Another day, another salad and we aren’t topping rainbow goodness with just any dressing. No way, we are taking taste buds to flavor town with this NEW Vegan Creamy Taco Dressing. This bold saucy deliciousness is all about rich aromatic spices, velvety cashew cream, and tangy vinegar. This taco lover’s dressing is healthy, flavorful, and perfect for drizzling, dunking, dolloping fun making it this week’s awesome Whip It Up Wednesday recipe.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free and no highly processed ingredients.
Hi there, Ameera here!
This week’s Whip It Up Wednesday is our Vegan Creamy Taco Dressing. As most of our readers already know we love anything and everything Southwestern. We also love a great taco salad filled with all those delicious Southwestern flavors, beans, and veggies. What’s not to love!
We fell in love with this dressing with the first bite! It is so gosh darned tasty.
Taco Salad Queen
Mom considers herself the Taco Salad Queen. LOL Taco salads have to be up there near the top of her most favorite foods. She really enjoys them. So do I but, her love for taco salads exceeds the norm. Haha!
Annnnd this delicious dressing totally delivers! A must try for all taco salad lovers.
Southwestern Tester Extraordinaire
My lovely sister-in-law, Katie, is also a Southwestern food lover. They are expecting a new little person any day now so when we visit, we plan to make her some of her favorite WFPB Southwestern foods. We also plan to make this one too for her. We just know she is going to love it!
Southwestern Salad Paradise
This deliciousness was made with the following:
- Greens of choice (we loved romaine in this bowl)
- Black beans (try our Spicy Black Beans for an extra POW of flavor)
- Corn (roasted corn would be so amazing in this bowl)
- Brown rice pasta
- Grated carrots
- Diced red bell pepper
- Tomato wedges
- Oven baked tortilla strips/chips
- Sliced red onions
- Jalapenos (pickled jalapenos)
- Lime wedges
- Chopped fresh cilantro
- Creamy Taco Dressing
Whip it up Wednesday
As you already know, every Wednesday, we feature a quick and easy recipe that can be “whipped up” in 20 minutes or less. This dressing can be made in about 20 minutes, which really helps speed things up in the kitchen. If you boil the cashews (for 10 minutes) or soak your cashews overnight, then you can make it in a couple of minutes.
This dressing also makes a great dipping sauce. We enjoy it with oven baked fries like our Cornmeal Crusted Potatoes. If you haven’t tried those tasty taters, you just gotta! They are beyond yummy and a total crowd pleaser!!!
We hope you enjoy our new Whip It Up Wednesday quick and easy ideas!
If you try this awesome dressing, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
Products Used:
- High-Speed blender
Vegan Creamy Taco Dressing
- Prep Time: 5 Minutes
- Total Time: 5 Minutes (+ cashew soak/boil time)
- Yield: about 2/3 cup 1x
- Category: Sauces
- Cuisine: Southwestern
Description
Another day, another salad and we aren’t topping rainbow goodness with just any dressing. No way, we are taking taste buds to flavor town with this NEW Vegan Creamy Taco Dressing. This bold saucy deliciousness is all about rich aromatic spices, velvety cashew cream, and tangy vinegar. This taco lover’s dressing is healthy, flavorful, and perfect for drizzling, dunking, dolloping fun making it this week’s awesome Whip It Up Wednesday recipe.
Whole Food Plant Based, vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, gluten free and no highly processed ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup raw unsalted cashews
- 2 Tablespoons unsweetened plain plant milk
- 3 Tablespoons water
- 2 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
- ½ teaspoon organic maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¾ teaspoon chili powder
- ¾ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon sea salt (+/- to taste)
Instructions
- Place the cashews in separate bowls and cover with boiling water, allow to set for 19 minutes. After 19 minutes, discard the water. Or boil the cashews in water for 10 minutes.
- Add all the ingredients into a high-speed blender and blend on high for one minute or until creamy and smooth. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Makes: about 2/3 cup
*Storage: Refrigerate, use within 5 days.
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Make this tonight & it came out a little thicker than I anticipated. (Should I have kept a little of the cashew water & added it?) Regardless, it is great. I made bean & brown rice enchiladas tonight, topped with this creamy sauce & some pico de gallo. Delicious! I plan to thin the remainder out with a bit more water & use as salad dressing for the next few days. Thanks for all your amazing recipes & beautiful website. I love that you offer WFPB recipes with no oil.
Hi there Stacia 🙂 Yaaayyy!!We are so glad that you gave this recipe a try and excited to hear that you enjoyed it! Oh my goodness, totally drooling over here on how you use this sauce! That Enchilada dish sounds AMAZING! The cashews do add a thick, velvety texture, which can be easily thinned out with a little more water, vinegar, or a combination of both to fit your desired taste and texture. Thank you so much for your awesome review and kind words about our recipe and site. We truly appreciate you and your support! *hugs* – Ameera and… Read more »
Sorry for my typo in my original post! (Doesn’t that always happen — seeing your mistake after posting??? Lol. Meant to start off with “Made…”.) Just wanted to say thanks again for your super website. It is not only a feast for the culinary senses, it is a feast in a visual sense too (in that the food is lovely & the website photos & design are gorgeous). You truly have a wonderful eye for photography & design. I had been a “bad” vegetarian (too many processed foods, cheese, etc.) for a couple of decades. A horrible cholesterol panel (well… Read more »
Hi there Stacia 🙂 We are so sorry to hear about your cholesterol panel and health concerns, but glad to hear that Whole Food Plant Based Diet has helped so much! Those are incredible results, and we are so happy for you! The WFPB lifestyle is amazing, and we love sharing our recipes with our WFPB community. Thank you so much for all of your kind words, support, and encouragement; we truly appreciate it! It means so much to us to hear how our recipes have helped you along the WFPB journey, and we are so glad to be on… Read more »
Hi Ameera and Robin
I really enjoy your recipes!
I’m really curious to know why you use powdered garlic, onion etc. instead of the real thing for flavouring. I am thinking that using fresh ingredients would be more aligned with a WFPB approach. I would appreciate guidance on how to use the whole food instead in your recipes.
Thanks! Char
Hi there Char 🙂 Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We are so glad to hear that you are enjoying our recipes. Unfortunately, this is an area where a lot of people get confused and mistakenly misinterpret the WFPB diet. The WFPB diet consists of eating vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains in a variety of forms including raw, cooked, dried, etc. Many of the WFPB Doctors use powdered and dehydrated spices and herbs. And Dr. Greger actually has spices as part of his daily dozen. Spices are extremely rich in antioxidants, which is why… Read more »
Powdered just means that it has been blended into a fine powder. It is still a whole food, as nothing has been removed. Therefore it’s definitely still part of a WFPB diet. You could always replace garlic powder with fresh garlic. It’s hard to give an exact measurement anyway, because garlic cloves vary in size, so you can always adjust it to your liking, or start out with just 1 clove, possibly adding more.
Can cannelini beans be used instead of cashews? This looks so great.
Hi there Janet 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us! We have not tried using cannellini beans, but you could definitely give it a try. Keep in mind that the flavor will be a little different – may need to adjust spices, vinegars, etc. If you give it a try, we’d love to know how it turns out! Thank you so much.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Did you try the cannellini beans?
I use macadamia nuts for any cashew recipes (allergy?) it turned out fine.
Hi there Jamie 🙂
Thank you so much for your awesome feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Made this tonight and it’s fantastic! You ladies have such a great palette where you balance flavors well! Your photos and recipes are amazing! Thanks for the amazing work, bringing healthy recipes to your followers and for sharing with all of us lucky eaters! ?
Hi there Lisa 🙂
Yaaaaay! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this dressing. Thank you so much for your kind words! We truly appreciate your awesome feedback, support, and encouragement!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This was Amazing!! So delicious. I’m not vegan but gluten sensitive, and I just needed a yummy sauce for my chicken tacos. I didn’t have all ingredients so I used sesame seeds, and coffee cream for the milk and diluted it a bit with water and added more lime juice as it was a bit too spicy and thick. But, Oh my gosh! I was so impressed with this recipe. It was sooo good!!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi there Mia 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so excited to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your adjustments, awesome feedback, and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
I love your recipes! I’ve tried many and they never disappoint. A few are on my weekly rotation! Thank you for sharing such delicious recipes!
Hi there Roberta 🙂
Awesome!!! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoying our recipe and have some on your weekly rotation – Yay!! We appreciate your support, sharing your awesome feedback, and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Sooo soo good! I could guzzle this stuff! Thank you gals! I shared with my Momma!
Hi there Jennifer 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are super excited that you and your mom enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate your awesome feedback and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
We just tried this for the first time and WOW!!! I wanna put this stuff on everything now. Thanks for the lovely recipe 🙂
Hi there Amanda 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your awesome feedback with us and for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
One of my favourite dressings, thank you!
Hi there Angel 🙂
Yaaaay!!! We are so thrilled that this is one of your favorite dressings. Thank you so much for your awesome feedback!
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
This dressing is amazing! Does wonders for adding new depth to a what would normally be a rather plain old bowl of rice, kale, and beans. My whole family enjoyed it. Thank you!
Hi there Karomar 🙂
Woo hoo!!! We are so glad to hear that you and your whole family enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for sharing wonderful feedback with us! We truly appreciate you taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
What happened to your other taco salad dressing recipe? The one with plum vinegar and miso? I love the stuff and went to make it and could no longer find the recipe…
Hi there Rachelle 🙂
Thank you so much for reaching out to us. We have several others, do you mean our Chipotle Ranch Dressing or our No Oil Southwestern Dressing?
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Holy Moly! This is AMAZING!
Hi there Lynn 🙂
YAYYYYY!!!! We are so thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful review of this recipe! We appreciate you taking time to write.
-Ameera and Robin
This was yummy!!! Plenty flavor and so simple! Thanks for sharing!
Hi there Sal 🙂
Woo hoo! We are SUPER excited you enjoyed this recipe. We appreciate you sharing your wonderful review. Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
-Ameera and Robin 🙂
Fantastic! I like to switch up types of salads for a client I chef for & always try a new recipe before making it for someone else. My husband and I LOVE this and so did my client. I do a row of homemade sour cream, salsa & this. Over romaine, black beans, corn, and a taco “meat” mix of lentils, quinoa & spices. Then of course just mix it all up & coat every piece. Heavenly!! Oh, and to cut the fat & omega 6, I do half cashews, half white beans. Just perfect! Thank you!
Hi there Laura,
WOOO HOOOO!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and your and your clients enjoyed this recipe. Love how you switched it up. Thank you for taking time to leave us an awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
Oooh, this looks good. I’m thinking this could work as a cole slaw dressing to accompany plant-based tamales, yes? I know you all love cole slaw!
Hi there Cindy,
Sounds DELISH! Thank you so much!
-Ameera and Robin
Just made this and it tastes awesome! Will have to increase 4-5 times to have enough to use on several dishes. I probably lost at least a teaspoon in the Vitamix, even after using a spatula to try to get every bit! Realize a teaspoon sounds cinchy, but with such a small amount in the single recipe, it all counts! I’ll know to multiply amounts next time. Regardless, thanks for the recipe. Will be trying more things from your site. 🙂
Hi there Naydeen,
WOOO HOOOO!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin
This was so delicious and quick and easy, the entire family loved it. Thank you!
Hi there Heather,
WOO HOOO!!! We are thrilled that you gave this recipe a try and your entire family loved it. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin
I know this is an older recipe, but I just wanted to say that I make this regularly, at least 2x per month. I love using as a dressing on mexican/Fiesta salad and rice, and sometimes will even drizzle it on top of tacos!
Hi there Megan,
YAYYY!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe and make it regularly. Thank you so much for the awesome review.
-Ameera and Robin
I made vegan ground beef for tacos last night and lathered the tacos with your Vegan Creamy Taco Dressing. What a game changer. The dressing was spot on and my family loved it. Two thumbs up 👍👍
Hi there Fraz,
YAYYYY!! We are so happy that you enjoyed this Taco Dressing! Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a fantastic review.
-Ameera and Robin
I’ve made this twice in the last week – screwed up on a garbanzo-tomato-artichoke-tabouli salad recipe by buying a bunch of cilantro instead of a bunch of parsley, so I decided to make it southwestern instead, added some corn and black olives, and used this recipe for the dressing. It’s GREAT, my new favorite dish!
Hi there Susan,
WOOOO HOOOO!!! We are thrilled that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you so much for taking time to leave us a great review.
-Ameera and Robin