When it comes to caesar salad, I tend to take a pass. All too often, it’s just a mediocre plate of limp romaine, nondescript and flavorless creamy white dressing, some cardboard-like parmesan bits, and soulless, cracker-y croutons. Not great.
When we take it upon ourselves to make caesar salad at home, there’s lots of indecision around the dressing recipe, and we inevitably go hunting for a random concoction online that does the job, but isn’t much of a showstopper.
So, I’ve taken matters into my own hands to create our family’s on-the-record caesar salad dressing. It’s got plenty of delicious briny anchovies, dijon, worcestershire sauce, and lots of lemon juice to make the flavors stand out. We also use extra virgin olive oil, which many will replace with a small amount of olive oil and a neutral vegetable oil, but I much prefer the rich, fruity flavor of an extra-virgin caesar salad dressing. Snobby? Maybe. Tastyyy? Yes.
The final touch to this salad? The addition of Tuscan kale and jumbo-sized olive ciabatta croutons for that extra rustic flair. Our local grocery store sold green olive ciabatta, which is a silly abomination on the notion of olive bread (others are free to disagree), so if you do decide to go with a crusty olive bread, do yourself the favor that I didn’t, and make sure they are black olives!
This kale caesar salad is great as a meal (add some grilled chicken, steak, or shrimp) or as a side dish to [insert your favorite pasta, Sunday roast chicken, pot roast, etc. etc. here]!
You’ll need:
- 1 head of romaine, washed and chopped or torn
- 1 head of Tuscan kale, washed and chopped into size of choice (Look for the smaller bunches, as they are more tender!)
- 1 loaf of crusty bread of choice
- 1 cup extra virgin olive olive oil, plus more for the croutons
- 1 (2-ounce) can oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese + additional shavings to garnish the salad
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your salad greens and set aside.
Cut your bread into bite-sized chunks. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 5-10 minutes. 5 minutes if you just want them toasty, 10 minutes if you want them crunchy.
Next, make the dressing. Combine the anchovy fillets, garlic, egg yolks, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Turn the blender on high speed, and very slowly and gradually stream in 1 cup of olive oil until fully emulsified. It will look thick, creamy, and yellow in color. Add the parmesan cheese and ground black pepper and turn on the blender again to combine.
Load your favorite salad bowl with the greens, croutons, and parmesan shavings, and toss with the caesar dressing (using as much as your personal preference calls for).
Serve your Caesar Salad with Tuscan Kale immediately and put some of that luscious dressing on the side!
- 1 head of romaine, washed and chopped or torn
- 1 head of Tuscan kale, washed and chopped into size of choice (Look for the smaller bunches, as they are more tender!)
- 1 loaf of crusty bread of choice
- 1 cup extra virgin olive olive oil, plus more for the croutons
- 1 (2-ounce) can oil-packed anchovy fillets, drained
- 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese + additional shavings to garnish the salad
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your salad greens and set aside.
- Cut your bread into bite-sized chunks. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 5-10 minutes. 5 minutes if you just want them toasty, 10 minutes if you want them crunchy.
- Next, make the dressing. Combine the anchovy fillets, garlic, egg yolks, dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice in a blender or food processor. Turn the blender on high speed, and very slowly and gradually stream in 1 cup of olive oil until fully emulsified. It will look thick, creamy, and yellow in color. Add the parmesan cheese and ground black pepper and turn on the blender again to combine.
- Load your favorite salad bowl with the greens, croutons, and parmesan shavings, and toss with the caesar dressing (using as much as your personal preference calls for). Serve immediately!
Ellen says
Can this dressing be made ahead of time?
Judy says
Yes, Ellen!
Ellen says
I accidentally bought rolled anchovies with capers in oil, rather then just anchovies in oil. I tried making this dressing anyway, but it turned out bitter. I’m almost certain it is because of the capers. I will try this recipe again in the near future with the right ingredients! I love you guys! Your recipes are awesome and I think 95% of what I make at home are now from your site. Thank you guys so much!
RB says
Umm…perhaps you should save your rating and comments until after you have actually made the dish.
Susie says
Looks amazing, but leave out the romaine! Not safe anymore.
Bill says
Hi Susie, sad that there is yet another romaine lettuce contamination issue, but hopefully that too will pass!
yenwoda says
This was such a killer dressing that maybe it should be called “Brutus” instead. I topped with some leftover salmon and used homemade ciabatta for the breadcrumbs – which took more like 15-20 min to get nice and crunchy, so some variability there. Totally delicious.
Kaitlin says
Hahahaha so glad you liked it! The addition of leftover salmon is an excellent idea
Boyan Minchev says
Amazing caesar dressing salad, great recipe. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Judy says
Only the best for our readers! So glad you tried and liked it.
Julie fox says
Hands down best caesar dressing I’ve ever had. Threw in shrimp opted out of the kale.
Totally awesome!! Thanks once again for solving the dinner dilemma.
Kaitlin says
Yay! Thanks, Julie! \(^o^)/
Norbert says
I love to browse through your recipes and try to copy one or the other Chinese dish I remember from Hunan Province.
I never throught I would make a Cesar Salad after a recipe from your site, but here we are. It Looks delicious and I cannot wait to try it myself!
My backlog is growing and growing, there isn’t a recipe on here I would NOT like to try :).
Kaitlin says
Hi Norbert, while my parents may have the traditional Chinese recipes locked down, we do like to keep things interesting with non-Chinese dishes. Glad you’re enjoying the recipes! Cheers :)
Himalayan Chef says
This is for those who are squeamish about eating raw eggs — especially readers in parts of the world where that carries a higher risk. You can pasteurize the eggs by putting them in a pan of water and bringing the temperature to 140 degrees F. Hold the eggs at 140-142 degrees F for 3-4 minutes. Immediately plunge them into cold water. Store and use as usual.
Kaitlin says
Hi there–thanks for the helpful tips! Much appreciated.
Little Cooking Tips says
Hi Kaitlin!
You’re so right: most of the times Caesar salad isn’t what it ought to be. Your pictures are awesome and your dressing sounds like heaven! M-m-mmmm!
Can’t wait to try this one out!:) Thanx so much for the recipe sweetie!
Sending you lots of hugs,
Mirella and Panos
Kaitlin says
Hi Mirella and Panos, thank you as always for stopping by! Hope you both have a chance to give it a try :)
Alan says
You guys always seem to have a way to improve every recipe. This looks and sounds great, which means it’s all on my shopping list and ready to make…thanks once again for a great recipe.
Kaitlin says
Thanks, Alan–hope you enjoyed it! :)