Leave a Reviewposted May 8, 2024 byQuin Liburd
You’ll love this Caesar Salad recipe that features a craveable homemade Caesar salad dressing that’s incredibly flavorful. The dressing is lusciously thick and creamy and made up of only a few pantry staple ingredients. With a mayonnaise base combined with anchovy paste, worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, lemon, cheese and more; this dressing is super simple. Easy, buttery sourdough croutons and freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano cheese make this one restaurant-quality staple!
One of these days I want to carve out either a section of the blog or develop a neat little ebook strictly on steakhouse favorites. You know what I’m talking about? That signature bubbly mac and cheese they tend to serve in ramekins, a finely seared ribeye, some type of buttery rolls, and more. But friends, y’all know a bomb caesar salad is up there with steakhouse favorites! For me, it’s the salad I make the most and also a holy grail staple that’s so freakin’ good.
Caesar Salad with Sourdough Croutons 😋
At its core, a caesar salad is a salad that is incomparable to any other salad there is. A very distinct dressing that’s traditionally made using egg yolks and oil that emulsify into mayo along with a few other ingredients.
I like to think of my caesar dressing recipe to be fuss-free and super simple, and of course, flavor-packed to the max. The seasoned, buttery sourdough croutons are non-negotiable, too. Pair this salad with all of your delicious main entrees!
What’s To Love About This Signature Salad?
- A classic side dish/app: When it comes to top side items and incredible appetizers, a good ole caesar salad is IT. Honestly, I can’t think of many things in which this salad doesn’t fit. Enjoy it before diving into your main dishes like some meatballs or maybe alongside these chicken skewers, yum!
- Perfect holiday table addition: Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Mother’s/Father’s Day or any other holiday-centered festivity that’s in between; a caesar salad on the table is sure to be a crowd favorite.
- Salad versatility: Don’t get it twisted, you can surely enjoy this salad on its own but you can also use it up when making wraps, on pizza, or in a pasta salad situation. The possibilities on how to serve this caesar salad are endless, y’all!
What You’ll Need For This Recipe:
(Note: the full ingredients list, including measurements, is provided in the recipe card directly below.)
- Mayonnaise: Some caesar dressing recipes call for egg yolks and oil for an emulsification process that turns into mayo. We’re using store-bought mayonnaise as the base here. Commercial mayo contains pasteurized raw eggs and this acts as the glue that brings all the other ingredients together.
- Garlic paste: Gotta have that garlicky flavor in the dressing.
- Anchovy paste: Don’t be afraid of this ingredient, peeps. In my humble opinion, you don’t have a true caesar dressing without anchovy flavor. Anchovies or anchovy paste is umami-packed and ups the savory component in anything without any weird, fishy taste because it mellows out.
- Dijon mustard: A little tangy, acidic brightness to boost the flavor profile.
- Worcestershire sauce: Kicks up the umami notes with its punch.
- Lemon juice: Adds a little brightness and more acidity.
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese: The salty, cheesy element is chefs kiss.
- Salt/pepper: To season the dressing to personal taste.
- Romaine lettuce: The star of a Caesar Salad is this crisp, leafy green!
Flavor-Packed, Easy Caesar Dressing! 👅
This dressing does not skip a beat on flavor! It’s beyond flavorful and foolproof! Caesar dressing is all about that slightly pungent, vibrant, and ultra savory-umami taste. The only salad that needs to be thoroughly smothered and coated is a caesar, ha! I don’t care what anyone says, a caesar should be dang near drenched I tell ya! And for that fact, the dressing has gotta be on point and this one is sooo on point! Here’s how we’ll get it all prepped:
- In a medium bowl/mason jar/deli container, combine all of the ingredients. Then whisk/stir the dressing until well combined. Cover and transfer the dressing into the refrigerator for the flavors to meld and chill for at least 30 minutes before salad assembly.
How To Make Sourdough Croutons:
(Note: please see the recipe card directly below for the complete written instructions.)
- Combine the sourdough pieces with the melted butter, garlic powder, and salt/pepper- to taste. Use your hands to toss everything together making sure the sourdough is nicely coated in the butter.
- Air fryer croutons: Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Spread the buttered croutons into the air fryer basket. Air fry the croutons at 400°F for 4 minutes or until lightly golden and crisp. I love this quick method!
- You can also bake! For oven-baked croutons, preheat the oven to 375°F. Spread the sourdough pieces onto a baking sheet. Bake the croutons for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden and crisp. Then set aside.
My broccoli cheddar soup has sourdough croutons as well, the obsession is real! 😍
Caesar Salad Assembly
- Prep your romaine lettuce by thoroughly rinsing the romaine leaves and patting them super dry with a paper towel. Then cut off the root end and trim any wilted/brown sections. Use a sharp knife to cut the romaine crosswise into about 2-inch strips.
- Place the romaine lettuce into a large salad bowl, and drizzle a few spoonfuls of the caesar dressing over the salad. Shave some parmigiano-reggiano into the bowl and toss the salad well to coat. You want the lettuce to be thoroughly coated so don’t be afraid to use more dressing to desired preference. Then top the salad with the sourdough croutons.
- Serve this caesar salad in the bowl or transfer it to a large serving platter to make it real purty and enjoy! The crisp lettuce, the dressing, the shaved cheese, the crunchy croutons…it’s all so damn good! 🥹
Tips + Tricks & Caesar Salad Notes
- Use parmesan– A good substitute for parmigiano-reggiano cheese is parmesan cheese!
- Shaved cheese– A cheese slicer is clutch for getting those epic cheese shavings.
- Pat the romaine dry– We want the caesar dressing to adhere nicely and it won’t if your lettuce is wet. Be sure to thoroughly pat the romaine dry, you can also use a salad spinner if you have one!
- Leftover dressing?– Store any leftover Caesar dressing in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator. The dressing will last for about 1 week.
- Make ahead Caesar Salad– If you want to make this salad ahead of time, prep the dressing and keep it in the fridge for up to 1 week. For the best texture, I don’t recommend assembling the salad until you’re ready to serve.
A good Caesar Salad recipe to have in your rotation is absolute GOLD because it goes along with so many things. Be sure to tag @butterbeready in your BBR recipe creations, I sure love to see it when you do. Until next time! 🤟🏾
