Plant-based Caesar Salad – two ways!

This classic Caesar salad tosses traditional torn green leaf lettuce with a creamy plant-based hemp heart and yogurt Caesar salad dressing, croutons, and vegan parmesan cheese. Take it one step further by adding in some tasty tomatoes, cucumbers, pepitas, and roasted chickpeas for a complete meal!

This Plant-based Caesar Salad can be made two different ways!

The first is the Classic Caesar Salad. It’s a great accompaniment to any brunch, lunch, or dinner. This Caesar salad is also super easy to put together, especially if you’ve made the dressing the day before. Plus, it’s a sure crowd pleaser, which makes it great for a dinner party.

The Second is the Better Caesar Salad.

This takes the Classic Caesar salad, which consists of roughly chopped or torn green leaf lettuce, croutons, non-diary shredded parmesan cheese, and a dreamy Caesar Salad Dressing, and throws in some tomato, cucumber, pepitas, and optional roasted Chickpeas. Not only are both of these salads delicious, they’re also quite nutritious.

So let’s start with the basics. At the heart of any great salad are the greens and the dressing. While torn or chopped romaine or green leaf lettuce is the classic choice, you can also use any dark leafy greens, including kale, rainbow chard, collard greens, or swiss chard.

And of course, any Classic Caesar Salad needs a flavorful Caesar Salad Dressing. I highly recommend you try my Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing. It’s a whole food plant-based hemp heart and yogurt dressing, featuring capers, mustard, lemon, and black salt.

The final two ingredients are croutons and parmesan cheese.

You can purchase croutons or you can make them yourself. Simply cube up a few slices of your favorite whole grain or gluten-free bread and bake on on a baking sheet until golden brown.  You can toss the cubes with a little garlic powder and onion powder, if desired, but it’s not required.

For the non-dairy parmesan cheese, I really enjoy both Follow Your Heart parmesan shreds and Voilife parmesan cheese options.

To make a Classic Caesar Salad, toss the Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing with torn greens, croutons, and parmesan shreds. It’s best served immediately. Otherwise the greens start to wilt and the croutons begin to get soggy. So freshly made is best when it comes to this Salad.

And while you can chop up the lettuce using a knife, it’s best if you tear the leaves by hand. I don’t know the science behind it, I just know it somehow lasts longer because the lettuce somehow maintains it’s structure better.

If you’d like to make a more robust and colorful Better Caesar Salad, I highly recommend adding in a few more ingredients like cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and pepitas. To serve this salad as a meal, consider topping it with Roasted Chickpeas; sunflower seeds or pine nuts, and carrot ribbons or shreds.

The more color and crunch, the better! As I like to say as often as I’m allowed, Eat the Rainbow!!

I hope you enjoy this Plant-based Caesar Salad as much as I do.  

I would love to see your results! Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!   Enjoy!!   

And don’t forget to subscribe for new plant-based and vegan recipes today!!

Classic Caesar Salad Ingredients

• 1 head romaine lettuce, roughly chopped or torn*
• ½ cup croutons**
• ¼ cup non-dairy parmesan cheese
• ½ cup Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing

Better Caesar Salad Ingredients

• 1 head romaine lettuce, roughly chopped or torn*
• ½ cup croutons**
• 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 cup cucumber slices, halved
• ½ cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds) or sunflower seeds
• ¼ cup non-dairy parmesan cheese***
• ½ cup Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, toss the Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing with the Classic or Better Caesar Salad Ingredients. 
2. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

* You can use any dark leafy greens, such as romaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, kale, rainbow chard, collard greens, or swiss chard.

** Dress up your Caesar salad with home-made croutons!  Slice a few slices of your favorite whole grain or gluten-free bread and bake on on a baking sheet at 400° for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown.  You can sprinkle a little garlic powder and onion powder on top, if desired.

*** Follow Your Heart and Voilife are great parmesan cheese options.

To serve this salad as a meal, consider topping with Roasted Chickpeas; sunflower seeds, pine nuts, or pepitas; cherry or grape tomatoes; cucumber slices; carrot ribbons; and crispy homemade croutons.