The Best Caesar Salad Recipe! This madness has the perfect balance of creamy house dressing, crunchy croutons, and crunchy salad.
Some foods are classic for a reason. Like frosted vanilla bean ice cream or hot, crunchy fries, this classic salad is simple but truly irresistible. meet him perfect caesar salad! Yes, you can buy a store-bought packaged version with substandard dressing and soggy croutons. But make all the components at home and it’s a stunner. We’ve perfected all of the elements for you to make at home. Hearty and creamy, this dressing will become an instant house favorite. And the crunchy garlic croutons…well, you’re going to eat them off the baking sheet.
How do you do that better Cesar salad
This Homemade Caesar Salad is absolutely gorgeous. From the first bite you will be singing their praises. (I promise.) Here are the ingredients for an absolutely perfect version of this classic:
- Homemade Croutons: Don’t even think about buying a box! Tear the bread into irregular pieces to create soft, crunchy balls.
- Best Caesar Dressing: Our recipe is so good you won’t want to buy it again.
- Roman Hearts: We love Roman hearts, the sweet and crunchy portion of a Roman head. These are usually sold in packs of 3 in grocery stores. You can also use a large romaine lettuce.
- parmesan pieces: For the dressing you need grated, so use a block.
Caesar salad crouton tips
You start with the croutons for this Caesar salad. All they need is 15 minutes in a hot oven! You can prepare the rest of the salad while cooking. Here are our picks for the best homemade croutons:
- Use Good Bread: The better the bread, the better the crouton! Use artisan bread, French bread or sourdough bread from the store, or leftover homemade bread.
- Tearing the bread into pieces: Tearing the bread into smaller pieces will result in crispier croutons with crevices for dressing to get caught in!
- Add the garlic powder. Our croutons recipe is for garlic croutons that have the perfect savory flavor.
- Bake until crispy (approx. 15 minutes). They use a low temperature of 300 degrees and cook until just crispy. The croutons are crispy after baking.
The Secrets of Homemade Caesar Dressing
This Caesar dressing recipe is our favorite we’ve made in years! It’s a sane version of the norm, but it’s just as good. It’s also easy to make vegetarian. Here are some notes about this Caesar dressing:
- Greek yogurt gives it a healthy twist. Instead of just using mayonnaise and oil, we also added a little bit of Greek yogurt. This keeps it creamy but reduces some calories. We apply this philosophy to our ranch dressing recipe.
- Use anchovy paste or not: it’s optional! Traditional Caesar dressing gets its savory flavor from anchovies, so we used that here. This adds a tremendous amount of flavor! But this dressing is just as good without. Feel free to make a vegetarian Caesar dressing and it’s just as good.
- There is no raw egg. Standard Caesar dressing uses raw egg yolks (like homemade mayonnaise). But this recipe is so packed with flavor it doesn’t need it.
Make Ahead Caesar Salad Instructions
Once you have your creamy dressing and crunchy croutons, all you need is hearts of romaine and shaved parmesan to put together this perfect Caesar salad. Want to save time setting up? How to get started:
- Make the dressing up to 1 week in advance. Make it ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week: the taste is just as good!
- Prepare the croutons 2 days in advance. Prepare the croutons and let them cool completely. Then store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. The taste will gradually soften over time, the fresher the better.
Variations: Make this a main dish!
If you’re going to take all that time to make a Caesar salad, why not make it an entree? If you serve it with protein, that makes about 4 servings. Here are a few ideas:
More variations: grilled, kale, vegan and more
Here are a few more Caesar salad variations that add a fun twist to this classic salad:
This Caesar Salad Recipe is…
Vegetarian without anchovy paste. For gluten free use gluten free bread for the croutons. For vegans, use the vegan Caesar dressing.
The description
The Best Caesar Salad Recipe! This madness has the perfect balance of creamy house dressing, crunchy croutons, and crunchy salad.
For the Caesar dressing (for 1 cup)
- 1 medium clove of garlicchopped or grated
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice (1/2 Lemon)
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste or Worcestershire sauce (or omit)
- ¼ teaspoon every kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Caesar salad
- 1 Recipe for homemade croutons
- 3 Roman hearts* (or 1 big-headed Roman)
- ½ cup pieces of parmesan
- For the croutons: Prepare the homemade croutons but tear the bread into pieces instead of dicing it.
- For the dressing:Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in a sealed jar for up to 1 week.
- For the salad: Tear (or chop) the romaine leaves into pieces. Garnish each salad with shaved parmesan, croutons and dressing.
Remarks
*Rose Hearts are easily found individually wrapped on store shelves.
- Category: salad
- Method: Raw
- Kitchen: American
- Diet: vegetarian
More great salad recipes
We love salads! If you do too, here are some other salad recipes to try:
- Broccoli Salad Crunchy and sweet, it includes broccoli, raisins and a dressing with exploding flavors.
- Perfect Italian Salad Crispy veggies, crunchy croutons, zesty pepperoncini and a hearty house dressing.
- Antipasti Salad Hearty and full of spiciness, with lots of crunchy vegetables, olives, artichokes, cheese and Italian herbs.
- Classic Corn Salad Fresh and bursting with savory flavors, with exploding tomato and basil explosions!
- Caprese Salad Pair perfectly ripe, juicy tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and peppery basil.
