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If you shy away from salads because you find yourself hungry 45 minutes after eating one, you aren’t alone. This Kale Caesar Salad is not your average salad. It’s actually filling, creamy and crunchy. Plus, this is a vegan salad, so no bloating, cramping or bathroom runs from a dairy-filled lunch.
Salad isn’t always a filling lunch option, yet I find myself full and satisfied after sitting down to this fun dish. Dress it up to your preference and get ready to enjoy a truly tasty creation.
Ingredients in Kale Caesar Salad
I’ve got two drool-worthy secrets to making this kale caesar salad vegan AND enjoying it even more.
- I smother the whole creation with my Garlic Lemon Aioli. It is seriously good and super easy to make. If you forget to soak the cashews ahead of time then just pour some hot water over them and let them sit for 10 minutes before draining and using.
The Garlic Lemon Aioli is super easy to make, remember to give your cashews time to soak. If you forget to soak them ahead of time, pour hot water over them and let them sit for 10-15 minutes. The drain and add to the recipe. - I use my Vegan Parmesan Cheese recipe that totally tastes like the real deal and yet is completely dairy-free AND packed with protein. Book! I keep a jar of this wonderful creation on hand at all times since it goes with almost everything.
Vegan doesn’t have to be gross, less flavorful or boring. This kale caesar salad still has the creamy dressing and the crunch. It fills me up and doesn’t give me the uncomfortable side effects that dairy does.
How to Make Kale Caesar Salad
- Massage the kale: Squeezing the kale with oil helps soften the hard fibers and aids in digestion. It’ll feel strange the first time you do it, but after the first bite you’ll be sold. If kale isn’t your thing, then swap for dark romaine or do half romaine, half kale and enjoy!
- Puree the dressing: I like to do this in my Vitamix Ascent A3500 blender because I get the best results. Yet you can also make the cashew aioli in a food processor or other high-speed blender. You might want to double the dressing to have it easier for the blades to puree everything.
- Add toppings: What you put on top of your salad is what makes it memorable. Try adding garlic baked chickpeas to create more of a crunchy crouton result. And don’t miss out on the Vegan Parmesan Cheese— it’ll become a staple. Toast the pepitas for a soften crunch and a deeper flavor
Salad Prep Tips
You can make kale caesar salad a day or three ahead! I like to prepare the kale, toppings and dressing in separate containers until ready to eat. That way it’s not soggy and all I have to do it mix it together to eat it. Should last 4 to 5 days in the fridge this way.
Kale Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 4 cups kale stems removed and thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juiced
- ½ cup chickpeas canned, drained and rinsed
- 2 tbsp pepitas raw
- dash sea salt, unrefined
- dash black pepper, ground
- 2 tbsp vegan parmesan cheese
Garlic Lemon Aioli
- ¼ cup raw cashews soaked
- 1 garlic clove peeled
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp lemon squeeze of juice
Instructions
- In a food processor or high-speed blender (small container), puree the Garlic Lemon Aioli ingredients until creamy. If needed, add a few tablespoons of water. The mixture should be thick and creamy.
- Place the kale in a large serving bowl and drizzle it with oil. With clean hands, gently massage the kale until tenderized (5 minutes, at most). Squeeze the lemon juice over the top.
- Mix in the chickpeas and Cashew Garlic Aioli until well combined.
- Serve with pepitas and Vegan Parmesan Cheese.
Video
Notes
- Soaking the cashews for 2+ hours helps get the aioli creamy. If you’re short on time, flash soak in boiling water or just blend them raw. Yet you won’t get as creamy of a dressing.
- Massaging the kale helps relax the leaves as well as takes out some of the bitterness.
- If you don’t have kale on hand, swap with spinach or romaine lettuce.
- Kale does have a bite, so if you’re new to kale then use half kale, half romaine to start.
- Toasting the chickpeas slightly before adding gives them a crouton-like texture.
Nutrition
Common Questions
It depends on what’s in it. The one you get at a restaurant, drowning in dressing and covered in croutons probably isn’t. Yet my version is 100% plant-based, creamy and filling.
This Kale Caesar salad omits the cheese and dairy-based dressing, replacing them with vegan ingredients. My salad has a vegan cheese sprinkle (that’s wonderful!) as well as a dairy-free dressing that you might need to double because it’s so good.
Caesar dressing is dairy-based, which makes it vegetarian yet not vegan. My Kale Caesar salad has a cashew garlic aioli that is super creamy and flavorful and 100% vegan.
This salad jump started my love affair with Kale. Gotta do the massage. Makes all the difference.
This is such a nice balanced salad. I loved all the flavors and how well they all mixed together. So easy to fix!
This salad taught me that massaging the kale is worth the extra time. It’s a nice lighter caesar salad than the traditional.
Made this salad today for Easter dinner and it was a big hit!
Hi Erin! So glad this one was a hit for your family! We have many more salad recipes on our blog that you can check out!
This salad was so good I didn’t even need dressing!
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed it. Keep rawkin the salads!
Kale is king and the dressing is an incredibly innovative wholesome twist on a popular unhealthy Caesar
Good, but not a favorite. I did not roast the chickpeas and pepitas, but definitely would try that next time.
This salad surprised me! I normally pass on Caesar salad since I like veggie toppings but this came together well. Also, combining pepitas with chick peas makes them so much easier and enjoyable to eat on a salad due to the balance of texture with the seed crunch. The dressing was pretty good, but after tasting it I added a bit of Worcestershire sauce to give it more of a true Caesar flavor (I know, not vegan, but delicious!). The extra lemon used in the kale prior to mixing in the main sauce also really helped. I admit to not massaging my kale, but I purposely bought baby kale to avoid that and it made this salad come together very quickly. This will get made often, as long as I have cashews on hand.
Yes, gotta love a little crunch in your salad.
A quick and easy salad with an amazing dressing. Great as a side or healthy snack.
This is my favorite salad of the challenge! I’ve always enjoyed kale; however, I have never tried massaging it with olive oil before and I think that made a huge difference in the flavor. The sprinkles and the cashew AIOLI really added flavor that tasted faintly of a real Caesar salad dressing. It is definitely a keeper!
Really enjoyed this salad. I don’t think the topping tasted like cheese but it was good. Took me awhile to get the aioli creamy in my small food processor but it was very tasty. It’s a keeper.
Not one of my favorites. I love the real Caesar salad, even though it’s not as healthy and I’m not a fan of kale.
I liked the flavor of this salad ! I love new recipes for kale. I can grow kale!
Kale me more. I live ceaser salad. It is my go-to lunch salad. I will be making this one more often.
This is the first time I enjoyed a fully kale salad. I love cooked kale and kale chips. I usually mix it with other greens because it has such a tough texture when it’s raw. I never knew massaging it works so well. The dressing is very good. This challenge is the first time I have ever made my own dressings using nuts. The recipes are all so easy to follow.
I am prejudice because kale is my favorite! Easy and delicious!