The star of this Caesar salad recipe is the homemade dressing.
A delicious parmesan-garlic dressing is tossed with crisp romaine lettuce, croutons, and fresh lemon.
This Is the Best Caesar Salad Because…
- The dressing is the best homemade Caesar salad dressing of all time. I don’t even have words for how good it is.
- It’s fresh and crisp. This is a classic caesar salad recipe, and it’s delicious.
- The dressing can be made up to 48 hours ahead of time.
- Serve as a side or main dish. Pair this salad next to a steak, pork, or top it with grilled chicken or grilled shrimp.
Caesar Salad Dressing Ingredients
The dressing is the real MVP of this Caesar salad recipe.
- Lemon Juice: Lemon juice adds a fresh flavor, I recommend fresh lemon juice.
- Parmesan Cheese -Parmesan adds a savory, salty flavor.
- Garlic: A signature in Caesar salad – freshly minced is best.
- Anchovy: Adds umami (savory)—the flavor is subtle but delicious. Replace whole anchovies with 1 teaspoon of anchovy paste, or see the note below to make the Caesar salad dressing without anchovy.
- Egg: Raw egg emulsifies with the oil to create a rich and creamy dressing (much like how mayonnaise is made); I include both the raw egg yolk and white. If you don’t want to use raw egg, I suggest making my quick Caesar salad dressing.
- Oil: This is added in a very slow stream to thicken the dressing. Use a light-flavored oil like canola or light olive oil. Extra-virgin olive oil can be a bit strong for this dressing.
Other Caesar Salad Ingredients
Lettuce: Use romaine lettuce in this recipe. To make it extra crisp, wash it, spin it dry in a salad spinner, and refrigerate if time allows. Substitute kale to create a kale Caesar salad!
Croutons: Homemade croutons are made by baking or frying the bread pieces in oil or butter on high for a short time. They add an amazing crunch to Caesar salad. Store-bought work well too.
Garnish: Garnish the salad with shredded parmesan cheese, lemon wedges, bacon bits, or fried capers.
How to Make Caesar Salad
- Combine all dressing ingredients in a blender or food processor (per the recipe below). Slowly drizzle in the oil until thickened.
- In a large bowl, combine lettuce, and croutons.
- Add the caesar dressing and toss to combine. Garnish with parmesan and fresh lemon wedges.
This salad pairs with anything from steak to lasagna or can be topped with grilled chicken for an easy meal.
Tips for a Great Caesar Salad
- Dressing ingredients (including the egg) should be at room temperature.
- 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 in advance and keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Tear the lettuce leaves into bite-sized pieces instead of cutting with a knife.
- To make in advance, keep the toppings and dressing separately and combine before serving.
Did you enjoy this Caesar Salad? Be sure to leave a comment and a rating below!
Caesar Salad
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
- Combine garlic, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, capers, egg, anchovy fillets, and pepper in a blender.
- 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 1/4 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
- 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
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dressing, Lunch, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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!!