Welcome to my latest dressing obsession. Seriously, I can’t get enough of this stuff!
This rave review is coming from a girl who rarely purchases bottled dressing, and who isn’t even vegan (although I love finding and eating great plant-based foods!). My normal go-to salad dressing is a small drizzle of good extra virgin olive oil, and a drizzle of good balsamic vinegar over all of the veggies – grab and go, and ready for lunch. It’s a simple and delicious combination that I’ve been doing almost daily for many years, but suddenly, I was in the mood to switch it up.
My garden has been overflowing with the most beautiful summer produce – tomatoes and peppers abound! While I love a simply dressed tomato (really good olive oil, salt, that’s it), and I’ve been inhaling tomato toast all summer long, I was craving some new flavors. Something fun. Something – Caesar. Enter this Trader Joe’s Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing.
This dressing is super flavorful – packed with umami and almost a brininess that I absolutely can’t get enough of. It’s much lighter than a traditional Caesar dressing, coming in at only 70 calories per 2 tbsp serving, compared to 150 calories per serving (on average) of traditional Caesar dressings in other brands. I love that this is a healthier alternative to the normal Caesar, because when I’m eating a salad, I want to keep it light – I’m never here for excess calories from heavy dressings.
The Trader Joe’s Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing gets its creaminess from blended silken tofu, which I think is an amazing way to add body while keeping this plant-based dressing nice and light. It gets its umami flavor from miso, garlic, and shitake mushroom powder, a delightful briny note from ground up capers, and a nice extra punch from the addition of Dijon mustard. There’s also olive oil blended in for some added fattiness (which I feel is needed in a Caesar), and plenty of acidic pop from both lemon juice and white wine vinegar. This dressing is truly firing on all flavor cylinders, and I have been really enjoying it!
If you are concerned about tofu being the main ingredient in this dressing, let me assure you that it in no way tastes beany or has any grittiness or chunkiness in the texture at all. I would say that the main flavor profile that people may not like is the briny flavor that is also not traditional in your normal Caesar dressings, but I personally love capers and pickled/fermented things, so I think it’s excellent. Generally, I feel like this dressing is very well balanced and delivers on that creamy, punchy, Caesar flavor that I’ve been craving, and achieves this successfully without the addition of loads of mayo, eggs, and cheese (also known as fat and calories).
If you’ve been perusing your local Trader Joe’s and have been wanting to give this dressing a try, I would say give it a shot! The bottles are pretty small, so I go through about 1 bottle every couple weeks (I usually take a salad for my lunch every day, so I use it daily during the work week). At $3.99 for 11 oz, it’s not a huge splurge, so give it a try – you and your tomatoes will thank me!
This post was in no way sponsored by Trader Joe’s or Trader Joe’s Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing. I buy this dressing with my own money, and these are all words from a fan!
Want to give this dressing a try? Check out more information on Trader Joe’s website here!
Need some salad inspiration? Try these recipes out with your new Vegan Caesar:
Posted by 
Claire Aucella 
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