Made in 30 minutes, this Vegan Southwest Salad is an easy lunch or weeknight meal. It has a smoky chipotle dressing to tie it all together.
This Vegan Southwest Salad has all the flavors of the Southwest in the form of a salad. Made with a creamy cashew chipotle dressing that ties it together.
If you've never had chipotle in adobo sauce, they are smoked jalapeños in a spiced tomato sauce. Chipotle peppers are hotter than jalapeños because they are from fully-ripened jalapeños. As chiles ripen, the capsaicin (which causes their heat) increases.
The inspiration for this recipe came from my Black Bean Jicama Tacos with Chipotle Cream.
This vegan salad is an easy vegan lunch or weeknight meal. It is packed with flavor, and it is healthy and satisfying.
If you like roasted vegetables with a Southwestern flair, check out my Southwestern Buddha Bowl. It has roasted sweet potato, red bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion.
Another salad to try is my Vegan Avocado Berry Salad recipe.
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❤️ Why You'll Love It
- It's a hearty meal.
- It's quick and easy.
- Made with a chipotle dressing, it is smoky and spicy.
🧾 Ingredients
Chipotle Dressing
- Raw cashews: Create a creamy base. Roasted cashews will not work. You could use raw sunflower seeds or raw macadamia nuts.
- Chipotle in adobo and adobo sauce: Adds a smoky spicy flavor.
- Sriracha sauce: Adds a spicy flavor.
- Lime juice: You could also use lemon juice.
- Vegan sour cream: Adds a creamy tangy flavor and mellows out the spicy flavors. If you want to leave it out, use less chipotle or sriracha sauce.
- Water
- Olive oil: Adds a creamy texture. You could leave it out.
Southwest Salad
- Red bell pepper: Adds a sweet flavor.
- Black beans: I like to use spicy black beans, but not all grocery stores carry them. You could use regular black beans instead.
- Corn or yellow bell pepper: When I first published this recipe I used corn but found out years later that I have a corn intolerance, so I used yellow bell pepper when I republished this recipe. You could use either one.
- Cilantro: I love the flavor of cilantro, but I know for some people it tastes like soap. You can leave it off.
- Cherry tomatoes: Adds a fresh, sweet, juicy flavor. You can use plum tomatoes, grape tomatoes, or whatever variety you like.
- Avocado: Adds a creamy texture.
- Onion: Adds a pungent flavor. You could also use red onion or green onion.
- Lettuce mix: Use your favorite lettuce mix.
This is an overview of the ingredients. To see the full list of ingredients with measurements and instructions, see the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
📖 Variations / Additions
- Pinto beans
- Walnut Mushroom Taco Meat
- Tofu with taco seasoning
- Quinoa
💭 Tip
If you aren't going to serve the salad right away, you'll want to add water to the dressing to thin it out after it sits in the fridge.
🔪 Instructions
Step 1: Soak cashews in hot water to soften them. Drain the water. Add all the ingredients to a food processor high-speed blender.
Step 2: Blend all the ingredients until smooth and creamy.
Step 3: Layer salad ingredients in a bowl. Top with chipotle dressing.
🍽 Serving
- Cornmeal Baked Avocado Tacos
- Spinach, Tofu, and Pine Nut Enchiladas
- Vegan Taquitos with Green Chiles
🥡 Storage
This Southwest salad recipe will last 3-5 days in an airtight container in the fridge. I recommend adding the avocado and chipotle dressing right before serving.
The dressing will last a week in an airtight container in the fridge.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe FAQs
This Vegan Southwest Salad is made with black beans, red bell pepper, corn or yellow bell pepper, avocado, onions, cilantro, and cherry tomatoes. It is topped with a creamy cashew chipotle dressing.
This Southwest salad has a chipotle dressing made with raw cashews, chipotle in adobo sauce, sriracha sauce, lime juice, vegan sour cream, olive oil, and water.
🥗 Other Vegan Salads
If you tried this Vegan Southwest Salad Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a ⭐️ star rating and let me know how you like it in the 💬 comments below. I love hearing from you!
I originally posted this recipe on June 26, 2015. I added new photos and text when I republished it.
📋 Recipe
Vegan Southwest Salad
Equipment
Ingredients
Chipotle Dressing
- ½ cup raw cashews
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon adobo sauce
- 1 teaspoon sriracha
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 tablespoons vegan sour cream
- ½ cup water + more for soaking the cashews
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
Salad
- 2 cups lettuce mix
- ½ sliced avocado
- ½ cup canned spicy black beans - or regular black beans if you can't find spicy
- ¼ cup cherry tomatoes quartered
- 2 tablespoons chopped onion
- ¼ cup chopped red or orange bell pepper
- 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ¼ cup corn or yellow chopped pepper
Instructions
Chipotle Dressing
- Soak cashews in hot water for 15 minutes, so that cashews soften. Discard water.
- Mix all ingredients in a food processor, and mix until smooth.
Salad
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl. Top with Chipotle Dressing.
Notes
Nutrition
*Note: Nutrition information should be considered an estimate only. Different nutrition calculators give you different results.
Sarah says
Found this through Pinterest. Delicious!! Thinking about adding more cashews and some nutritional yeast to my leftover dressing to make a creamy chipotle dip.
Willow Moon says
Thanks Sarah, I’m so glad you like it! That sounds like a great idea to make the dressing into a dip!
sign4baby says
This sounds like my kind of salad! Pinning and will be sure to make in the near future.
Willow Moon says
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it!
Erik Miller says
Looks amazing! Can't wait to make this. Thanks for sharing!
maxandmylesstyle says
Sounds delicious! I am pinning it!
Diana says
That looks yummy! Thanks for sharing, xo.
HerTwenties says
Omg this looks delicious! Will definitely be pinning this for future use!
Willow Moon says
Thanks!