This Vegan Green Goddess Dressing is creamy, fresh, tangy, and packed with vibrant herbs. It adds delicious sauciness to our Green Goddess Tacos and Green Goddess Salad.
Recipe Quick Look: Green Goddess Dressing
🕗 Prep Time: 10 minutes
🍽️ Servings: 4
⭐ Difficulty: Easy – soften cashews, then blend everything in a mini bullet blender and enjoy
🌿Diet: 100% whole food, plant-based vegan, gluten-free, oil-free, soy-free, Starch Solution recipe
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Why You'll Love This Green Goddess Dressing
- Creamy without dairy
- No added oil
- Fresh and flavor-packed
- Quick and easy
- Made with simple ingredients
- Use on salads, tacos, grain bowls, wraps, sandwiches, pizzas, and as a dip
Traditionally, this dressing includes ingredients like mayonnaise or sour cream, but our vegan version offers the same creamy satisfaction without any dairy or added oils. Raw cashews create a silky texture, while parsley, cilantro, garlic, green onion, and lemon deliver bold flavor in every spoonful. This versatile dressing can transform your meals in 10 minutes.
So, if you ever questioned this dressing because of its green status, you'll be pleasantly surprised at just how awesome this easy vegan Green Goddess Dressing is!
Jump to:
- Recipe Quick Look: Green Goddess Dressing
- Summarize and Save with AI
- Why You'll Love This Green Goddess Dressing
- Health Benefits
- Key Ingredients
- Substitutions and Variations
- How to Prepare
- Expert Tips
- Serving Suggestions
- Green Goddess Dressing Recipe FAQs
- More Popular Dressings to Try
- Rate and Review
- Vegan Green Goddess Dressing
Health Benefits
- Cashews provide healthy unsaturated fats, protein, and a variety of vitamins and minerals.
- Parsley and cilantro contribute vitamins, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds.
- Coconut aminos provide savory flavor and gentle saltiness.
Key Ingredients
- Raw cashews: form the creamy base. They give the dressing a rich, smooth, and velvety texture without added oil. Use raw, unsalted cashews for the most neutral flavor.
- Fresh Parsley: provides a clean, slightly peppery flavor and helps create the dressing’s beautiful green color.
- Fresh Cilantro: brings citrusy, herbaceous notes that make the dressing taste especially fresh and lively.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts is in the recipe card below.
Substitutions and Variations
- To make this nut-free, swap cashews for silken tofu and use less water.
- Not a cilantro fan? Swap with fresh basil or additional parsley.
- If you don't have coconut aminos, you can use low-sodium tamari if you're not avoiding soy.
- Make it spicy by adding a small piece of jalapeño or a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
How to Prepare
Step 1
Either soak cashews in water overnight, or simmer them in a pot for 2 to 3 minutes to soften. Drain and set aside.
Step 2
Add all ingredients, including softened and drained cashews, to a mini bullet blender cup.
Step 3
Blend until smooth and creamy (about 30 seconds). Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- Use raw cashews: Roasted or salted cashews will change the flavor and may make the dressing taste heavy or overly salty.
- Do not skip softening the cashews: Properly softened cashews blend more easily and produce a smoother dressing.
- Pack the herbs when measuring: Loosely measured herbs may produce a pale dressing with less flavor.
- Use freshly squeezed lemon juice: Bottled lemon juice can taste flat or bitter compared with fresh juice.
- Choose the right blender: A mini bullet blender works especially well because the recipe makes a relatively small batch.
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Serving Suggestions
- Enjoy this green goddess dressing on our fast and easy buddha bowl, copycat sofritas bowl, and black bean buddha bowl.
- It also pairs wonderfully with many salads, including the green goddess salad, southwestern salad, southwestern salad in a jar, and easy rainbow salad.
- Drizzle this sauce over our no-cheese veggie pizza or as a dip for our healthy girl dinner.
- This sauce also goes on our green goddess tacos, vegan black bean tacos, and refried bean tostadas.
Green Goddess Dressing Recipe FAQs
Green Goddess dressing was created at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in 1923. Its name is generally traced to actor George Arliss and the play The Green Goddess, which inspired the hotel’s chef to create a special dressing in his honor, according to KQED’s history of the recipe.
Traditional Green Goddess dressing is commonly made with mayonnaise, sour cream, fresh herbs, lemon, and anchovies. This vegan version replaces the dairy, eggs, anchovies, and added oil with raw cashews, parsley, cilantro, green onion, garlic, coconut aminos, and lemon juice.
A healthy salad drenched in an unhealthy dressing is counterproductive. Most salad dressings are packed with oil, sugar, artificial preservatives, and other highly processed ingredients, making them high in calories and low in nutritional value. What's fantastic about this recipe is that it is made with whole plant-based ingredients and complements any nutrient-dense salad made with leafy greens, other vegetables, whole grains, and legumes (beans, peas, lentils).
Store unused green goddess dressing in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Give it a good stir or shake before using, as ingredients may separate. Freezing is not recommended.
This flavor-packed dressing proves that a homemade oil-free dressing can still be rich, creamy, and delicious. Fresh herbs, lemon, garlic, coconut aminos, and cashews come together in minutes to create a versatile sauce you can use throughout the week.
More Popular Dressings to Try
Rate and Review
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Vegan Green Goddess Dressing
Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup raw cashews, soaked (or gently boiled) and drained
- ½ cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped and packed
- ½ cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped and packed
- 1 green onion, both green and white parts, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp coconut aminos
- 2 ½ Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
- ⅓ cup water
Instructions
- Start by preparing the cashews for blending. You can soak them in water overnight to soften them. Or, for a faster method, add the cashews to a small pot of water and let it come to a gentle boil for about 3 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- Add all ingredients to a mini bullet blender and blend until smooth and creamy (about 30 seconds). Enjoy!
Notes
- What to put this sauce on: This sauce goes beautifully on our chickpea buddha bowl, green goddess tacos, green goddess salad, and southwestern salad in a jar, a meal prep favorite.
- Leftovers/meal prep: Store unused green goddess dressing in an airtight container (like a mason jar) in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Give it a good stir or shake before using as ingredients may separate.
Deborah Gall says
This dressing tastes fresh and bright and livens up anything I put it on. It is easy and so versatile. It is a mainstay in our refrigerator. I love the flexibility of the recipe too. I love being able to substitute basil for the cilantro for a tasty variation.
Sacha says
What can I use instead of cashews due to allergy
Gigi & Sersie says
Hi Sacha - white beans like cannellini and butter beans work too, though they’ll slightly alter the flavor and texture.
Nicole says
I love this dressing/sauce; it is absolutely amazing! The recipe is easily versatile enough to use with other herbs, so I don’t waste things I have on hand. Most importantly though, it sparks up everything I put it on or in!!!
One of my favorite easy lunch uses has become adding this to precooked beans and freshly-wilted greens along with the steaming water to make a quick stew. I ladle it over some whole grains and top with fresh onion… so simple; hearty and delicious.
Thank you so much for the effort you have put into this project - your site has become my newest WFPB recipe resource!
Gigi & Sersie says
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, Nicole. We're so glad you love this dressing. We're also super grateful to hear our website has become a resource for you.❤️
Lillian Hughes says
If I do not like cilantro, can't I just double the parsley?
Gigi & Sersie says
Yes, absolutely. You can also throw in some fresh basil if you want. 🙂
Geri says
delicious and goes on so many things
Pauline says
This green goddess dressing is amazing with various salads.
Gigi & Sersie says
Thanks for your feedback, Pauline. We're so glad you like it. Yes, the green goddess is so versatile.
Marsha says
The Green Goddess Dressing is SO tasty, and very easy to make. It's my new favorite dressing, and I'm using it on practically everything.
Gigi & Sersie says
Yay! That's wonderful Marsha! We're so glad you're enjoying it on so many things.