas on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Roast for 30 minutes or until lightly golden and crispy.
Meanwhile, prepare the salad dressing. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Add water as needed to thin.
Assemble the salad: Toss 6 cups of leafy greens with the prepared dressing until coated. Top with roasted chickpeas and vegan parmesan.

Notes

This salad serves 6 as a side dish or 2 as a main dish.

I use this vegan parmesan for topping. Feel free to use regular parmesan.

The dressing thickens with time. Thin it as needed with water.

This recipe is inspired by Oh She Glows.

If you make this vegan Caesar salad, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I love to hear from you guys. And of course, if you try this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram!

welcome!

I’m Caroline, a registered dietitian based in British Columbia. Here, you’ll find a variety of nourishing vegan recipes, without a side of diet culture

about caroline