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Kasia Polish Mom

Polish-born, Chicago-raised, feeding a family of six with babcia’s recipes and a global pantry. I grew up folding pierogi at my grandmother’s kitchen table and never stopped — 15+ years of cooking from scratch, one Sunday dinner at a time. Everything here is tested on four kids, a hungry husband, and the memory of a woman who never measured anything but always got it right.

Chicken Caesar Salad With Homemade Dressing

by Kasia Polish Mom | American Comfort, Salad

Once you make your own caesar dressing, you will never buy the bottle again. This is not a marketing claim — it is a statement about relative quality that anyone who makes this recipe will verify within five minutes of tasting both options side by side. Bottled caesar dressing is a pale imitation of the real thing: pasteurized, stabilized, manufactured to last months on a shelf. Homemade caesar dressing is anchovy, garlic, Parmesan, lemon, egg yolk, Dijon, and good oil — made in a bowl with a whisk in five minutes and tasting aggressively, unapologetically like the best restaurant caesar you have ever had.

Caesar salad — invented in Tijuana in 1924 by an Italian-Mexican restaurateur named Caesar Cardini — is now one of the most popular salads in the world and one of the most frequently made badly. The dressing is the entire point. The romaine is a vehicle. The croutons are texture. The Parmesan is reinforcement. The dressing is what you are eating and it must be made from scratch.

This recipe produces the caesar salad that makes the bottled version irrelevant. My family has been eating this for years and nobody has asked for the bottled version since we switched. I do not miss the bottle.

About the Anchovy Question

If you are about to say you do not like anchovies: the anchovy in caesar dressing does not taste like anchovy. It dissolves into the dressing and contributes a deep, savory, umami quality that you cannot identify as “fish” when you taste the finished product. The dressing without anchovies is flat and one-dimensional compared to the version with. Use the anchovies. Tell your family later. They will not taste fish.

Ingredients

For the Caesar Dressing

1 large egg yolk (or 1 tsp Dijon mustard for a fully emulsified version)
2 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane or very finely minced
4 anchovy fillets, minced to a paste
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 tbsp)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
60ml (¼ cup) good olive oil
60ml (¼ cup) neutral oil
40g (½ cup) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the Salad

2 heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed, inner leaves torn or chopped
2 chicken breasts, grilled or pan-seared, sliced
80g (1 cup) Parmesan shavings for serving
Homemade croutons (see below)

For Homemade Croutons

4 thick slices of day-old sourdough or ciabatta
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, halved
Salt and pepper

How to Make It

1Make the Croutons

Cut or tear the bread into 2–3cm cubes. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Rub the cut garlic over each cube or toss with minced garlic. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 190°C (375°F) for 12–15 minutes until golden and crunchy. Cool completely before using. Homemade croutons are dramatically better than packaged and take 15 minutes. Make them.

2Make the Caesar Dressing

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolk, garlic, anchovy paste, Dijon, lemon juice, and Worcestershire. Whisk to combine. While whisking constantly, drizzle in the olive oil very slowly, then the neutral oil, to create an emulsified dressing. If it breaks (separates), whisk in a teaspoon of water and drizzle more slowly. Stir in the Parmesan. Season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste: bold, savory, tangy, rich.

3Grill the Chicken

Season chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Grill or pan-sear over medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes per side until cooked through and golden. Rest 5 minutes before slicing thinly against the grain. The chicken can be made ahead and served at room temperature over the salad.

4Assemble the Salad

Toss the romaine with enough caesar dressing to coat each leaf — start with less than you think you need and add more. Add the croutons and toss gently. Plate and arrange the sliced chicken on top. Scatter Parmesan shavings over everything. Add a crack of fresh black pepper. Serve immediately — dressed caesar salad wilts within 20 minutes.

Caesar Salad Tips

Use the inner leaves of the romaine. The outer dark green leaves are too tough and bitter for caesar salad. The inner pale leaves are tender, crisp, and mild. Tear or chop them into pieces that can be scooped up in a fork. The whole-leaf presentation at some restaurants is dramatic but impractical for eating.

Dress at the last moment. Caesar dressing wilts romaine quickly. Dress the salad immediately before serving, not in advance. If making ahead, keep the dressing separate and dress at the table.

Real Parmesan (Parmigiano-Reggiano). Pre-grated Parmesan from a plastic container is not the same as freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. The real thing has a complex, crystalline, intensely savory quality that the pre-grated product cannot match. For a dish where Parmesan is a primary flavor component, use the real thing.

Grate the garlic, do not chop. Grated garlic (on a microplane or the finest side of a box grater) dissolves completely into the dressing and distributes flavor evenly. Minced garlic produces garlic chunks that concentrate in some bites and are absent in others. Grated garlic is the technique.

Serving Chicken Caesar Salad

As a complete dinner for two or a starter for four. Pairs with crusty bread and a glass of something cold. Alongside coleslaw for a full salad-bar style spread. For a lighter lunch version, serve without the chicken over smaller romaine hearts. The caesar dressing itself is a legitimate reason to make this salad regularly.

Variations Worth Trying

With crispy pancetta instead of chicken. Render thin slices of pancetta in a pan until shatteringly crisp. Crumble over the caesar instead of chicken. The salty, fatty pancetta shards replace the protein and add a different, more intense savory note. Excellent for a starter caesar before a steak dinner.

Kale caesar. Substitute lacinato (dinosaur) kale, ribs removed and leaves torn into pieces, for the romaine. Kale stands up better to the heavy dressing and the salad holds well in the refrigerator for hours after dressing — it is one of the few salads that improves slightly with resting. Massage the kale briefly with a little of the dressing before adding everything else.

Storage

Caesar dressing keeps refrigerated for 3–4 days. Bring to room temperature and whisk before using; the emulsion may need to be re-established with a small addition of water and whisking. The assembled salad does not store — make only what will be eaten at that meal. The chicken component can be made 2 days ahead and refrigerated.

FAQ

Is it safe to use raw egg yolk in the dressing?

The egg yolk in caesar dressing is raw, yes. For most healthy adults, the risk from a high-quality fresh egg is minimal. If you are concerned, use pasteurized eggs (available in many supermarkets) or substitute the egg yolk with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, which provides the emulsifying function without the raw egg. The mayonnaise version is slightly thicker and less bright but very good.

Can I make a anchovy-free version?

Yes, with the understanding that you are making something different. Substitute with 1–2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce (increased from the original), a teaspoon of capers finely minced, and a tablespoon of grated Parmesan extra. The result has umami depth from other sources. It is a good dressing. It is not caesar dressing in the purist sense, but it is delicious and suitable for anchovy-avoiders.