Caesar Salad

This Caesar salad recipe is guaranteed to impress dinner party guests! It's topped with homemade croutons, crisp veggies, and a rich, tangy dressing.

Caesar salad

If there’s any recipe that’ll convince someone that they love salad, it’s this Caesar salad recipe. Its base is chopped romaine lettuce and crisp veggies, but shaved cheese, homemade croutons, and a bold, creamy dressing fill it with so much flavor and texture that it hardly feels like you’re eating a plate full of vegetables!

This Caesar salad recipe would be a fantastic side dish for a holiday dinner party, but, lately, we’ve even been loving it as a meal on its own. It’s the perfect fresh, yet still satisfying, break from the holiday rotation of appetizers and sweets. Pretty, nourishing, and so, so delicious, this is a recipe you don’t want to miss!

Caesar salad recipe ingredients

Caesar Salad Recipe Ingredients

My Caesar salad recipe starts with 4 basic components:

  • Romaine lettuce – Chop it into bite-sized pieces that’ll mingle with the other ingredients! You don’t want any big chunks of romaine here. Butterhead lettuce would be delicious in this recipe as well.
  • Cheese – I like to scatter shaved pecorino cheese over my Caesar salad, but a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese would add the same nutty, savory flavor.
  • Homemade croutons For crunch! These are so yummy and easy to make – just toss bread cubes with olive oil and salt, spread them on a baking sheet, and toast them in a 350-degree oven until they’re golden brown.
  • Caesar dressing – Traditional Caesar salad dressing is made with raw egg yolks, Worcestershire sauce, and anchovies, but my version is much simpler and just as good. In a small bowl, whisk together Greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, a minced garlic clove and capers, Dijon mustard, and black pepper. You’ll end up with a creamy, rich mixture that tastes every bit as tangy and savory as the classic version.

To make this recipe extra fresh, I add a few unconventional components to the classic Caesar salad template. First, I pile on a generous amount of roasted chickpeas. They add protein to this recipe, along with lots of extra crunch. Finally, shaved red radishes, pine nuts, and a sprinkle of chives take the whole thing over the top.

Caesar salad dressing

Caesar Salad Serving Suggestions

With its rich dressing and hearty toppings, this Caesar salad recipe could easily make a meal on its own. However, it’s also a lovely dinner side dish. Pair it with your favorite protein, or serve it with any of these vegetarian main courses:

Whether you’re passing it at a potluck or packing it for lunch, this Caesar salad recipe is a great one to make ahead of time. Toast the croutons, stir together the dressing, and prep the veggies in advance. Then, store the components separately until you’re ready to eat. If you’re making this salad ahead, roast the chickpeas at the last minute, or omit them and toast a few extra croutons in their place. The chickpeas are best eaten right out of the oven!

Caesar salad

More Favorite Salad Recipes

If you love this Caesar salad recipe, try one of these fresh salads next:

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Caesar Salad

rate this recipe:
4.90 from 48 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Serves 4 to 6
This easy Caesar salad is a stunning dinner side dish, but it's also hearty enough to be a meal on its own.

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Make the croutons. Place the bread cubes on the baking sheet, toss with olive oil and salt, and bake 10 minutes, until toasted.
  • Assemble the romaine on a platter. Drizzle with half the dressing, sprinkle with the radishes, croutons, and chickpeas, and drizzle with the remaining dressing. Top with the pecorino, chives, and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

*To make this recipe vegan, omit the cheese, and replace my Homemade Caesar Dressing with this vegan dressing recipe:
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 teaspoons capers, drained
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Freshly ground black pepper
 
In a high-speed blender, place the cashews, garlic, lemon juice, mustard, capers, water, and a few grinds of black pepper. Blend until creamy.

 

68 comments

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Rate this recipe (after making it)




  1. Adrienne Mayo
    04.29.2021

    My husband isn’t usually a chickpea fan but loved these roasted! The color and textures or radishes, nuts and chives were fun too!

  2. Haley Smith
    04.29.2021

    SO GOOD! Im never having caesar salad without crispy chickpeas again.

  3. Candace Jurado
    04.28.2021

    5 stars
    I made this with the vegan dressing option. I added some chopped red pepper, parsley and tomato because I needed to use them up. It was Delicious, I will definitely make this again!!

  4. Carla Merrick
    04.28.2021

    4 stars
    I really enjoyed putting this beautiful salad together. The dressing is delicious and would also be good as a dip for fresh vegetables. I subbed fat free Greek yogurt for full fat for a healthier version. I added a few more capers and additional lemon for extra zing. Loved the radishes. Will definitely make again!

  5. 5 stars
    Just made this for cooking club and it’s amazing! I love that there’s a healthy and easy Caesar dressing out there. Thank you!

  6. Ashley Kimble
    04.28.2021

    The best Caesar Salad seriously ever. So good, so easy to make. I have no need to eat store bought Caesar dressing ever again! Would recommend to anyone and everyone!

  7. Andrea Lloyd
    04.28.2021

    5 stars
    Love the Greek yogurt dressing! Can’t wait to make it again!

  8. Amy Clute
    04.28.2021

    5 stars
    Made this with the vegan dressing. Never made salad dressing with blended nuts before and it did not disappoint!!

  9. Emily Davis
    04.28.2021

    Delicious with grilled salmon!

  10. Kate Laubacher-Smith
    04.28.2021

    5 stars
    This is my favorite salad recipe ever! I leave out the pine nuts due to an allergy, but otherwise, make it as is.

  11. Christine B
    04.27.2021

    5 stars
    This was delicious! The radishes were a nice addition to this salad. The air fried chick peas and pine nuts added a really nice crunch.

  12. Wendy Hamill
    04.27.2021

    I made this for dinner last night and had leftovers for lunch today. Really yummy, I loved how light and delicious the dressing was.

  13. Carrie McCormack
    04.27.2021

    5 stars
    This salad was a huge hit! The dressing was a revelation and I loved being able to make it with staples I always have on hand. I didn’t think I was a radish fan, but I liked the zippiness they brought. We added sliced grape tomatoes because everything is better with tomato 🙂 This is a highly versatile and easy side dish recipe – definitely a keeper!!

  14. Marina
    04.26.2021

    5 stars
    Thoroughly enjoyed this recipe – especially the crispy chickpeas and homemade croutons. I will definitely be making it again! {modifications that I made: spring mix instead of romaine because that’s what I had on hand; no pine nuts because of personal preference}

  15. Stephanie Peterson
    04.25.2021

    5 stars
    Such a great recipe! I subbed pumpkin seeds for pine nuts because of a nut allergy, I love the Caesar dressing! So good! Your cooking club is such a fun idea!

  16. Laenie Fletcher
    04.25.2021

    5 stars
    This was so fun to make! Added pickled radishes from the blog and it was delicious

  17. Amy Groves
    04.25.2021

    5 stars
    Loved making this one! So fresh!

  18. Shilpa Y.
    04.23.2021

    I’m not a huge salad person but the vegan dressing was amazing!!!!

  19. Jenni Taylor Swain
    04.22.2021

    5 stars
    Great salad! Especially for last minute. I used arugula and a Belgium endive in place of romaine, and added some fennel for extra crunch. Crunchy chick peas take it over the top. Nice spin on dressing….. thanks for the idea!

  20. Stephanie Ham
    04.22.2021

    5 stars
    Such a yummy recipe – thank you!

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Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.