This oil-free vegan cashew dressing is a game-changer for anyone looking for oil free salad dressings. The spicy cashew dressing with no oil is made with simple ingredients like cashews, water, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, garlic, capers, dijon mustard, and coconut sugar seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.
The creamy dressing is very similar to my vegan cashew Caesar dressing, except this vegan cashew dressing has a little more zing that will satisfy your taste buds thanks to the extra lemon juice, garlic, and Dijon mustard. It’s delicious, vegan-friendly, packed with nutrients, and one of the best tasting oil-free salad dressings.
I love eating salads, but I prefer to use oil free dressings. Why you may ask? Even healthier oils like olive oil are very calorie dense while offering fewer nutrients compared to whole food ingredients. Focusing on whole, plant based fats instead can feel lighter and more nourishing.
The authors of Mastering Diabetes also recommend a low fat diet free of processed fats as the best diet for insulin resistance. I focused on including lots of low fat liver cleansing salads in my detox, but one caveat is that it had to be an oil-free dressing; thus, I decided to make creamy cashew salad dressing with healthy and simple pantry ingredients (at least in my cupboard they are!).
Whole raw cashews are blended with fresh water and the following ingredients in a high-speed blender. My favorite way to enjoy this vegan cashew dressing with no oil is over a fresh salad with chopped romaine, canned corn, black beans, avocado, and cherry tomatoes! Seriously it is so good! Also check out my oil free dressings round up for more ideas :)
Ingredients for the oil free cashew dressing:
- 1/3 cup raw cashews
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
How to make the cashew dressing with no oil:
- Blend the cashews: Add the raw cashews in a high-speed blender with water.
- Add the remaining ingredients: Add nutritional yeast, fresh lemon juice, minced garlic, capers, Dijon mustard, coconut sugar (if using), salt, and pepper to the blender.
- Blend until smooth: Start blending at low speed, gradually increasing to high. Blend until the dressing reaches a smooth and creamy consistency.
- Taste and adjust: Pause the blender to taste the dressing. Adjust the flavors to your preference by adding more lemon juice, garlic, salt, or pepper. For a tangier flavor, you can add more capers or Dijon mustard.
- Serve or refrigerate: Transfer the dressing to a mason jar or airtight container. You can serve it immediately or refrigerate it for a few hours to allow the flavors to meld together.
- Storage: The oil-free cashew dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week. Before each use, give it a good shake or stir, as separation may occur.
Tips and substitutions
- You can substitute the lemon juice with rice vinegar. This will change the overall flavor of the vegan dressing with cashews but will work if you don’t have fresh lemon juice available at home.
- Whole garlic clove can be substituted with garlic powder to taste instead.
- To make a vegan cashew ranch dressing with fresh herbs as a dipping sauce, reduce the amount of water used to yield a thicker consistency. Add fresh herbs such as parsley, chives, and dill to make the best vegan ranch dressing to serve with freshly chopped vegetables.
- For an extra boost of protein and healthy fats, add some hemp seeds, which blend beautifully with cashews to make a creamy oil free dressing.
For more healthy salad dressing ideas, check out my oil free dressings round up for more easy recipes.
Ways to use this oil free cashew dressing
This homemade cashew dressing is such a versatile oil free salad dressing that can be enjoyed over simple green salads.
It’s perfect for serving over Buddha bowls. My favorite is a Mexican-style quinoa Buddha bowl with quinoa, corn, black beans, avocado, and cherry tomatoes. Add a cooked chicken breast for extra protein.
You can also make the best tasting vegan Caesar salad by toasting chickpeas with some seasoning salt in an air fryer and serving with this dressing and fresh chopped romaine or massaged kale. I like to add cherry tomatoes as well.
Macros (per 1/4 recipe)
- Calories: 84
- Net carbs: 8 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Fat: 5 g
Top 5 vitamins & minerals
- Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)
- Copper
- Vitamin B12
- Manganese
- Magnesium
This is one of my top homemade salad dressings made with no added oil. It contains healthy, unprocessed fats found in cashews but is free of processed oil that is calorie-dense and low in nutrients. Rest assured, knowing that while you eat all your liver-cleansing vegetables, you are not clogging your body with processed oils found in so many salad dressings, including healthy homemade salad dressings.
Elevate your health to the next level by making oil free salad dressings such as this creamy cashew dressing. The creamy, rich flavors will leave you craving more healthy salads. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
You can find this oil free cashew dressing in my Oil Free Dressings, Dips and Sauces E-book that you can subscribe to access in my library of free E-books. All the E-books are designed to be downloaded or printed on standard paper to create your own recipe book binder.
Oil Free Cashew Dressing
Equipment
- 1 high speed blender (vitamix)
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw cashews
- ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp capers
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Place all ingredients into a high speed blender. Blend for 45 seconds or until you have a smooth and creamy texture.
- Serve over fresh greens or your favorite salad. Store in a mason jar for up to one week.
Wow! I’ve tried so many oil-free dressing recipes and they are terrible. This is fantastic!! I did omit the sugar, just because I didn’t want it sweeter but yummy!
So glad you loved it!