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Restaurant Style Caesar Salad

Thick and creamy Caesar Salad is not just something that you can only enjoy at a restaurant any more! This recipe has it all, creamy dressing (dairy free), crunchy croutons, crisp lettuce and the perfect amount of cheese on top. I use pecorino romano, which is sheep milk cheese and can sometimes be tolerated by people who can't have cow milk. You can also use parmesan, which is more traditional. This is a great side salad to eat with Steak, Chicken, Salmon, etc. You can also add grilled chicken to it for a chicken Caesar Salad!

Course Main Dish, Salad, Side Dish, Veggies
Cuisine American
Keyword dairy free, gluten free, salad
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Caesar Dressing

  • 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
  • 1 tsp Garlic, minced *Or 2 cloves, minced
  • ½ tsp Sea Salt
  • 2 tsp Anchovy Paste
  • ⅛ tsp Black Pepper
  • 1 Cup Avocado Oil
  • 1 Egg

Salad

  • 4 Heads of Romaine Lettuce, chopped into 1 inch squares *Depending on the size of the lettuce heads, you may want to use 3 instead of 4.
  • Pecorino Romano or Parmesan Cheese, grated *Optional, for topping

Croutons

  • 3-4 slices Gluten free bread (or not if you don't need to) *My favorite brand is Canyon Bakehouse
  • 1 TBSP Avocado or Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 2 pinches Sea Salt

Instructions

Croutons in Oven or Air Fryer

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. If you are using an air fryer, there is no need to pre-heat, just set to 325 and add the bread tossed in oil and salted.

  2. Cut bread into 1 inch cubes, toss in avocado or olive oil and lightly salt.

  3. Cooking time depends greatly on your oven/air fryer. You will have to keep a close eye on the croutons so they don't burn!

    In the air fryer: 325 for 7 minutes, flip once after 3 minutes. Once they start to brown, lower the temperature to 200 for about 8-10 minutes until they are crunchy and no longer soft on the inside.

    In the oven: spread bread cubes out on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, or until they start to get brown. Reduce the heat to 200 for another 5-10 minutes until they are crunchy and no longer soft on the inside.

Caesar Dressing

  1. Making dressing is a sensitive process, DO NOT wing it, you have to measure everything and you can't half the recipe. Using an immersion blender: measure all ingredients into a large measuring cup or mason jar, adding the egg last. Blend by moving the blender up and down until the dressing is emulsified and completely mixed together. Set aside.

  2. Using a normal blender or food processor: measure all ingredients except for the avocado oil into the blender. While blending, slowly drizzle the oil into the blender, until it is completely emulsified and mixed together.

Salad

  1. Remove any wilted leaves from the romaine. Chop off the core and slice in half. Cut into 1 inch pieces.

  2. Toss salad with dressing.

  3. Grate pecorino romano cheese or parmesan on top. Add some fresh ground pepper too if you like! Top with croutons, serve and enjoy! If you only make half at once the salad dressing can be kept in the fridge for up to a week.