Name: Vegan Caesar Salad with Coconut Bacon
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 1 cup vegan mayo; 1/4 cup capers; 4 cloves garlic; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 tbsp nutritional yeast; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 1/4 tsp flaked kosher salt; 1/8th tsp ground black pepper; 2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut (I could only find this at bulk barn); 1/4 cup maple syrup; 1/4 cup soy sauce; 3 tbsp liquid smoke; 1 tbsp olive oil

Vegan Caesar Salad with Creamy Garlic Caper Dressing & Coconut Bacon

7/22/2026

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Recipe Difficulty: Easy - Medium (Read post for tips for success)

Recipe Notes

I get a strong craving for this salad every so often, and it doesn't go away until I make it.
As one of the more indulgent salads in my repertoire, it's not the type of thing I want to eat everyday (although I do eat it daily for about a week until I run out!)

I like lots of dressing, an obscene amount of coconut bacon, and a good amount of vegan cheese. While classic Caesar salad uses romaine lettuce for it's base, I always prefer a combination of greens. To my romaine I will add kale and or mixed greens--then, I can't resist adding crunchy vegetables. Broccoli, celery, cauliflower are all good additions in my mind.

To make it a meal I often add chickpeas, cooked pasta, and or crispy vegan chick'n tenders sliced over top.

Caesar Dressing

This Caesar dressing could perhaps be called a "creamy, garlicky caper dressing." It's more Caesar-inspired than an attempt to perfectly replicate a traditional Caesar dressing, but it's what I've come to crave when I want a Caesar salad. It's made by blending vegan mayo (I use Hellmann's vegan mayo), capers, red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, and pepper. So simple. It's super garlicky, which is exactly how I like it, with a bright, punchy flavour from the capers and red wine vinegar. For me, it's perfect.

The dressing will be very thick, but don't worry. Just toss your salad really well to distribute it evenly. It will keep in a container in the fridge for quite a while, and I always double the recipe.

Coconut Bacon

I love this recipe for coconut bacon. It's smoky, sweet and adds great texture. It's fair to say that it's the most challenging part of the entire recipe. The steps are simple, but it takes patience and your undivided attention. I've made this recipe dozens of times, and have outlined everything I can think of. **The coconut bacon recipe is adapted from Avant Garde Vegan.

Shredded Coconut
This recipe calls for unsweetened shredded coconut. Where I live, I have only ever seen the large flaked variety at Sobeys. You want large flaked shredded coconut. I haven't tried this recipe with the finer types but I suspect they would burn more easily. My go to source is the Bulk Barn, I buy it in bulk specifically for this recipe.

Prep
The coconut bacon is sweet, smoky, salty. I don't hold back while adding it to my salad. I like lots, the salad wants lots. If you think you think you have added enough, you probably didn't. To prep the coconut bacon, you just toss all of the ingredients together in a bowl, spread it onto a lined baking sheet, and then bake. When it cools the bacon will crisp up.

Cooking Tips
To bake the coconut bacon, you need to keep it in an even thin layer but also keep the shape tight together if that makes sense. No straggly bits of coconut hanging out by their lonesome along the edges. The edges burn easily so compacting it as much as possible without being a thick layer is the idea. When I toss it a few times while it's cooking, I form it back into this shape. Again, this is to prevent the pieces from burning along the edges, although the edges will darken first.

Taste
I want to mention that when I taste the coconut bacon right off the pan I don't love it. Not much of an endorsement, I realize, but my final judgement of this coconut bacon isn't from just eating it alone. I love it when it is mixed into this salad. I also often make a double batch for sprinkling in other random salads, too. The recipe calls for a ridiculous amount of liquid smoke, I am aware. It is potent, but again, mixed into the salad it just works for me.

Coconut Bacon Step by Step Instructions

1. Combine unsweetened flaked coconut, liquid smoke, soy sauce, maple syrup, and extra virgin olive oil in a bowl until evenly mixed.

2. Add to a parchment lined baking sheet. Spread in an even layer, making sure it's in a compact shape, you don't want bits of coconut bacon hanging out on their own along the edges as they will burn.

3. Bake in a 375 F oven for about 20 minutes. Stirring at 10 minutes, then 2 - 3 times as needed throughout the last 10 minutes keeping a watchful eye.

4. The coconut bacon is finished when it is deeply golden brown. It may burn a very tiny bit around the edges, and it crisps up as it cools. I am including a photo of bacon I burnt compared to a good batch. It can go from perfect to overcooked in a blink.

Croutons

I don't typically bother with croutons, but if this salad just doesn't feel right to you without them, go for it! I like using sourdough bread when I make croutons. Tear the bread into roughly equal-sized, bite-sized pieces, then toss with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake at 350°F, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crispy.

If your croutons taste more like toast than croutons, you probably didn't add enough oil. It happened to me once. I just drizzled a little more oil over my toast-like croutons when they came out of the oven, and they seemed to absorb the oil and tasted great in the end. Not exactly a tried-and-true method, but I'd do it again.

Of course, you can always buy croutons at the store. I have yet to find vegan ones at the grocery store near me, though.

Cheese

I find that not all vegan cheeses are created equal, and some work much better in this salad than others. A vegan parmesan is an obvious choice, but I've also used certain brands of shredded vegan mozzarella that, to me, are actually more reminiscent of parmesan than mozzarella. That's what I'm looking for here. Some vegan mozzarella is convincingly mozzarella-like, and that's not what I want in this salad.

A few brands that work well are Emborg, Violife, and President's Choice. Parmela Creamery's shredded mozzarella, for example, is delicious, but it's too convincingly mozzarella-like for this recipe. I love it on pizza and in other applications, just not here.

The bottom line? Look for a firm, thin vegan shred with a more parmesan-like flavour and texture. I'd also love to try making my own vegan parmesan topping sometime, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Lettuce and Other Add Ins

You can use straight up chopped romaine for classic Caesar salad vibes, but I personally really do like to add in other veggies. Shredded kale, finely chopped broccoli, celery, even tomatoes.

Beyond veggies, I often add chickpeas or tofu for protein, and if I want the salad to be really hearty, fusilli pasta tossed into the mix is delicious.