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    Home » Recipes » recipes

    vegan kale caesar salad with tempeh bacon

    March 17, 2014 by Lauren Toyota 26 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    vegan kale caesar salad with tempeh bacon_hot for food

    Caesar salad is something that non-vegans will swear vegans can't re-create! Ah-ha... you're wrong. In fact, a vegan kale caesar salad is SO much healthier for you, you'll want to eat this version from now on. It will leave you feeling light, clean, and energized.

    Feel free to use romaine lettuce instead of kale for an even more traditional salad. And I prefer the taste of roasted garlic in a caesar dressing because it makes it sweeter and less over powering. You know, I just like to switch it up wherever I can! You can even take your vegan caesar salad game to the next level and wrap it up to eat on the go!

    vegan salad recipe
    vegan kale caesar salad with tempeh bacon_hot for food

    vegan kale caesar salad with tempeh bacon

    This kale caesar salad is better than any traditional version around!
    5 from 4 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Main Course, Salad, Side Dish
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: caesar salad, kale, salads, tempeh, tempeh bacon, vegan caesar salad
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes
    refrigerate: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
    Servings: 4
    Author: Lauren Toyota

    Ingredients

    caesar dressing (makes 2 cups)

    • 1 garlic bulb
    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • pinch sea salt
    • ¾ C raw cashews, soaked for 20 minutes in hot water
    • ¾ C water
    • 1 pitted medjool date
    • 3 tablespoon lemon juice
    • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
    • 3 ½ tablespoon nutritional yeast
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
    • ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
    • 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

    garlic croutons

    • 3 C cubed bread
    • ¼ C olive oil
    • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
    • 1 teaspoon onion powder
    • ½ teaspoon sea salt
    • ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 2 tablespoon vegan parmesan (optional)

    tempeh bacon

    • 1 250 g package tempeh
    • ½ C low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
    • ½ C water
    • 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
    • 3 tablespoon maple syrup
    • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
    • 1-2 tablespoon coconut oil, for frying

    salads

    • 8 to 9 C kale, finely chopped into ribbons/shreds (stems removed)
    • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
    • pinch sea salt
    • 1 C caesar dressing (above)
    • ground black pepper, to taste

    Instructions

    • Preheat your oven to 400°F. 
    • To prepare the bulb of garlic for roasting, peel the outer layers of the garlic bulb leaving a thin layer still in tact and cut the top of the bulb off (approximately ¼-inch from the top) so the cloves are visible. Coat the top with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, then bake for about 35 minutes or until the cloves are browned and soft to touch.
    • Remove the roasted cloves of garlic from the bulb and place in a high-powered blender. Drain the soaked cashews and rinse with more water until it runs clear. Place the cashews and the remaining dressing ingredients in the blender and mix on high until very smooth.
    • Refrigerate the caesar dressing for at least 1 hour before serving. In the meantime, prepare the croutons and tempeh bacon. Start by preheating oven to 350°F.
    • For the croutons, whisk together olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and ground black pepper. Toss the cubed bread in the mixture until well coated. If you're adding the vegan parmesan, add that to the bowl and toss to coat the bread evenly.
    • Lay out the bread onto a baking sheet and bake for approximately 10 to 15 minutes, turning over once in the middle of baking, until golden brown. Depending on the bread you use, the time will vary so just keep an eye on them. Gluten free bread takes longer, approximately 20 minutes and gluten free bread is always a bit gummy so don't expect them to be crispy crunchy croutons. I prefer an Italian baguette!
    • For the tempeh bacon, thinly slice the tempeh into strips approximately ⅛-inch to-¼-inch thick. 
    • Whisk together low-sodium soy sauce or tamari, water, liquid smoke, maple syrup, and smoked paprika in a shallow dish that you can use to marinate the tempeh in. Lay the slices of tempeh in the dish and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
    • To cook, heat a non-stick pan over medium and add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil. Once the pan is hot add the slices of tempeh without overcrowding the pan. You might need to cook in two batches.
    • Once the first side starts to brown, you'll want to start de-glazing the pan with a bit of the left over marinade to prevent the slices from sticking and to get them really caramelized and browned. Flip the slices and do the same thing on the other side. You may need to add another tablespoon of coconut oil at this point. Cook time is approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat to cool while you assemble the caesar salad.
    • Wash kale and remove the leaves from the stems and discard those. Finely chop the leaves into ribbons or shreds and place in a large mixing bowl. Put lemon juice and sea salt on the kale and massage it into the leaves lightly with your hands for 2 to 3 minutes until you notice it becoming darker in color and slightly wilting.
    • Add 1 cup of the caesar dressing and ground black pepper and toss to coat evenly. Portion out the dressed kale to your serving dishes and top each salad with tempeh bacon, garlic croutons, and drizzle more dressing, as desired. Serve immediately.

    Notes

    Tempeh bacon makes this more of an entree salad, but you could also use coconut bacon for an appetizer version.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Craig

      September 01, 2014 at 3:13 pm

      This looks so good. I am going to try the dressing for sure!!

      Reply
    2. Raj @ www.ThePrimalDesire.com

      January 09, 2015 at 7:27 am

      This looks AWESOME! I LOVE your photo pouring the dressing!!!

      Great job!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        January 16, 2015 at 4:39 pm

        thanks Raj!

    3. Michelle

      April 07, 2015 at 10:30 pm

      How long would the dressing keep for?

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        April 09, 2015 at 11:23 pm

        Hey Michelle!
        Well you'll probably eat it all immediately. But 5 days is usually how long it can last in the fridge. I will add that to the entry! Enjoy 🙂

    4. Jamie

      November 11, 2015 at 12:57 am

      This dressing is amazing!! I was known for my ceasar dressing and since going vegan this will be a fantastic replacement... Yum!!!!! Keep up the great work😋😋😋😋😋😋

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        November 11, 2015 at 5:50 pm

        thanks so much! It's one of our faves and tends to blow non-vegans away 🙂 Enjoy!

    5. Alli

      December 31, 2015 at 1:42 am

      I just made this and it's sooo good!!! Can you make a vegan lobster bisque???

      Reply
    6. Sini

      March 13, 2016 at 7:18 pm

      Do you think it's possible for me to use cashew butter in a normal blender because I do not have a high speed blender?

      Reply
      • Randi Smedley

        March 21, 2016 at 2:01 am

        I used raw cashew butter just because the whole foods I went to was out of raw cashews. It worked great because I didn't have to soak them or anything i just threw it in the blender with everything else, although I do have a vitamix. But it was delicious I'm pretty sure it's extremely similar to using the whole cashews!

    7. Kristen

      March 23, 2016 at 9:49 pm

      Made this tempeh bacon the other night, it was delicious! I put it on sandwiches though so next time Ill have to try to salad too! Love what you guys do here!

      Reply
    8. Naline Amaral

      April 12, 2016 at 9:56 pm

      Lovely recipe! I was just wondering if there can be any replacement for the cashews?

      Reply
    9. Alice

      June 23, 2016 at 6:27 am

      This was AMAZING! I substituted tofu for cashews (because it is cheaper, less calories, and doesn't require overnight prep), and it came out jUST AS CREAMY and SOOOO DELICIOUS! Everyone in the world has got to try this!!

      Reply
    10. Paulina Pelaez

      July 07, 2016 at 8:08 am

      Does the kind of tofu I use (firm, extra-firm, silken, etc.) matter or can I just use any? HELP please!
      P.s. Love @hotforfood !!! 😋

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        July 08, 2016 at 4:43 pm

        well it will matter to the thickness of the dressing. I used firm though, since that's what the tofu feta was made out of!

    11. Deanna

      July 13, 2016 at 4:54 pm

      Did you mean 3 tsp lemon juice instead of 3 tbsp? Mine turned out SO lemony :/

      Reply
    12. Mackenzie J

      August 15, 2016 at 11:20 pm

      YUM! I didn't have a medjool date on hand, so I used a tablespoon of maple syrup instead! Worked out great! Thanks Lauren

      Reply
    13. Marie

      September 07, 2016 at 7:35 am

      I actually switched for tofu and it was delicious! My whole family loved it 🙂 first recipe to try and wont be the last! Xx

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        September 12, 2016 at 12:42 am

        AWESOME! Thank you <3

    14. Hester

      September 11, 2016 at 9:53 am

      Hi Lauren,

      Love your recipes, but this was a miss for me! I followed the recipe, even had a little bit extra tempeh, even when I questioned the measurements at the time, and this was way too smokey! Inedible in fact. So sad that I wasted 1/3 of a cup of my liquid smoke on this 🙁 I couldn't eat it and my whole house and fridge smelt of smoke. I will try it again but will probably reduce the amount to about the same as your other bacon seasoning recipes (cassava & coconut). Maybe it was just me, but I thinking about it 1/3 of cup sounds like an awful lot.

      Much love, Hester

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        September 12, 2016 at 12:37 am

        Hey Hester

        I will say 1/3 C now looking at the recipe does seem a little weird. Mind you i've made this so many times and usually just improvise my "bacon" marinade now, but I don't even think I add that much?! this is an old recipe and perhaps it was a typo. I'm so sorry you had to waste the tempeh! I will review and revise.

    15. MISHA

      November 14, 2016 at 10:42 pm

      serioulsy LAUREN
      honestly I wan't a fan of you and your channel but
      I keep founding myself watching your channel (all day , whenever I have free time)and following your recipes(log onto your website so many times in a day lol ) !
      Today I made your kale caesar salad recipe and I nodded my head ...
      lol anywho long story short, I LOVE YOUR RECIPE THANKS 🙂

      Reply
    16. Merissa

      May 02, 2019 at 2:58 pm

      Hi Lauren! I was wondering if you have nutritional value for this recipe/any of your recipes? My girlfriend and I LOVE your cookbook, but nutrition facts would be really helpful 🙂 Thanks!

      Reply
      • Lauren Toyota

        May 09, 2019 at 10:19 am

        well I don't provide nutritional info since its not the basis for how I eat. If its vegan, it gets eaten and I feel great. So I just have decided to not include that. Sorry!

    5 from 4 votes (4 ratings without comment)

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