This 30 minute recipe for Kale Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon is a healthy dish with a savory caesar dressing, crunchy croutons, and smokey tofu bacon.
Remember that Best Ever Baked Tofu recipe from last week?
I hope you made a double batch, because we are adding it into this Kale Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon for the ultimate salad experience.
This Caesar Salad is everything. It has a rich and creamy dressing, big crispy croutons, sweet and salty TOFU BACON, which gets all gets topped off with vegan parmesan cheese.
Though this Kale Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon is vegan and gluten free, it has all the flavor of a good caesar. And I have had a lot of caesars in my time. College cafeterias are questionable, but caesar salad is always good. My record is a 6 month streak of a caesar a day. I single handily supported my college cafeteria salad station.
Now that I have graduated from those dreary cafeteria days, I still crave this classic salad, and with all the flavor-packed ingredients thrown into this one, I don't miss the dairy or gluten one bit.
The salad dressing is made from raw sunflower seeds, which blend up into a dreamy creamy sauce. The secret ingredient to get that caesar flavor are capers
. These salty, flavorful round bits make this dressing lick-off-the-spoon good.
Once you massage the salad dressing into the kale, it softens and becomes infused with flavor. Then a heavy topping of vegan parm is just the ticket to caesar salad perfection. This vegan version is made with raw cashews, brazil nuts
, and nutritional yeaast
. I keep a jar on hand at all times, because this stuff is so good.
And how can this be made any worse by a little tofu bacon?
Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Salad
- Cuisine: gluten-free, vegan
Description
This recipe for Caesar Salad with Tofu Bacon is packed with flavors. This vegan and gluten free dish has a savory caesar dressing, crunchy croutons, and sweet and smokey tofu bacon.
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1 cup raw sunflower seeds (, soaked in water overnight and drained)
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- Juice of one lemon
- 4 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons capers
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic (, peeled)
- 2 teaspoons maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika
For the vegan parmesan cheese:
- ½ cup raw cashews
- ¼ cup brazil nuts
- 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
The rest:
- 1 recipe baked tofu
- Gluten Free croutons
- 2 heads of lacinato kale (, torn into bite sized pieces)
Instructions
- Add all of the parmesan cheese ingredients into a food processor. Process until a course meal forms. Set aside.
- Next, add the dressing ingredients into the food processor, and process until smooth.
- Add the kale into a large bowl. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and massage the kale with your hands until it is softened and bright green. Add in some of the dressing to coat (you might have extra) and massage again. Serve with croutons, baked tofu and parmesan.
Notes
- You can find the Best Ever Baked Tofu Recipe here!
- I use this method to make oil-free super healthy homemade croutons.
Love how you used sunflower seeds in the dressing! My sister is allergic to cashews, which is what I usually use, so I'll definitely be trying this when she comes to visit!
The sunflower seeds add such a good flavor, and I am so glad that it means your sister can enjoy it too :) I use some cashews in the vegan parm, but raw sunflower seeds would be a great sub there too.
Ah, I love the idea of adding tofu bacon to a caesar salad. Perfect!
Thank you Sarah!