Tempeh Caesar Salad: Protein-Packed and Vegan
An umami-rich, crunchy vegan salad packed with protein and nutritious deliciousness. This tempeh Caesar salad recipe is both popular and easy to make. Enjoy it as a hearty main course for two or divide it up, add more lettuce and dressing and you have a light lunch for four.
Dive Right In
- Why Make Tempeh Caesar Salad?
- Tempeh Caesar Salad
- Ingredients And Substitutions
- How To Make Tempeh Caesar Salad
- Other Vegan Salad Recipes You Might Like
- Keep In Touch
- The Recipe
Why Make Tempeh Caesar Salad?
If you’ve never made caesar salad before, you’re in for a treat. It’s not only easy to make, but tastes delicious too. Perfect both as a light lunch and a hearty dinner.
- Make Ahead – If you want to get ahead, you can prepare most of the elements the day before you need them. For optimum enjoyment, however, it’s best to assemble the salad just before you’re ready to serve it.
- Nutrient-Dense – This salad is packed with protein from tempeh as well as the dressing. It makes a satisfying and nutritious meal. It’s also rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre.
- Quick And Easy To Prepare – Although there are a few steps to making this salad, it’s surprisingly quick and easy to prepare. This is even more true if you have an air fryer. It’s a good option for midweek meals or lazy weekend lunches.
- Satisfying – Crunchy croutons, chewy tempeh and crisp lettuce tossed in a creamy dressing is incredibly satisfying, both in texture and flavour.
- Umami Flavour – Marinated tempeh gives a rich umami flavour that provides a delicious twist on the classic Caesar salad.
- Vegan-Friendly – This recipe provides an excellent plant-based alternative to the classic Caesar salad. It neither compromises on taste nor texture.
- Versatile – You can enjoy this salad as a hearty main course for two or easily adapt it into a light lunch for four by adding more lettuce and dressing.
Tempeh Caesar Salad
For a seemingly simple dish, tempeh caesar salad is hard to beat. Not only is it extremely tasty, but it’s also hearty, wholesome and inclusive.
A classic caesar salad is made with romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan shavings and an anchovy based dressing. Whilst this basic caesar salad is delicious, a bit of extra protein never goes amis. It’s now quite common to add chicken, bacon or mackerel.
Restaurants are getting increasingly adventurous. Even in our not particularly creative foodie area, I recently spotted a halloumi version, though it still wasn’t vegetarian due to the dressing. So for those wanting a plant-based meal, tempeh is the answer.
CT, who recently ordered a caesar salad when we were out, reckoned my tempeh version was just as good if not better. As for the dressing, he said mine had a very similar taste profile – result!
In my own inimitable style, I’ve tried to keep the recipe as healthy as possible. There’s a lot of fat and salt in a classic caesar salad. Although there’s still a fair amount of both, I’ve kept them to a minimum whilst retaining all of the flavour and texture.
Ingredients And Substitutions
You’ll need a few specialist ingredients for this recipe, but hopefully you’ll already have most of them in your store cupboard.
Caesar Dressing
The dressing is key to a caesar salad. It needs to be creamy, but full of flavour. As the traditional version contains anchovies, vegetarians and vegans need to read the ingredient list of any commercial varieties carefully.
Some also contain Parmesan cheese, which is not vegetarian. So that’s something else to look out for.
I make my own vegan caesar dressing. It only takes a few minutes to prepare and it works a treat.
Croutons
There’s little quite as croutons for giving the wow factor to a salad. Golden, crunchy and oh so very moreish.
The best bread to make croutons for this recipe is a dense, hearty bread, such as sourdough. Croutons are a great way to use up stale bread too.
I don’t add any salt to the croutons as there’s already quite a lot of salt in this recipe. The salt mostly comes in the form of tamari, but there is salt already present in the bread. The dressing more than makes up for any perceived lack of flavour.
However, if you love your salt, by all means add a pinch or two of sea salt to the croutons.
I also like to flavour the croutons with garlic and herbs. I use freshly grated garlic and dried herbes de Provence. The possibilities here are endless though, you can omit either or both and they’ll still taste good. Or you can substitute the herbs for your favourite herb or spice mix.
I’ve used piri piri for a bit of heat and both CT and I like this version too. In this instance, you don’t need to add garlic as the spice mix already contains it.
Bread soaks up oil like there’s no tomorrow, but it’s best not to use more than a taster. I use extra virgin olive oil for the flavour and health benefits.
Much as olive oil is a ‘healthy’ fat though, too much is best avoided. Apart from anything else, it’s getting increasingly expensive. If you think I’m being too miserly or overly cautious, more won’t hurt the croutons.
Lettuce
Romain lettuce is the traditional one to use for a caesar salad. There’s a good reason for this. The leaves are crisp and both sweet and bitter, which makes for a particularly tasty lettuce. Little gem or cos both make a decent substitute.
Parmesan Cheese
Shavings of parmesan cheese is a traditional caesar salad ingredient. As cheese is not vegan, I haven’t used any. However, I have given my caesar dressing some cheesy notes by using nutritional yeast.
If you’d like to add some, make sure you use a vegetarian version of parmesan. Alternatively, use a scattering of my vegan parmesan cheese.
Tempeh
Tempeh comes in the form of blocks and is made from fermented soy beans. It’s a healthy, nutrient dense traditional food from Indonesia. It has a certain meaty quality of its own and once fried tastes a little like bacon. Give it a good marinade with some umami ingredients and you get a delicious chewy morsel.
If you don’t like tempeh or find it hard to get hold of, you can use tofu instead. It won’t have the same chewy texture, but it will still taste good. I’ve also used seitan to good effect, but that’s a bit harder to find. Another alternative is to use cooked chickpeas. You can marinade and cook them in just the same way.
Tempeh Marinade
For the marinade, you’ll need tamari. I’ve written at length about tamari many times before. It’s the tastiest of all the soy sauces, has less salt than most and has the bonus of being gluten-free. I’m reliably informed that coconut aminos makes a good non-soy substitute, but I’ve never tried it.
Other than that it’s maple syrup, smoked paprika, apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper.
How To Make Tempeh Caesar Salad
Tempeh caesar salad doesn’t take long to make. However, if you want to get ahead you can marinate the tempeh, make the croutons and prepare the dressing the day before you need them. An air-fryer makes the process simpler, but it’s by no means essential.
Please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for full instructions, timings and quantities of ingredients used.
Step 1. Marinade Tempeh
Dice or crumble the tempeh into small pieces, or bite sized ones if you prefer.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk the marinade ingredients together.
Add the tempeh pieces and stir until all of them are well coated. Leave to marinade for fifteen to twenty minutes, but longer is absolutely fine. Give an occasional stir, if you can, so the tempeh has a chance to soak the whole lot up.
Top Tip
You can keep the tempeh marinating in the fridge for a day or two if you want to get ahead.
Step 2. Make Croutons
Whilst the tempeh is marinading prepare the croutons.
Slice the bread into small cubes and place in another medium sized bowl.
Sprinkle with the herbs and grated garlic, then drizzle the olive oil over the top. You can just bake or “fry” the bread without oil, but I find it makes them a bit hard. You want them crisp and crunchy rather than hard, so I definitely recommend a bit of heart friendly olive oil.
Again give everything a really good stir so that the bread cubes are as evenly coated as possible.
Transfer them to the basket of a pre-heated air fryer (affiliate link) and “bake”fry” for just a few minutes. Give them a good stir or shake part way through cooking. They’re done when they’re crispy and golden all over. Alternatively, place the bread cubes on a baking tray and bake in a the oven. They’ll need a bit longer, but should still be crisp and golden.
Top Tip
Once baked and cooled, the croutons will keep in an airtight container for a week or so. This means if you want to make them ahead of time or make a larger batch to use over time, go right ahead.
Step 3. Cook Tempeh
Heat a cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan to medium high. Pour in the olive oil. Give the tempeh pieces a final stir, then scrape them into the hot pan and stir again.
How long you cook them rather depends how soft or crunchy you want them, but they won’t take more than ten minutes. Give an occasional stir to ensure they’re evenly cooked all over.
I like them chewy rather than crunchy as it makes for a better textural contrast. After all, you already have crunchy croutons.
Top Tip
If you’d prefer to omit the oil, you can air-fry or even bake the tempeh instead of frying it in a pan.
Step 4. Assemble Salad
Wash the lettuce leaves well then drain. Either shake them dry or use a salad spinner (affiliate link).
Chop or tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces and transfer to a salad bowl. Add both the croutons and the tempeh.
Spoon or pour the dressing over the top and toss the salad until everything is evenly coated.
Serve straight away with an extra drizzle of dressing over the top. Extra dressing on the side for anyone who wants more is also an idea.
Once made the salad doesn’t keep well as the dressing turns the croutons from crunchy to soggy if left for very long.
Top Tip
Serves two as a main course. However, just add a bit more lettuce and dressing and you have a light lunch for four.
Other Vegan Salad Recipes You Might Like
Keep in Touch
Thank you for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this tempeh caesar salad, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do you have any recommendations or advice for making vegan salads?
Please rate the recipe. If you post pictures of your creations on social media, use the hashtag #tinandthyme so I can see them.
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If you’d like more tempeh recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious and nutritious, of course.
Choclette x
Tempeh Caesar Salad. PIN IT.
Tempeh Caesar Salad: Protein-Packed and Vegan
Equipment
- air fryer (affiliate link) optional
- salad spinner (affiliate link) optional
Ingredients
Tempeh
- 200 g tempeh
- 1 ½ tbsp tamari (affiliate link) or coconut aminos
- 2 tsp maple syrup*
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp black pepper freshly ground
- 1 pinch smoked sea salt (optional)
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil* (optional)
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil or other neutral tasting oil
Croutons
- 2 slices wholemeal sourdough bread or other hearty bread
- 1 clove garlic finely grated
- ½ tsp herbes de Provence or dried herbs of choice
- 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salad
- 1 head romaine type lettuce
- 4 tbsp caesar dressing (I used my homemade vegan caesar dressing)
Instructions
Tempeh
- Dice or crumble the tempeh into pieces, roughly 1 cm (not quite half an inch) cubed.200 g tempeh
- In a medium sized bowl, stir the marinade ingredients together, then add the tempeh pieces. Stir well until everything is well coated and leave to marinade for at least 20 minutes. Give an occasional stir if you can so the tempeh has a chance to soak the whole lot up.1 ½ tbsp tamari (affiliate link), 2 tsp maple syrup*, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1 ½ tsp smoked paprika, ¼ tsp black pepper, 1 pinch smoked sea salt, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil*
- Heat a cast iron skillet or non-stick frying pan to medium high. Pour in the oil. Give the tempeh pieces a final stir, then scrape them into the hot pan and stir. Leave to cook for 6-10 minutes, depending on how soft or crunchy you want them. Give an occasional stir to ensure they're evenly cooked all over.1 tbsp sunflower oil
Croutons
- Whilst the tempeh is marinading prepare the croutons.
- Slice or tear the bread into small cubes and place in another medium sized bowl.2 slices wholemeal sourdough bread
- Sprinkle with the herbs and grated garlic, then drizzle the olive oil over the top.1 clove garlic, ½ tsp herbes de Provence, 1 ½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Again give everything a really good stir so that the bread cubes are as evenly coated as possible.
- Bake them in a pre-heated air fryer at 200℃ (400℉) for 4 minutes. Give them a good stir or shake then bake for a further 2-3 minutes until crispy and golden all over. Alternatively, place them on a baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (160℃ fan, 350℉, Gas 4) for 8-10 minutes until crisp and golden.
Salad
- Wash the lettuce leaves well then drain. Either shake them dry or use a salad spinner.1 head romaine type lettuce
- Chop or tear the lettuce into bite sized pieces and transfer to a salad bowl. Add both the croutons and tempeh.
- Spoon the dressing over the top and toss the salad until everything is evenly coated.4 tbsp caesar dressing
- Serve straight away with extra dressing on the side.
- Serves two as a main course. However, just add a bit more lettuce and dressing and you have a light lunch for four.
Love the addition of tempeh! It really adds a lot of flavor and texture to the salad.
Tempeh seems to work really well with this salad. Glad you like it too and thanks for letting us know.
Choclette, your caesar salad looks delicious. I must try some tempeh, I’ve never eaten it, only tofu. Lots of good suggestions in your post. I feel for you with your bathroom problems, we take so much for granted when everything works well. Hope you have a quick resolution to your problems. Cheers, Pauline@happy_retirees_kitchen
Thanks Pauline. It’s going to be at least another week before the bathroom’s done. It’s a pain, but it will be so good to have one that works. Tempeh is very different to tofu, some people take a while to get used to it, but we love it.
This was so delicious! I’m going to be making this again and again this summer for sure!
So pleased you like it and thanks for letting us know. We’ve been eating it quite a lot since the weather warmed up.
I love Caesar salad. We often have it as a main dish for dinner. We like to add some protein like chicken or seafood. This sounds like a nice variation, perfect for an easy weeknight meal.
Absolutely, it’s such a tasty and easy dish to make. Although there’s protein in the dressing, I prefer to add some extra too.
This is just the kind of food that appeals to me at this time of year – delicious, nutritious and a great way of getting plenty of those plant polyphenols into your diet.
Ooh yes, plant polyphenols. Must remember that one. Well I hope you have a go at making my tempeh caesar salad.