Caesar salad is one of the world's most famous salads! 

I wonder how many times I've ordered Caesar salad at a café over the years... 😋 

Original Caesar salad is made only with romaine lettuce, croutons, shaved parmesan, and the famous Caesar dressing.

However, it has become very common to add chicken pieces and fried bacon, which makes the Caesar salad filling and even better! 

The recipe yields 4 servings. 

Ingredients: 

Chicken: 
♥ 3 chicken breasts (preferably with skin)
♥ 2 tbsp olive oil
♥ ground salt and pepper

Bacon: 
♥ 200 g sliced bacon

Croutons:
♥ 4 slices of white bread or similar
♥ 4 tbsp olive oil 
♥ 2 tsp Maldon salt
♥ 1 tbsp dried herbs 
♥ 1 tsp garlic powder 

Caesar dressing (without anchovies):
♥ 2 egg yolks
♥ 1 tsp Dijon mustard
♥ 0.5 lemon, juiced
♥ 1 clove garlic
♥ 2 dl rapeseed oil (or another neutral oil)
♥ 40 g finely grated parmesan
♥ ground salt and pepper

Salad: 
♥ 1 romaine lettuce
♥ 50 g parmesan in flakes

Method: 

Chicken: 

Season the chicken breasts well with ground salt and pepper on both sides.

Add olive oil to a frying pan and heat the pan well. Place the chicken breasts in the pan with the skin side down. Fry the chicken breasts for a few minutes to get a good sear. Turn the chicken breasts and fry them on the other side for a few minutes as well.  

Place the browned chicken fillets in a baking dish.

Cover with aluminum foil.

Place the dish in the oven at 180°C and bake the chicken for about 15 minutes depending on thickness (preferably use a meat thermometer, and the core temperature of the chicken fillets should be around 68°C).

Take the chicken fillets out of the oven and let them rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing them.  
 

Bacon:

Cut the bacon slices in half. Lay the half slices on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Roast the bacon in the middle of the oven at 180°C for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy. 

Place the cooked bacon pieces on kitchen paper to remove excess fat. 

(You can alternatively fry the bacon slices in a dry frying pan.)
 

Croutons (see separate post HERE): 

Cut the bread into cubes. Try to cut the pieces fairly evenly. Spread the bread pieces on a baking sheet. 

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, herbs, and garlic powder. Toss the bread pieces so they are all evenly and well coated with oil, salt, and spices.

Bake in the middle of the oven at 200°C for about 10–15 minutes. Stir them around a bit with a spatula during baking.

The croutons are ready when they are golden and crispy.

Caesar dressing (without anchovies):

Place egg yolks, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and crushed garlic clove in a narrow and tall container (intended for a stick blender). Blend these quickly with the stick blender. 

Then add the oil little by little while continuing to blend with the stick blender. Take a few pauses with the oil, allowing the blender to run a bit extra between each addition of oil. It's important that the oil is incorporated gradually in this way, otherwise, the mixture might separate. Eventually, you will see a thick, light yellow mayonnaise form.

Transfer the mayonnaise to a bowl. Add finely grated parmesan.

Season with a bit more salt, pepper, and lemon juice if needed. Adjust the thickness of the dressing with a little warm water if you find it too thick. 

Salad: 

Rinse the lettuce leaves and cut them into large pieces.

Toss the lettuce leaves with about half of the dressing. Add a little warm water to that part of the dressing if you find it too thick (see tips).

Place the lettuce leaves with the dressing on a large plate or individual plates. 

Top with chicken pieces, bacon, and croutons. 

Shave parmesan into flakes (use a cheese slicer or small knife) and arrange over the salad. 

Add additional Caesar dressing, grind over some salt and pepper, and serve the rest of the dressing on the side. 

The world's best Caesar salad! 

Tips: 

♥ Caesar salad should ideally be made with romaine lettuce, but if you don't have it, you can use baby gem or iceberg lettuce. 

♥ I usually make the Caesar dressing without anchovies. If you want to make the dressing with anchovies, you can mash 2 anchovy fillets with a stick blender together with the egg yolks, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, and crushed garlic clove—before adding the oil. 

♥ I use store-bought, grated parmesan for the dressing, but large flakes of parmesan as a topping on the salad. 

♥ I tend to divide the dressing into two. I make one part a bit more runny with about 1 tablespoon of warm water, which I toss the lettuce leaves in. I keep the other part thicker and drizzle it on top of the salad. 

♥ You can prepare the croutons and Caesar dressing in advance. Then you only need to roast the chicken and bacon on the serving day. Croutons are stored dry and at room temperature. Caesar dressing is stored in the refrigerator. Cover the dressing with foil to prevent a crust from forming on the surface.

♥ The Caesar salad tastes best freshly made! 

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Enjoy! 

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