This buddha dressing will make any salad and any buddha bowl insanely delicious!
This oil-free vegan dressing will become a new favorite recipe. You will want to drizzle it on everything from salads to vegan bowls, to sweet potatoes, sauteed greens, and cooked quinoa.

Well, those are some of my favorite ways to use this Buddha Dressing – I expect you will have many others… because this dressing is stellar!
When I hosted polls to find out which dressing from the Salad Bowl chapter of Dreena’s Kind Kitchen you all wanted, it was a close race. The Cilantro Lovers Dressing and Guac Your World Dressing pulled in some votes, but most votes went to this recipe and my oil-free Italian Dressing. Buddha took the win!
I know many of you already love it. The combination of tahini with nooch, apple cider vinegar, a touch of sweetness, and a few other flavor accents give this oil-free dressing wow factor.
This recipe hails from Dreena’s Kind Kitchen, and in the book, I pair it with the Cornucopia Salad (below). It works so beautifully with the kale and sweet potatoes in that dish.
For effortless blending, I use my Blendtec with the twister jar or mini wildside jar. Pick one of these handy jars up, you will love it for dressings, dips, puddings, and more. Use Blendtec discount code: YAY-BLENDTEC for 20% off.
You can watch me demo this salad on WGN-TV from when DKK was launched.

Ultimately, though, this dressing will be enjoyed in many more ways. It will become a go-to, staple dressing in your home – far beyond buddha bowls.
I’d love to hear how YOU most love using this dressing. Share in the comments below.
Want to see the two other recipes that pulled in the most votes? Here are the Awakened Pad Thai and the Potato-Cauliflower Scramble.

Buddha Dressing
Ingredients
- 2-3 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon tamari
- 1 1/2 tablespoons tahini see note
- 1 small clove garlic halved
- 1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt or to taste (see note)
Instructions
- Starting with 2 tablespoons of water, combine all the ingredients in a blender (or in a deep cup if using an immersion blender) and puree until smooth. Taste and add additional seasonings if needed; thin with additional water if desired. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
JoAnn M Lakes says
I just made your dressing this morning for my lunch salad. OMG, where has this salad been hiding? It’s delicious. Thank you for this fantastic topping!!!
Laura says
This is great, Dreena! I’ve been looking for lower-fat dressing recipes, and this is very high flavor with less fat than most recipes I’ve seen. It’s going in my recipe box. 🙂
Dreena says
Wonderful! Thanks Laura
Kathy Perez says
Love this salad dressing and all her recipe’s..I have been vegan for several years I make this dressing every week..Thanks Dreena!
Dreena says
Thanks so much, Kathy!
debbie says
This salad dressing is DELICIOUS! It was great on my salad, but I will be putting it on everything!
Dreena says
excellent, so glad you love it – thanks Debbie!
Mrs E says
Will this be good without nutritional yeast, or do you have a good substitute?
Dreena says
Hi Mrs. E, this is one recipe where you cannot replace the nutritional yeast. It’s a key component in the dressing – sorry!
Brooke Steinfort says
Is their a substitute for tahini? My son is allergic to sesame. We love your book Plant Powered Families – it’s our go to cook book!
Dreena says
Hi Brooke, I’d substitute either raw cashew butter or a combination of raw cashew butter with pumpkin seed butter. Can you use either of those?
Brooke Steinfort says
Thank you so much for your reply! We cannot use cashew butter (he’s allergic) but pumpkin seed butter we can. Would you add a mix of pumpkin and sunflower seeds for a mild taste?
Dreena says
I prefer pumpkin seeds to sunflower in general, but if you like the flavor of sunflower then yes, use a touch of both for more balance. Hope you enjoy it!