Caesar Salad

Caesar salad – or Cesar salad, however you spell it – is a meal on its own, not just a side. This chicken Caesar salad serves 4 in about 30 minutes: crisp romaine, pan-fried chicken strips, oven-baked croutons and golden cheese crisps under a homemade dressing of egg yolk, olive oil, lemon, garlic and Dijon mustard.

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Last updated 8 October 2026

Recipe

Caesar Salad

Prep

20 mins

Cook

10 mins

Serves

4 persons

Ingredients

• 2 egg yolks
• 4½ tbsp. olive oil
• 1½ tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 tsp. dijon mustard
• 100 g French bread, yoghurt bread or similar white bread
• 150 g grated cheese
• 350 g of chicken in strips
• oil for frying
• 1 head of romaine lettuce
• slightly chopped red chili pepper
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Make the dressing first: blend or stir the egg yolks, 4 tbsp. of the olive oil, the lemon juice, the crushed garlic, the Dijon mustard and a little salt and pepper in a bowl until light and creamy. Refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
2. Turn on the oven and set the temperature at 200 °C.
3. Cut the bread into cubes – they do not have to be completely square and even in size – and mix them with the last half tablespoon of oil on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
4. Place the cubes in the oven for approx. 10 minutes until they are crispy – turn a couple of times along the way.
5. Divide half of the grated cheese into portions – approx. 1 tbsp. each – on another baking sheet lined with baking paper. Spread the portions well apart – you may need a second sheet.
6. Put them in the oven and bake them until they are golden and crispy – approx. 6 minutes. These are the cheese crisps.
7. Fry the chicken strips in a little oil in a hot pan until they are cooked through – approx. 5-7 minutes depending on thickness.
8. Rinse the salad leaves – tear them into pieces if you think they are too big – and put them in large, deep plates.
9. Distribute chicken strips, croutons, the chopped chilli if using, and the rest of the grated cheese a little randomly on the salad leaves.
10. Pour a little dressing over and put one, two or three cheese crisps on each plate.

Step by step, in pictures

The six moves that matter, from the dressing to the plate.

1. Whisk the dressing
2. Cube the bread
3. Bake the croutons
4. Portion the cheese
5. Fry the chicken
6. Assemble and dress

How this version differs from a restaurant Caesar

This Caesar salad is made a little differently from the one you are served at a bistro or café. Half the cheese is baked into thin, crisp rounds that go on top of each plate; the other half is scattered over the leaves. A little chopped red chilli is optional, and the bread can be French bread, yoghurt bread or any similar white bread.

A Caesar salad is traditionally made without meat, but many of us serve it with chicken at home, so that is the version here.

Who invented Caesar salad?

Caesar Cardini, an Italian-American chef and restaurateur, is credited with creating it at his restaurant, Caesar’s, in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1924. The salad is named after him, not after Julius Caesar.

Chicken is a later addition: grilled chicken is listed among the usual variations, together with bacon, other salad leaves, and versions made without anchovies or egg.

Dressing options: anchovies, mayonnaise and raw egg

Many cooks blend anchovy fillets into the dressing. This recipe works without them, so add them or leave them out. You can also stir some mayonnaise into the dressing.

The dressing is made with raw egg yolks. For homemade Caesar dressing and other dishes made with raw eggs, the US Food and Drug Administration recommends pasteurised shell eggs or pasteurised egg products.

What to serve with chicken Caesar salad

With chicken and cheese crisps it is filling enough to eat as a main course. To drink, serve a light, dry German Riesling Trocken.

For a second salad on the table, try this cucumber salad or avocado salad.