This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Table of Contents
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
- dash ground black pepper
- 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.
I love ceasar salads and I loved this version. So much healthier and so much flavor. Was amazing a side dish with a small peice salmon and Naan bread. I will be trying the dressing on other things as well, the flavor was great.
I used mixed baby greens in place of kale. Another tasty recipe! I am loving this challenge helping me find new recipes to add to my regular meal rotation.
DELICIOUS – Was surprised, but left off the chickpeas (I just can’t) and I was so happy!!!
Delicious!! I absolutely loved this salad!!
Cashew cream is my new aioli- thanks for the recipe. It brings out the taste in this kale salad.
I wanst looking forward to this salad as I generally use kale in my smoothies to mask the taste. I really liked the cheese sprinkle though! I messed up and need to practice more on the aoli as mine was lumpy and watery (maybe time for a new food processor or make a larger batch). I liked the taste though and the overall salad was better than I expected.
I really enjoyed this salad! The cashew garlic aioli was tasty. I also appreciated the Cheeze sprinkle!
Salad is Good for my allegy . Thanks
Very good which is high praise for two people that don’t like kale salad! I used cashew cream rather than soak more nuts. Will be experimenting with the balance of the cream as new to us. Liked the @cheese” sprinkle once it was in the salad. This has been a great learning experience and a lot of fun.
Was skeptical again but bit the bullet and made it anyway and my adult son enjoyed it with me for dinner, dnl & gd liked the flavor of the aioli and cheese sprinkle but not the kale
Love the salad! Roasted my chickpeas to add a bit of crunch
I continue to be amazed at how tasty and versatile cashew cream is and this ‘mock’ Caesar salad is a great! So quick and easy to put together, you can liters make a delicious meal in a matter of minutes!
Literally! That darn predictive text gets me all the time!
Yummy! I added chicken instead of chickpeas. Best part of trying this was learning how to massage the kale. Totally worth the extra minutes to soften it up.
Cannot do kale so my take on today’s recipe is a mixed green salad with roasted butternut squash, tri-color quinoa and sunflower seeds. The aioli dressing is great & I’ll definitely add it to my “to keep” recipes from this challenge.
This was another winner for me. I have been impressed with the ease of making a lot of the dressings during this 10 day challenge and this was no exception. Other than building in time to soak the cashews, this was a very simple salad and I didn’t find myself missing the meat protein my family normally relies on. I made this for lunch and it kept me full. This is another one I will put in rotation for my family as a meatless meal option.
So good I had two bowls!
No kale so I subbed romaine & no nutritional yeast so subbed with Parmesan cheese. I’m beginning to really like chick peas!
The dressing & sprinkles were delicious.