Easy Chicken Caesar Salad
Crunchy, fresh caesar salad with perfectly tender baked chicken, crispy sourdough croutons and bacon with the most moreish salad dressing, finished off with light shavings of parmesan cheese, all in 30 minutes. Yes please.
Easy Chicken Caesar Salad
Easy Chicken Caesar Salad
Easy Chicken Caesar Salad
Who doesn’t love a Classic Chicken Caesar Salad recipe? Especially if you can whip it up in 30 minutes! This is my ultimate lazy girl salad that is perfect for weeknights or weekend lunch, and is on high rotation in our household all throughout the year. When I want something super tasty, with minimal effort, this is my go to. Let the oven do the work I say!
Caesar salad is one of those, never-go-out-of-fashion salads, and there’s a reason for it, it’s freaking yum. I’ve designed this recipe to include standard pantry ingredients to be able to pull together in a pinch, so I have left out the anchovies from the caesar dressing - controversial I know, but wrangling tiny fish isn’t exactly “Lazy Girl”. So if you have them, add them in with pride, it’ll taste great. But you can make this dressing work without them just fine.
In this recipe I’ve also left out the boiled eggs, again if you love them, add them in.
For my fam I’ll sometimes serve with a sneaky side of hot chips for something a little more hearty ;-)
If you're a salad for dinner fan, this Sweet Potato, Chickpea & Kale Salad is a fave that is nourishing and packed full of flavour.
Recipes tend to vary a bit, but the consistent ingredients for caesar salad are romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, bacon and the caesar dressing.
Mayonnaise, lemon juice, dijon, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and anchovies (which I have left out of this version). Some recipes opt for store bought mayo (like mine)but you can also make from scratch if you’re up for it.
There’s a lot to love about a chicken caesar salad, you get a good hit of protein from the chicken and the bacon. But if you’re looking for a salad to suit either a low carb or low calorie diet, you may need to make some tweaks like subbing out the croutons for something like cucumber.
Ingredients and substitutions
How to make it - step by step!
Preheat oven to 220c. Using a mallet or rolling pin, pound the thickest part of the chicken to make an even thickness. Place on a lined baking tray, coat with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Until chicken is cooked through (74 C / 165 F).
In a separate tray, add bacon and sourdough pieces. Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes checking and turning a couple of times until bacon is crispy and caramelised and bread is golden brown. If some pieces are starting to colour before others, pull them out and set aside.
Meanwhile, roughly chop your lettuce, then give it a wash and dry if there’s any grit.
To make the caesar dressing, combine mayonnaise, dijon, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire, 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar with a lid, shake to emulsify.
Slice chicken into pieces, then add all ingredients to bowls or a big serving plater, spoon over dressing and toss together.
Preheat oven to 220c. Using a mallet or rolling pin, pound the thickest part of the chicken to make an even thickness. Place on a lined baking tray, coat with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Until chicken is cooked through (74 C / 165 F).
In a separate tray, add bacon and sourdough pieces. Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes checking and turning a couple of times until bacon is crispy and caramelised and bread is golden brown. If some pieces are starting to colour before others, pull them out and set aside.
Meanwhile, roughly chop your lettuce, then give it a wash and dry if there’s any grit.
To make the caesar dressing, combine mayonnaise, dijon, lemon juice, garlic, Worcestershire, 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar with a lid, shake to emulsify.
Slice chicken into pieces, then add all ingredients to bowls or a big serving plater, spoon over dressing and toss together.
Watch the how to video
Watch the how to video
Easy Chicken Caesar Salad
- 4 chicken breasts
- 200 g streaky bacon
- 5 pieces of sourdough torn into bit size chunks
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, shaved
- 1 head of romaine or cos lettuce
- 2 cups rocket
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove, grated
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch of salt and pepper
- Preheat oven to 220c. Using a mallet or rolling pin, pound the thickest part of the chicken to make an even thickness. Place on a lined baking tray, coat with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake chicken for 20 minutes. Until chicken is cooked through (74 C / 165 F)
- In a separate tray, add bacon and sourdough pieces. Add a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes checking and turning a couple of times until bacon is crispy and caramelised and bread is golden brown. If some pieces are starting to colour before others, pull them out and set aside.
- Meanwhile, roughly chop your lettuce, then give it a wash and dry if there’s any grit
- To make the caesar dressing, combine mayonnaise, dijon, lemon juice, garlic, worcestershire, 2 tbsp of olive oil, salt and pepper in a jar with a lid, shake to emulsify.
- Slice chicken into pieces, then add all ingredients to bowls or a big serving plater, spoon over dressing and toss together.