This Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Habanero Dressing is an easy and healthy recipe made with only 5 clean, real food ingredients. It's a versatile plant-based recipe that's ready to enjoy in less than 5 minutes!
Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Habanero Dressing
Here's why this recipe works - my top 3 reasons:
- Versatile plant-based recipe
- Ready in less than 5 minutes
- Made with only 5 clean, real food ingredients
Versatile Plant-Based Recipe
There are so many things you can use this plant-based dressing recipe with.
For example, as a salad dressing, dip for veggies, drizzled over steamed broccoli or mixed with quinoa.
I've even made a Habanero Kale Chip recipe with it too!
Ready In Less Than 5 Minutes
You'll love how you can make this recipe in less than 5 minutes.
Simply add all the ingredients to a Vitamix and blend until it's creamy and smooth.
Made With Only 5 Clean, Real Food Ingredients
If you find yourself with a couple of habanero peppers and don't know what to do with them, this is the perfect recipe because you probably have all the other ingredients on hand.
For example, cashews, lemon juice, water, and Himalayan pink salt.
That's it!
Only 5 clean, real food ingredients and the recipe is plant-based, raw, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, paleo-friendly and Medical Medium compliant.
Karielyn's Expert Tips + Ingredient Substitutions for Creamy Habanero Dressing
Here are some expert tips to make this recipe perfectly:
Habanero Peppers. Important --> Habanero peppers are VERY hot. You will need to take care when handling them by using gloves and washing your hands thoroughly. In addition, if you don't like hot foods, this may not be a good recipe to try. If you have never eaten a habanero pepper, they are ~very~ hot (hotter than a jalapeno pepper) and I would only use one pepper to start out with. If you haven eaten habanero peppers before and like spicy foods, use either 1 or 2 depending on your preference. I use two when I make it.
Lemon Juice. Using freshly squeezed lemon juice will give you the best flavor and nutrients because it hasn't been pasteurized but you can also use organic store-bought lemon juice.
Cashews. When you use a Vitamix, you will get a smooth and creamy texture from the cashews without soaking them. However, if you want the dressing to be extra smooth or if you will be using a regular blender, you may want to soak the cashews in advance.
- Place the cashews in a bowl filled with filtered/purified water for at least (1) hour, or until they are soft.
- Drain and rinse the cashews before adding them to your blender.
Water. I use a Berkey water filter for all my recipes, soaking nuts, etc. instead of tap water. If you are trying to avoid contaminants in tap water, please take a look at a Berkey.
Himalayan Pink Salt. This is my salt of preference, however, you can always substitute with sea salt.
Want More Healthy Plant-Based Dressing Recipes?
Check out these:
- Healthy Honey Mustard Dressing
- Watermelon Vinaigrette
- Creamy Jalapeno Dressing
- or my CLEAN EATING Cookbook with 75+ plant-based vegan + gluten-free recipes made with clean, real food ingredients just like this one that you will love!
Gluten-Free Vegan Creamy Habanero Dressing
Equipment
- Vitamix or high-speed blender
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup organic raw cashews
- 1 ¼ cup water (filtered/purified) (filtered/purified)
- ¼ cup organic lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
- 2 habanero peppers
- ½ teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
Prepare the habanero pepper:
- IMPORTANT: Habanero peppers are extremely hot. Please take care when handling them by using gloves and washing hands thoroughly.
- Cut the stems off the habanero peppers.
Prepare the dressing:
- Add all ingredients for the dressing to a Vitamix, or high-speed blender, and blend until creamy and smooth.
- Taste and adjust the habanero peppers and salt to your preference.
- Store in an air-tight BPA-free container in the refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
- Place the cashews in a bowl filled with filtered/purified water for at least (1) hour, or until they are soft.
- Drain and rinse the cashews before adding them to your blender.
Nutrition Information
Copyright Notice
The instructions, notes, and photographs for this recipe by Karielyn Tillman of The Healthy Family and Home™ website are copyrighted material. This copyrighted work is protected and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International License and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and cannot be legally used without my written permission.
Jennifer says
How big is a serving? It says makes one or two but I must have missed serving size somewhere.
Thanks
Karielyn says
Hi there Jennifer! Depending on how much dressing you like to add to your salad, you will have approximately 1 1/2 to 2 cups of dressing to use. I tend to go heavy when I use my salad dressings since they are organic, healthy and homemade. I use a generous serving size...like sometimes a cup or more because I will eat it with a ~huge~ salad. That's what I was basing the 2 serving estimate on, but you could definitely get more servings if you use it on a smaller salad or don't like to add a lot of dressing on your salads.
Thanks for the question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
suzi says
seeds come out or seeds stay in? i havent used habaneros before 🙂
Karielyn says
Hi there Suzi! I use the entire habanero pepper, with the seeds. I just cut the top off with stem.
Be careful though, you may want to use gloves and/or don't touch your eyes, etc after handling the peppers because they are extremely hot and can burn. Also, if you've never used habanero peppers, maybe just start with one to make sure it's not too hot for you before adding a second one.
Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂