This easy and classic Caesar Salad is made with crunchy sourdough croutons, freshly grated parmesan, and homemade Caesar dressing. The dressing is quick to make and is made with anchovy paste and no mayo.
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Why you'll love this recipe
I've been perfecting this recipe for years and have finally come to the perfect proportions. It has just the right amount of lemon, garlic, parmesan, and anchovy. If you've never made Caesar dressing before, you might be surprised to hear anchovy paste is included. It is so subtle though and anchovy makes it a classic Caesar. If you are opposed to it or are vegetarian, you can leave it out.
Serving Suggestion
To make this salad heartier, you could serve it with grilled shrimp, salmon, or chicken. My easy marinated grilled chicken would be a delicious addition to serve on top of this salad.
Prep ahead tips
To make this salad ahead, make the dressing and refrigerate it in an airtight container for 3-5 days. The croutons can be kept in an airtight container in a dry, cool place for 3-5 days as well. When you are ready to serve, chop up the romaine and toss it with dressing, parmesan, and croutons.
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Expert Tips
- One of the simplest recommendations I have for salads is to purchase the hearts of romaine and chop the lettuce yourself. The romaine that is pre-bagged has so much less crunch. I've been short on romaine before and tossed in some arugula with the romaine and it was a delicious substitute!
- I recommend making this dressing in a food processor. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a blender or whisk the dressing by hand while very slowly pouring in the oils.
How to fix a broken dressing
The homemade Caesar dressing can break and become very runny if the olive oil is streamed in too quickly. Don't worry if this happens, you'll just need 1 more egg yolk to fix it. To fix it, restart the process by adding a new egg yolk to a clean bowl. Rather than streaming in new olive oil, stream in the broken sauce very slowly and continue with the rest of the recipe.
If you make this homemade Caesar salad, I'd love to know what you think in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Caesar Salad
Ingredients
Homemade Croutons
- 1.5 cups cubed sourdough or French bread cut into ½ inch cubes
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pinch Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Caesar Dressing
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice about 1 lemon
- ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon anchovy paste
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ⅓ cup mild oil, such as avocado oil
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste
Other ingredients
- 3 heads of romaine chopped
- ¼ cup freshly shaved parmesan cheese
- freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
Croutons
- In a small sauce pan on medium high heat, add the bread, olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss to combine. Frequently toss for 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown.
Dressing
- To make the dressing, add egg yolk, lemon juice, parmesan, garlic, anchovy paste, and Dijon to a food processor and process for a few seconds. While processing, slowly pour in both oils until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste.
Assembling salad
- Toss together chopped romaine, shaved parmesan, and croutons. Slowly add in a few tablespoon of dressing at a time, tossing to combine, until you have reached desired dressing amount. Serve immediately with fresh cracked pepper (optional).
Notes
- Makes 1 cup of dressing
- To make this salad ahead, make the dressing and refrigerate it in an airtight container for 3-5 days. The croutons can be kept in an airtight container in a dry, cool place for 3-5 days as well. When you are ready to serve, chop up the romaine and toss with dressing, parmesan, and croutons.
Want to save this recipe to come back to it?
I'll email this recipe to you, so you can come back to it later!
cynthia chapline says
This is hands down the best caesar salad I have ever tasted!
Caitlin Charlton says
Thank you so much! I'm so glad you loved it! 🙂