Bring salads to life with this fresh, flavorful and creamy Vegan Green Goddess Dressing! Typically full of mayonnaise, sour cream or yogurt, this version is totally dairy free and nourishing.
Green Goddess Dressing originated from San Francisco in 1923. Apparently a hotel’s chef created it to pay tribute to an actor and his play, The Green Goddess. The dressing became a bit hit! The dressing originally contained scallions, tarragon, parsley, mayonnaise and even anchovies.
My version varies quite a bit from the original, but it remains incredibly creamy thanks to raw cashews and a high powered blender! No need for mayonnaise.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
What does Green Goddess Dressing taste like?
This dressing is smooth, creamy and bursting with fresh flavor. It has hints of lime, is slightly sweet and full of freshness from the cilantro, parsley and green onions. It might just be my favorite salad dressing ever!
How do you make Vegan Green Goddess Dressing?
First, you must soak your cashews. This is an important step for making the dressing as creamy and smooth as possible! This is what I do: Heat up water in my tea kettle and add the cashews to a large measuring up (1 1/2 cups.) Once the water is boiling, I pour it over the cashews, and let them soak for about 5 minutes.
Drain and rinse the cashews, and add them to a high powered blender such as a Vitamix, along with the water, lime juice, maple syrup and salt. Blend until very smooth.
A good blender is essential for nut based dressings and sauces. A regular blender just won’t do the trick here, unfortunately! A Vitamix is the #1 thing I recommend to people who want to eat a vegan or plant based diet, because then you can easily whip up creamy and healthy salad dressings, sauces, soups and make delicious smoothies and even fruit based ice cream!
See how smooth?
Now add the fresh cilantro, parsley and green onions to the blender. Push them down into the blender, and pulse or blend until combined. I prefer to pulse if your blender has the option, so that some little flakes of green remain. But if you can’t do that, don’t worry! It’s fine if it comes out a smooth green.
What goes well with Green Goddess Dressing?
I love this dressing on a big salad with romaine, red peppers, corn and chickpeas or black beans. It would also be good over chopped kale with various vegetables.
It makes a delicious dip for vegetable sticks, such as carrots, cucumbers, sweet peppers and broccoli. Or drizzle over roasted/steamed vegetables!
Green Goddess Dressing also makes a tasty addition to a simple buddha bowl, with brown rice or quinoa, beans and vegetables. YUM.
Want more tasty vegan salad dressings?
Vegan Green Goddess Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup cilantro, lightly packed
- 1/2 cup parsley, lightly packed
- 2 green onions, chopped
Instructions
- You will need a high powered blender such as a Vitamix for best results. First, soak the cashews in very hot water for at least 5 minutes, longer if desired. I do this by boiling water in my tea kettle and pouring it over the cashews in a bowl or measuring cup.
- Drain and rinse the soaked cashews, then add them to your blender, along with the water, lime juice, maple syrup and salt. Blend until very smooth.
- Add the fresh herbs and onions to the blender and pulse or blend to combine. I prefer to pulse it so you can still see some tiny flakes of the herbs, but you could blend it until very smooth as well.
- You can serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 5 days. It may thicken a bit in the refrigerator, so thin it with water if desired. The dressing is perfect on salads, and also a good dip for vegetables. Or drizzle over roasted vegetables. Enjoy!
Notes
- Dressing will last for 5 days up to 1 week in the fridge.
This is crazy good!! I used 1 TBSP of the Trader Joe’s Green Goddess seasoning instead of the parsley, onions, and cilantro. I’m definitely adding as a salad/grain bowl dressing regular.
So glad you loved the salad dressing, Jill! I appreciate you sharing your review and feedback!
I’ve loved your other dressings but this one is the bomb! I’ve never had green goddess dressing before so I made this one exactly as the recipe states. I’ll never change a thing and this is my new go to for the salad I make for lunch every day. Thanks again, Nora!
I’m so glad you love it! I love this dressing as well! Thank you for taking time to share your amazing review and comments!
At first I wasn’t sure, I thought it was alittle too sweet for my taste, I added a little more salt and served this on my version of a green goddess grain bowl. It was delicous. My family raved about it and my daughter has used up the leftover dressing in salads and vegan sandwhiches. I call that a win!!
I’m so glad that you all love the dressing! I appreciate you taking your time to share your review and comments!
Delish!!!
Thank you, Sharon!
Do you think blending a date for sweetness will work instead of maple syrup??
Yes, or you could even just leave it out entirely.
I just began my plant based journey 3 weeks ago and gave up on salad bc I couldn’t find a dressing I could stomach. Until now. You saved the day. I made this today and it was soooooo good. Thank you for sharing your secrets!!
You’re so welcome!!
What a great recipe! Super easy to whip up, and I know it’ll elevate tonight’s dinner salad. We did omit the maple syrup and it still tastes great. I’m glad to have a Green Goddess Salad Dressing without mayonnaise. Thank you, Nora!
You’re so welcome!!
I’ve been wanting to try this recipe for awhile so I whipped a batch up at the beginning of the week. I have been sort of all cilantroed out so I substituted dill .  OMG. I have been eating this all week. In salads, as a dip for roasted veggies, I even made a potato salad with it instead of vegan mayo. I HIGHLY recommend this dressing!! Trying it with cilantro next time. Thank you so much for this recipe!!Â
Thanks so much for the great comment!
I made this dressing. It came out well. I didn’t have Maple syrup so I used honey. Thank you
very much.
Hi there! Just made this and I love it, but it’s just me and there’s no way I’ll be able to use all of it within a week. Do you think it would freeze okay?
Sure, you could freeze it. Thanks!
Delightfully yummy. My kids and I just whipped up a batch in the Vitamax. I didn’t think I liked Green Goddess Dressing, but I’ve reconsidered after tasting this. I will confess that I didn’t make this quite as written: I used 1/2 cup of water after soaking the cashews overnight, and I omitted the maple syrup. Thanks for all of the great recipes.
Love It! I have a Vitamix as well and it sure makes eating WFPB so much easier. This dressing is amazing! I saw celery mentioned in one spot so I added one stalk along with the cilantro and green onions and it’s perfection for me!
Thank you!
You’re welcome! I love my Vitamix. Couldn’t cook without it. 🙂
Do you have a nut free version?
Sorry, I don’t for this recipe! You could likely use tofu instead of cashews, and much less water, but I haven’t tried it. Perhaps using vegan mayo would work as well, but again I haven’t tried it.
thank you.. i’ll give the vegan mayo a try.
Loved this recipe. It came together quickly with herbs from the garden and was perfect. The only problem is that I just want to eat spoonfuls of the dressing!
So glad you enjoyed it! I can never get enough of this dressing either!
What blender are you using? Mine didn’t come out the way it looks on these pictures.
Thanks,
Jeremiah
I use a Vitamix. You need a high powered blender in order to get it really smooth. A regular blender will probably result in a grainy or chunky dressing unfortunately!
So another comment from me! I’ve made a number of your recipes in the last few days. Liked this dressing, came together easily and I think it will be a standard around the house.
Hi!
How long will this dressing keep for if it is refrigerated?
Can’t wait to make it!
Hi there! I’d say 5 days or up to 1 week. It may thicken up a little, just whisk in a little water if it does. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
What about a small food processor? Would that do the trick?
It might work okay but it will likely not be quite as smooth as it would be with a good blender, there may be a bit of a grainy texture to the dressing. I would suggest soaking the cashews longer, even overnight and then using a food processor. That will help! Thank you!
Does this freeze well?Â
I haven’t tried freezing this dressing, but usually cashew based sauces freeze quite well. Just whisk it well once thawed to get it smooth again.
Recipes need calorie and nutritional breakdown for special diet issues
The estimated calories are listed, but if you need very specific information I suggest using a tool such as Cronometer. I can not guarantee any nutritional information here, I simply provide recipes for the community! 🙂
I LOVE having a good dressing, and this one is great!! I just got a Vitamix for Christmas, and now making delicious Vegan recipes—many of them yours 🙂 — has been so much easier. Thank you for another great addition to the rotation!!