This classic Caesar Salad is one of my all-time favorite recipes. It’s easy to prep ahead, made with crisp romaine lettuce, crunchy croutons, freshly shredded Parmesan, and a bold homemade dressing. It even won over the family member who insisted they didn’t like anchovies.
This easy salad is a great side dish for one-pot chicken pasta or turn it into a main dish topped with grilled chicken breasts or grilled sirloin steak.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Caesar Salad
- Flavor: Creamy, savory, and tangy with lemon, garlic, Parmesan, anchovies, and capers.
- Who Invented Caesar Salad: Caesar salad was invented in 1924 by Italian-American restaurateur Caesar Cardini at his restaurant in Tijuana, Mexico.
- Why Make It: The blender does most of the work, creating a creamy, restaurant-style dressing with minimal hands-on prep.
Total Time: 25 Mins Servings: 6 Cooking Method: No cooking!
- Total Time:
- 25 mins
- Serves:
- 6 servings
- Rating:
- 5.0/5
Ingredient Notes
- Romaine Lettuce: Romaine hearts are crisp, sturdy, and ideal for holding a creamy Caesar dressing. Wash thoroughly and spin completely dry in a salad spinner so the dressing coats the leaves without becoming watery. Substitute kale to create a kale Caesar salad.
- Croutons: Store-bought croutons are a convenient shortcut, while homemade croutons are an easy way to customize the flavor.
- Parmesan Cheese: Freshly shredded Parmesan offers the best flavor and texture, while shaved Parmesan makes a delicious finishing touch for garnish.
- Egg: A room-temperature egg helps the dressing emulsify into a smooth, creamy consistency. Prefer to skip the raw egg? Try my quick Caesar salad dressing without raw egg, which starts with mayonnaise
- Anchovies: Use anchovies, anchovy paste, or replace with extra capers for a similar briny, salty flavor.
- Garnish: Garnish the salad with shredded Parmesan cheese, lemon wedges, bacon bits, or fried capers.
How to Make Caesar Salad
- In a blender, combine the dressing ingredients (full recipe below).
- Blend until smooth, then add some Parmesan.
- In a bowl, combine the lettuce, croutons, and remaining Parmesan. Add the dressing and toss to combine.
Make Ahead and Store
- Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Store romaine separately with a paper towel to absorb excess moisture, and store croutons at room temperature in an airtight container. Do not freeze.
- Prepare the dressing and lettuce in advance, but store everything separately. Add the croutons and dressing just before serving to keep the salad crisp.
Do not freeze Caesar salad or Caesar dressing.
Turn Caesar Salad Into Dinner
Did you enjoy this Caesar Salad Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Caesar Salad
Crisp romaine, crunchy croutons, and Parmesan are tossed in a rich homemade Caesar dressing with lemon, garlic, and savory anchovies.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups chopped romaine lettuce washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup croutons
- ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Dressing
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 10 small capers
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 2 anchovy filets or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- black pepper to taste
- ½ cup light olive oil or canola oil
- ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- In a blender, combine garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, capers, egg, anchovy fillets, and pepper.
- Blend until smooth. With the blender running on low speed, slowly drizzle in olive oil in a thin, slow stream (this should take a few minutes).
- Add ¼ cup parmesan cheese and pulse to combine. Taste and season with salt and additional pepper if desired. Refrigerate until using, up to 3 days.
- In a large salad bowl, combine lettuce, croutons, and ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese. Add dressing as desired and toss to combine.
- Garnish with additional parmesan cheese and fresh lemon wedges for serving.
Notes
*Keep dressing in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Ingredients (including the egg) should be at room temperature before making the dressing.
- Drizzle the oil SLOWLY. The slower you drizzle, the thicker the dressing will be.
- If you don’t have a blender, you can whisk the ingredients while slowly drizzling in the oil.
- Use fresh lemon juice and fresh garlic for best results.
- To save time, prep the dressing up to 3 days in advance and keep it in the fridge. Store lettuce, garnish, and dressing separately and combine before serving.
- For extra crisp lettuce, wash it and spin dry up to 3 days ahead of time. Store with paper towel in a plastic bag or food container.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 245 | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 282mg | Potassium: 215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 5579IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 151mg | Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dressing, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish
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Absolutely love ❤️
Would love to make this but my husband is allergic to fish any substitute for the anchovies ?
Hi Cyndi, you can find this information in the post: Replace the anchovy with a tablespoon or so of extra capers for a similar briny, salty flavor.
I hope this helps!
Leftover anchovies? What is this mysterious thing? I usually purchase my anchovies in a large resealable jar, but if I have run out and have to use a can, the remaining fillets are placed in a small plate or saucer, cut up and a half lemon squeezed over them and simply eaten as a snack. They never make it back into the fridge! :)
Great recipe, I use a stick blender to make the dressing. I find it much easier that way and I do not lose any dressing to the blades in a regular blender jug. I make mayonnaise the same way.
That’s a great tip Barcham! Thank you for sharing.
Very good! Next time I’ll put little less anchovy paste for my husband even though I thought it was great as per the recipe to the T. I will add homemade croutons next time; ran out of time this time. Thank you!
I have never made Caesar dressing in my life. This was so easy and straightforward! My daughter and I paired it with some leftover homemade pizza for our lunch. It was quick and delicious!
Going to use this recipe for a dinner party of 10, If I double the recipe should I still use just one egg or two?
If doubling the recipe, I would double all of the ingredients including the egg. I hope this helps Luna!
Hi, I love your recipes!
I doubled the recipe for the Caesar dressing. It’s a little too thick. Do I add more olive oil to thin out? Other than that it tastes soooo much better than store bought!
You can add a little more oil.
I love this recipe. I love a good Cesar Salad and this ranks right up there with some of the best restaurants I’ve been to. And, it is easy to make.
So happy to hear that you love this caesar salad so much MaryAnne!
Your Caesar Salad Dressing recipe is our absolute favorite, I’ve made it countless times. Delicious! I do have changes based on our family’s likes and dislikes. No anchovies, no capers, add a bit more Worcestershire, egg yolk, not entire egg. I put all ingredients into a bullet and mix it up. Comes out perfect and delicious every time.
I love it, Debbie! So happy this recipe has been a hit for you.
My lemon gave me 4 tablespoons of juice, so rather than waste the rest or lose it in the fridge, I decided to quadruple the recipe, but used 2 eggs. Basically, I made (I think!) aioli or mayonnaise. It’s very tasty and very thick. I still used it for a Caesar salad, tasted great. Did I pour the olive oil in too slowly?
Pouring the oil too slow could have contributed to it being thick, but it was probably because there weren’t enough eggs used for a quadruple recipe! Regardless it’s great to hear you still enjoyed it!
I use the same ingredients on my caesar salad dressing except I only add the egg yolk and 6 anchovy filets using a hand mixer instead of the blender. Everyone loves this salad. They usually get seconds.
This ceaser salad recipe is really an amazing recipe. Thanks for sharing this recipe with all of us.
Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! I can now have my favorite salad AT HOME!!!
Could you use some anchovy paste in the dressing instead of anchovies?
You sure can Vicki!
I always use anchoy paste as it keeps so much better than canned anchovies, so you can make numerous salads from the same tube of paste…keeps in fridge awesome!! Canned anchovies, no so much, they get tasting very fishy if you try to keep them.
This was super good. Capers took it to another level. I didn’t have any anchovies but it was still delicious.
So glad you loved it Andrea!
what did you do with the capers?
They are added in step one. Enjoy!
I’m with you on Caesar salad being one of my favourites, you’ve just helped me make up my mind on dinner tonight.
Enjoy, Tilly!
I love a classic Caesar salad and this one sounds perfect! Great tip about freezing leftover anchovies too :)
Thank you Ann!
Caesar salad is just my favorite!! Specially with anchovies in the dressing! Perfect!
Classic salads are always delicious. Great idea to freeze your anchovies too for the next time.
That is such a great tip about freezing the anchovies! I always use just a few and then feel bad throwing away the rest of the tin (only to buy a new one, of course, the next time I want to make dressing). So happy to have a better way!
Thank you Monica
use anchovy paste!! It keeps awesome!!
I always used to use anchovy paste because I thought the filets would be too fishy. I was so wrong! I used canned anchovies this time and the dressing had a much richer flavor with no fishy flavor at all! I urge you to try it!!