This delicious vegan Kale Caesar Salad recipe is served with a wonderfully creamy avocado dressing and created from only simple ingredients. Perfect for your next light lunch of dinner and pretty much any time of the year!
Ingredients
- fresh curly kale
- apple cider vinegar
- butter beans
- olive oil
- garlic powder
- sea salt
- sweet potato
- sun-dried tomatoes
- hemp seeds to serve (optional)
For the vegan avocado caesar dressing:
- avocado: makes the dressing wonderfully creamy and adds a natural fat source to the salad
- nutritional yeast: for wonderful cheesy-ness!
- cashews: for extra creaminess! These need to be soft to blend into the dressing, please see the recipe steps below!
- sea salt
- dried or fresh dill
- water
Equipment
- food processor
- a large mixing bowl
- oven (to roast the butter beans and sweet potato)
Instructions (Step-by-Step)
If you've ever bought kale before, you probably know that it usually comes with firm, tough leaves. In order to turn fresh kale into a delicious and soft kale caesar salad, we first need to
For this vegan kale caesar recipe, I've made a couple of not-so-traditional but delicious additions: Roasted butter beans, baked sweet potato slices, and sun-dried tomato. Whilst this is not the traditional way of serving a caesar salad, I'm a big fan of the flavor combination! They add a wonderful diversity of texture and flavor to this simple caesar salad recipe and I can only recommend giving this combination a go.
If you're looking for more inspiration for yummy things you can add to a kale caesar salad, have a look at the 'What to add to a kale caesar salad' section further down on this page.
How to make a Creamy Vegan Avocado Caesar Dressing
This creamy avocado salad dressing is simply put together with a food processor or also a blender, though depending on your blender you might need to stop and scrape down the sides of the blender a couple of times during the process.
For the dressing to blend wonderfully smoothly, ensure that your cashew nuts are softened. You can do so by soaking them for 4-6 hours in cold water (or also overnight!). If you're in a hurry, you can alternatively soak the cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes. This will make them soft enough to blend into a smooth salad dressing.
Simply combine all dressing ingredients in your processor: avocado, softened cashews, nutritional yeast, sea salt, dried or fresh dill, and water. Process until you get a smooth and creamy texture for your avocado caesar dressing.
What to add to a kale caesar salad
Aside from the delicious additions I've made to this very non-traditional kale caesar salad, there are a couple of other tasty options that you can add to your own vegan caesar salad. Here is some delicious inspiration for you:
- crispy baked or roasted chickpeas
- a drizzle of fresh lemon juice
- dijon mustard
- black pepper
- tahini
- crunchy nuts and seeds
- homemade crackers
- antipasti such as grilled artichokes or olives
- vegan cheese cubes (vegan feta is particularly delicious!)
- homemade garlic and herb croutons
- serve alongside freshly baked rosemary focaccia for the ultimate treat!
Kale Caesar Salad - Frequently asked questions
In case you have any questions about this kale caesar recipe, I've put together a few frequently asked questions here for you. If it's missing anything, simply leave a comment below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.
Can I freeze creamy avocado dressing?
It is possible to freeze this salad dressing, however, it might require re-blending after gently defrosting the dressing. Best freeze it in portion sizes in either small containers or an ice cube tray.
How to soften cashews in just 20 minutes?
For this recipe, it's important that the cashews are softened so they blend well and create a creamy and non-grainy dressing. To preserve as many nutrients in the cashews as possible, it's best to soak them in cold water for a minimum of 4-6 hours. This will soften them enough to smoothly blend them. If you're in a rush, however, there's a quick & easy way to soften your cashew nuts: Simply place them into boiling water for 20 minutes and they will be soft and ready to blend into a dressing. Because of the heat used in this process, however, the nuts can lose a significant amount of micronutrients, so take this into consideration when preparing the salad dressing.
How to store soaked cashews?
If you're soaking your cashews in advance, you can easily keep them in your fridge for multiple days until you're ready to use them. In order to make sure they stay fresh, rinse the nuts daily and refresh the water in your soaking container.
Can I swap the cashews for cashew butter?
Yes! Make sure to use a natural, unsalted and unsweetened cashew butter - best check the label and ensure nothing but cashews are listed on there.
This recipe is:
- 100% vegan
- deliciously creamy
- full of flavour
- naturally gluten-free
- easy to adjust and easy to make
- delicious
- perfect for summer but also delicious all year round
- nutritious
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Vegan Kale Caesar Salad
Equipment
- 1 large bowl
- 1 baking tray
Ingredients
- 2 handfuls fresh curly kale
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 7-oz can of cooked butter beans (240g drained weight)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 large sweet potato peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes drained
For the creamy avocado dressing:
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 30 g cashews softened
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp dried dill
- 70-100 ml water
Instructions
- Soak your cashews in boiling water for 20 minutes until softened.
- In the meantime wash the kale, place it in a large bowl and drizzle with the apple cider vinegar. Massage it with your hands until it begins to soften and become a vibrantly green colour.
- Drain the tin of butter beans and place them on a lined baking tray. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with the garlic powder, then place in the pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until lightly crispy. Place the sweet potato slices in the oven at the same time until baked and softened.
- For the avocado dressing, simply combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor until. smooth. Add as much water as needed to reach your desired texture.
- Assemble the salad in a large sharing bowl or 2 smaller portion size bowls, drizzle the dressing on top and sprinkle with black pepper and hemp seeds (optional).
Notes
- Cashews - If you'd like to preserve as many nutrients in your cashews as possible, you can soak them for a minimum of 4-6 hours to soften. The option of adding them to boiling water for 20 minutes is a quick option to soften them and prepare them for the next recipe steps, but through the heat, the nuts lose a lot of micronutrients and I only recommend this version if in a hurry.
Hungry for more vegan salad recipes? Here are a few that are just waiting for you to try them out:
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