BEST Chicken Caesar Salad
A staple recipe in your household should be this chicken Caesar salad! Juicy grilled or baked chicken, garlicky Caesar dressing, lots of parmesan cheese, and crazy good homemade croutons: it’s seriously the best.
Servings: 4 medium salads
Ingredients
- 14 ounces romaine lettuce
- 1 ½ cups coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese or parmesan cheese
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil plus 1 tablespoon to marinate chicken
- 8 dashes tabasco sauce
- 3 large garlic cloves minced
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar to marinate chicken
- 1 lemon juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Homemade Croutons
- 8 slices soft sandwich bread I like oatmeal or pumpernickel bread
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large garlic clove thinly sliced
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Marinate chicken in balsamic, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt and pepper. For grilled chicken, preheat grill to high heat, and grill each side for 6 minutes (total 12 minutes) until chicken register at least 165 degrees. For baked chicken, bake at 425°F for 17-21 minutes. Set chicken aside.
- Stack romaine leaves, and chop them into bite-sized pieces (see video for visual instructions). Place romaine in a large salad bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together ¾ cup olive oil, minced garlic, lemon, tabasco, Worcestershire, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- For croutons, stack sandwich bread slices. Cut off crusts. Cut bread into roughly ½ inch cubes. In a large skillet, add ¼ cup olive oil, sliced garlic, and salt to taste. Preheat pan over medium-high heat until garlic starts to sizzle. Add cubed bread. Toast for 7-14 minutes, tossing often, until croutons are golden. Remove pan from burner, and remove toasted garlic slices if desired.
- Toss in three-quarters of the dressing to the romaine. Lettuce should look shiny and well-dressed. Add more dressing if needed. Then mix in coarsely grated cheese.
- Slice chicken. Either toss in chicken slices, or plate salad and top with chicken.
- Plate, finishing with croutons, a little more grated cheese, and black pepper.
Video
Notes
- Make sure to rinse and dry romaine well (if it’s not pre-washed).
- Use the coarse setting of a box grater to grate cheese.
- The best bread for croutons is regular, soft sandwich bread from the bread aisle in the grocery store! I love Pepperidge Farm Oat Bread (this is not an ad).
- If bread slices are small, use 12 slices.
- If you like a lot of chicken, I recommend 1 ½ pounds instead of 1 pound of breasts.
- You might want to grate extra cheese to garnish!
Nutrition
Serving: 1salad | Calories: 919kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 69g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 44g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 98mg | Sodium: 1101mg | Potassium: 813mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 8978IU | Vitamin C: 11mg | Calcium: 600mg | Iron: 4mg