Caesar salad is one of those things that when it’s good, it’s great and when it’s bad… well it’s bad. That’s probably why when I set this Vegan Crunchy Caesar Salad down in front of Ryan, he said “I don’t know if I’ve ever been excited about a caesar salad in my life… but this actually looks pretty good!”. So if it can summon *that* much excitement from Ryan about a salad then it must be good!
This Vegan Crunchy Caesar Salad is made with a completely vegan caesar dressing that is just a zingy, zesty, and creamy as the original. It’s also as easy as combining all the ingredients in a bowl and giving it a stir. Since kale is a tougher green, when eating it raw I like to chop into smaller pieces so it’s softer and gets better coated in dressing. What takes this kale salad over the edge is the crunchy breadcrumbs on top. You can use store bought bread crumbs or make your own at home if you have stale bread sitting on your counter. It’s important that whichever you use, you take the time to toast your bread crumbs with vegan butter, garlic powder, and salt to make them even more delicious! And finally, a dusting of vegan parmesan cheese to seal the deal.
This vegan version of caesar keeps all the best parts of a good caesar salad and steps it up a notch with the crunchy and savory breadcrumb topping. You can serve this alongside a main course, or you can add some protein such as crunchy chickpeas to make this salad a meal.
Vegan Crunchy Caesar Salad
Course: SaladsDifficulty: Easy4
servings15
minutes5
minutesKale tossed in a vegan caesar dressing and topped with crunchy bread crumbs.
Ingredients
- Dressing:
½ cup vegan mayonnaise
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoon caper “juice” (liquid from capers)
½ tablespoon dijon mustard
½ lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons water (more or less to reach desired consistency)
- Bread crumbs
1 cup of bread crumbs (store bought or homemade)
1 tablespoon vegan butter
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon salt
- Salad
1 large bunch of kale, rinsed, stemmed, and chopped in ¼ inch strips
Vegan parmesan for topping
Directions
- Dressing
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a bowl and stir to combine. You may add more or less water depending on preferred consistency.
- Bread crumbs
- Combine breadcrumbs, garlic powder, and salt in a small bowl.
- Melt vegan butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Pour breadcrumb mixture into the heated pan and toast for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown and smelling toasty.
- Remove from heat and set aside.
- Salad
- Rinse, stem, and chop kale to ¼ inch strips.
- Drizzle desired amount of dressing onto kale and toss to combine.
- Top with breadcrumb topping and vegan parmesan cheese.
Notes
- You can prep the dressing and/or the breadcrumbs beforehand for easy serving!
- Serve topped with your favorite plant-based protein such as crunchy chickpeas!
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