My Top 3 Favorite (and easiest!) Raw Vegan Dressings
Ok; dressings--such an important topic! The dressing can absolutely MAKE or BREAK a salad. Am I right?
And as much as I wish this wasn't true, it's truly so difficult to find good, clean, oil free bottled dressings. I've looked far and wide, they hardly exist. I have recently found some good dressings at Trader Joe's (their brand), so that's encouraging to see! But if you don't have a Trader Joe's near you, and you're not wanting to spend quite a bit of money on pre-made bottled dressings let me help you out.
Here are my top 3 favorite raw vegan dressings I've been making nearly every night of the week for years. I never get tired of them! *Note: of course you do not need to be raw or even vegan to enjoy these dressings. Pour them over whatever salad, noodle dish, wrap, sandwich, etc and it will totally elevate your dish!
Ok, the dressings:
All 3 of these dressings require nothing more than a bowl and fork to whisk them up. In fact, if I'm really in a rush sometimes I just drizzle all of the ingredients directly on my salad--takes 2 minutes tops!
Dressing #1: 2 TBSP Tahini, 2 TBSP lime juice, 1 TBSP coconut aminos, 1 TBSP maple syrup (This is my all time favorite dressing. I truly make it at least 5 nights a week, and have been doing so for at least 2 years now. LOVE IT!)
Dressing #2: 2 TBSP almond butter, 1 TBSP agave, 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar, 2 tsp miso (add water to thin out to your preferred consistency).
Dressing #3: 1/2 an avocado (about 1/2 a cup worth), 1 TBSP coconut aminos, 2 TBSP lemon juice, 2 tsp maple syrup
SO easy! To add some variety to these dressings simply add in various spices. So for instance if I'm feeling spicy I'll add a teaspoon or two of chili powder and cayenne to the first dressing. If I'm wanting something more Mexican inspired I'll add a teaspoon of cumin to the third dressing.
I make a whole host of new flavors using these 3 dressings as the base, and simply adding or subtracting different spices. The sky is the limit as far as variety! Add some fresh cilantro to dressing #2, or a handful of fresh basil in dressing #3. I could think of a million different ways to take these 3 dressings and to change them up with different spices and herbs so that I'd never become bored with them.
Making your own dressing really is so easy. There are just 4 components to a great dressing: sweet, fatty, salty, and an acid. Every time I make a dressing I make sure to hit all 4 flavor profiles. So here are some examples:
For SWEET: dates, maple syrup, agave, honey (if you eat that :)), mango, tomatoes
For FATTY: avocado, tahini, almond butter, peanut butter, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds
For SALTY: coconut aminos, celery, sundried tomatoes, miso, or salt...obviously. ha.
For ACID: lemon, lime, apple cider vinegar
Take one item from each of those 4 categories and you'll have a perfectly balanced dressing. Like I said before, most of the time I just whisk my dressings up in a bowl. But if you're using solids like hemp seeds or celery you'll need to blend your dressing up. :)
I hope this gives you a lot of inspiration and motivation to make your own homemade dressings. The world is changing fast, and there are increasingly more and more healthier options available! But at this point I think we're lagging with healthy, quality dressings. So until then--lets make them ourselves! Batch prep for the week if that helps you even more. :)
Rooting for you and your best health ever!
~Olivia