Looking for a healthy and delicious Chickpea Caesar Salad recipe that’s creamy, crunchy, and packed with flavour? This Vegan Chickpea Caesar Salad is made with a rich cashew-based Caesar dressing, crispy oil-free roasted chickpeas, and a savoury homemade vegan parmesan. It’s 100% plant-based, gluten-free (optional), and perfect for lunch, meal prep, or a side salad.
This was heavily inspired by Erewhon’s Vegan Caesar Salad, which contains similar ingredients such as chickpeas, tempeh bacon, cashew caesar dressing and sunflower and almond parmesan. Now you can make this delicious salad at home, without the price tag of this infamous grocery store!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
- 🥗 Vegan and dairy-free (100% plant-based) – No need for eggs or anchovies!
- 🌱 Healthy but satisfying – Made with wholesome plant-based ingredients like cashews, chickpeas, kale, tempeh and nutritional yeast.
- 🧄 Packed with bold flavour – Slightly tangy, savoury cashew Caesar dressing and a cheesy and nutty vegan parmesan.
- 🧡 Meal prep–friendly – Store components separately and assemble fresh throughout the week.
- 💪 High Protein – Tempeh bacon plus chickpeas add lots of plant-based protein to this recipe!
- 🕒 Quick & easy – Comes together in under 30 minutes once the dressing and chickpeas are prepped.
- 🔄 Customizable – Add avocado, tofu, or extra veggies to make it your own.
Recipe for Vegan Chickpea Caesar Salad
This Cashew Caesar salad swaps the traditional ingredients for healthy vegan alternatives—raw cashews for a creamy dressing, roasted chickpeas instead of croutons, and a nutty seed-based vegan parmesan (without the dairy). It’s everything you love about Caesar salad, made without dairy, eggs, or oil (if desired).
The recipe is vegan, gluten-free-friendly, and optionally oil-free.
Add-ins: avocado, cherry tomatoes, grilled tofu, or other vegetables.
To make it gluten-free, use gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos.
To make it soy-free, use a soy-free soy sauce alternative.
To make it oil-free, omit the olive oil from the dressing.
Instead of Sunflower Seed & Almond Parmesan, you can make Cashew Parmesan or Hemp Parmesan
Ingredients
Vegan Caesar Dressing (Cashew-Based)
- Raw cashews
- Water
- Olive oil
- Lemon juice
- Dijon mustard
- Garlic
- Capers
- Soy sauce, liquid aminos, or vegan Worcestershire sauce
Oil-Free Crispy Chickpeas
- Canned chickpeas
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Paprika or smoked paprika
Salad Base
- Romaine lettuce
- Kale
- Tempeh bacon (store-bought or homemade), prepared and chopped into small pieces
Sunflower Seed & Almond Parmesan
- Sunflower seeds and/or almonds
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt
- Black pepper or white pepper
- Mustard powder
- Cayenne, chili powder, or paprika
How To Make Chickpea Caesar Salad (Cashew Dressing)
- To make the Oil-Free Crispy Chickpeas: Preheat your oven (425°F) or air fryer (400°F). Drain a can of chickpeas and rinse with water thoroughly. Add chickpeas in a mixing bowl, then toss with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or air fryer basket. Bake or air fry for 20–30 minutes, shaking halfway, until golden and crispy.
- To make the Vegan Caesar Dressing (Cashew Based): Boil the cashews with water for 15 minutes to soften (alternatively, you can soak cashews in hot water for 20-30 minutes or room temp water overnight the night before). Add them to a blender with water, olive oil (optional), lemon juice, dijon mustard, garlic, capers, and soy sauce (or alternative). Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- To make the Sunflower Seed & Almond Parmesan: In a food processor or blender, pulse the sunflower seeds and/or almonds with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and cayenne or paprika. Blend until crumbly, like a vegan parmesan.
- Add chopped kale into a large bowl and massage with around 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or olive oil to soften (around 1 minute). Add chopped romaine lettuce along with chopped tempeh bacon pieces. Add the dressing, along with crispy chickpeas and mix well to coat.
- Top with a generous amount of the vegan parmesan. Serve and enjoy!
Chickpea Caesar Salad
This Vegan Chickpea Caesar Salad is made with a rich cashew-based Caesar dressing, crispy oil-free roasted chickpeas, and a savoury homemade vegan parmesan.
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Servings: 4
Calories: 321kcal
Equipment
Ingredients
Vegan Caesar Dressing (Cashew-based)
- 1/2 cup raw cashews softened (see instructions)
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tbsp olive oil optional, omit if oil-free
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 clove garlic or around 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp capers drained
- 1 tbsp soy sauce, liquid aminos or vegan Worcestershire
Oil-free Crispy Chickpeas
- 1 can chickpeas drained & rinsed
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika or smoked paprika
Salad Base
- 2 cups romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 cups kale chopped
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil or lemon juice (for massaging kale)
- 6 slices tempeh bacon (store-bought or homemade) chopped
Sunflower Seed & Almond Parmesan
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds and/or almonds
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black or white pepper
- 1/4 tsp mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder, cayenne or paprika optional
Instructions
- To make the Oil-Free Crispy Chickpeas: Preheat your oven (425°F) or air fryer (400°F). Drain a can of chickpeas and rinse with water thoroughly. Add chickpeas in a mixing bowl, then toss with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and paprika. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet or air fryer basket. Bake or air fry for 20–30 minutes, shaking halfway, until golden and crispy.
- Prepare tempeh bacon according to package instructions or prepare a homemade tempeh bacon. One option is to put them into the air fryer or oven along with the chickpeas to cook at the same time. Cut them into small pieces after preparing.
- To make the Sunflower Seed & Almond Parmesan: In a food processor or blender, pulse the sunflower seeds and/or almonds with nutritional yeast, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and cayenne or paprika. Blend until crumbly, like a vegan parmesan. Set aside.
- To make the Vegan Caesar Dressing (Cashew Based): Boil the cashews with water for 15 minutes to soften (alternatively, you can soak cashews in hot water for 20-30 minutes or room temp water overnight the night before). Add them to a blender with water, olive oil (optional), lemon juice, dijon mustard, garlic, capers, and soy sauce (or alternative). Blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
- Add chopped kale into a large bowl and massage with around 1/2 tbsp lemon juice or olive oil to soften (around 1 minute). Add chopped romaine lettuce along with chopped tempeh bacon pieces. Add the dressing, along with crispy chickpeas and mix well to coat.
- Top with a generous amount of the vegan parmesan. Serve and enjoy!
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Notes
The recipe is vegan, gluten-free-friendly, and optionally oil-free.
- To make it gluten-free, use gluten-free tamari or coconut aminos.
- To make it soy-free, use a soy-free soy sauce alternative.
- To make it oil-free, omit the olive oil from the dressing.
- Optional add-ins: avocado, cherry tomatoes, grilled tofu, or other vegetables.
Nutrition
Calories: 321kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Sodium: 920mg | Potassium: 550mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 3405IU | Vitamin C: 14mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 4mg
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