Easy, creamy salad dressing flavored with fresh herbs and garlic and kept vegan by the use of white beans.
An addictively tangy salad dressing makes it easy to eat your greens, and this creamy herb salad dressing does just that! A can of beans provides the base, but all you’ll taste is the garlicky, herby, savory flavors of summer. A pinch of red pepper flakes add a hint of spicy kick, and a splash of vinegar provides the umami.
Salad dressings take only about 5 minutes to make and are so much better than store-bought, bottled dressings. The ingredient list is shorter, but the flavor is richer and fresher. You skip the additives and highly processed preservatives. It’s also usually cheaper, especially if you grow your own herbs. Plus, making your own dressing is customizable to your preferences, and this creamy vegan herb salad dressing provides some extra protein from the beans and yogurt. You could increase the amount by tossing in some nutritional yeast or feta cheese.
While this creamy herb salad dressing takes a mix of greens to the next level, this creamy herb dressing is equally delicious as a dip for vegetables or pita chips. It can similarly be poured over buddha bowls, the perfect accompaniment to your personally preferred grain, protein, and veggie creations.
Let’s go through the minimal ingredients so you can get to blending together a batch of your own!
White Beans - You can use cannellini beans or great northern beans, although great northern beans have a thinner skin, so I would recommend them as they puree a bit more easily.
Garlic - Use big cloves!
Yogurt - You can use whatever type you want, but needless to say, make sure it’s plain, rather than vanilla or fruity.
Mayonnaise - You can use whatever kind you prefer, regular or vegan. I use a higher quality, avocado-oil mayo. If you opt to skip, I would highly recommend extra yogurt or some sour cream as a substitute, as it helps make the dressing smooth and creamy.
Tahini - If you’ve never cooked or baked with tahini, it is ground sesame seed butter. While it used to only be sold in health stores, now even well stocked regular grocery stores carry it.
Shallots - Use shallots or onions, or even chives, whatever you have on hand.
Lemon Juice - Adds some acidity. Use freshly squeezed for the best flavor.
Vinegar - Adds tang! Use regular old white vinegar or white wine vinegar.
Red Pepper Flakes - Adds a spicy kick. Skip or cut back if you’re sensitive to heat. If you don’t have them on hand, use a splash of tabasco or sriracha.
Basil Leaves - The fresher the better! This is where the dressing’s flavor is coming from, so this recipe is rather seasonal. You could make other varieties, though, such as cilantro dressing in the winter and spring and sage dressing in the fall. Have fun playing around! 🙂
Ice Water - Thins the dressing to your preferred consistency. If you’d rather use this as a dip, however, skip it!
Whirl these ingredients together for one special salad topper…that’s one salad I’d sure as heck eat! 🙂
CREAMY VEGAN HERB SALAD DRESSING (V, GF, DF, VG, SD)
Yield: appx 2 cups
What You'll Need:
1 cup white beans, rinsed well and drained
2 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
¼ cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon tahini
¼ cup chopped shallots
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ - 1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 cup whole basil leaves
Ice water
How To Make it
1. If you don’t have a high speed blender, start by softening your beans by boiling them with baking soda for 5 minutes, then draining them. Otherwise, skip straight to placing them in the bowl of your food processor or blender.
2. Add the garlic, yogurt, mayonnaise, tahini, shallots, pepper flakes, salt, lemon juice, and vinegar, and blend for 2-3 minutes or until smooth.
3. Add the basil leaves, and blend again until totally incorporated.
4. Drizzle the ice water in as the blender continues running, until desired consistency is reached. Taste, and adjust seasonings. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week.
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Abby
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