While there are definitely store-bought vegan Italian dressings out there, the creamy ones are all made with dairy products! You’ll get your hopes up, read the labels, and find that they all contain cheese!
I wanted to make a homemade, creamy ✅ Vegan Italian Dressing so that I didn’t have to wait on popular brands to come out with a dairy-free version or spend a ton of money on a specialty brand! (If you’ve ever bought a vegan “dairy” product, you know that they cost twice as much as the actual dairy products.)
This plant-based Italian dressing is creamy, tart, and a little bit sweet. And the secret is: CASHEWS!
Like so many other homemade vegan dishes, cashews are used in this recipe to add a creamy texture. Also, if you don’t strain your blended cashews, the specs of unblended cashews will remind you of the texture of parmesan cheese!
Ingredients
- extra virgin olive oil
- white wine vinegar
- water
- agave
- lemon juice
- minced garlic
- dried parsley
- dried oregano
- fresh ground black pepper
- salt
- cashews
Creamy Vegan Italian Dressing Recipe Instructions
If you ever want to make a plant-based dish a little creamier, you can always add blended cashews. But before you blend the cashews, you have to soak them. (Unless, of course, you have a super high-quality blender that can emulsify anything.)
While you can definitely soak your cashews overnight in preparation for this recipe, boiling them right beforehand is so much easier. Especially if you’re like me and can’t plan that far ahead!
To soften your cashews, either let them soak in water overnight or boil them in a small pot of water for 15 minutes.
To make the dressing, simply blend all of the ingredients together along with the softened cashews. You can use either an immersion hand blender or a small food processor if you don’t have one.
To store the dressing, keep it in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Creamy Vegan Italian Dressing
Equipment
- small food processor
- immersion hand blender
Ingredients
- ½ cup cashews raw
- ½ cup +2tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- ¼ cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tsp agave
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- 1 tsp parsley dried
- 1 tsp oregano dried
- ¼ tsp pepper ground
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
Soften the Cashews
- Either soak the cashews overnight in water, or boil them in a small pot of water for 15 minutes
Blend the Ingredients
- Add all of the ingredients together and blend with an immersion hand blender. If you don't have one, blend all the ingredients in a small food processor