Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast and Caesar Salad with Romaine Lettuce, Croutons, Bacon Bits, and Parmesan Cheese, tossed in ready made Caesar Salad Dressing with some Lemon Juice. Add just a bit more anchovy paste to bring out some flavor.
This recipe uses store-bought bacon bits, croutons, and Caesar salad dressing with Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese for a quick & easy Caesar salad.
Caesar Salad Ingredients
The ingredients for a Caesar salad consist of Romaine Lettuce, Bacon Bits, Croutons, Caesar dressing, and Parmesan cheese. Optionally with added lemon juice and anchovy paste.
Romaine Lettuce
Chop or tear the romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces and wash well. Then dry with a salad spinner.
Bacon Bits
Either store-bought bacon bits or minced bacon cooked in a pan over medium heat until crisp to your liking. Drain off the bacon grease and save it for other recipes.
Croutons
Pick up your favorite brand of croutons or make some Homemade Garlic Croutons.
Parmesan Cheese
Either powdered Parmesan or freshly grated Parmesan/Parmigiano Reggiano or both. The powder in the salad and the fresh gratings for sprinkling on top.
Parmigiano Reggiano
Finely or coarsely grate over the top of the Caesar salad for a nice presentation.
Caesar Dressing
How much Caesar dressing depends on how light or heavy you prefer.
The Kraft Caesar Salad Dressing has about 2 cups of dressing in total.
The original Caesar salad dressing, which a lot of people state is far superior to any bottled Caesar dressing, is something I have messed around with a few times trying to see for myself. But I haven’t really solidified on anything as of yet.
Some will use mayonnaise as the base (or mayo with sour cream, milk, buttermilk, or yogurt) and add to this the Worcestershire & Dijon mustard combination with black pepper, garlic, lemon or lime juice, Parmesan cheese, and anchovies or anchovy paste. Although some state that anchovies do not belong in a Caesar salad. Stating that Worcestershire sauce was used in the original Caesar salad and contains sufficient anchovies. Although the Aviator Salad, which was later named the Caesar Salad, did have anchovies added. Also, it is more likely that limes were used instead of lemons.
Either way, a good Caesar dressing is what brings it all together, and for a no-fuss Caesar salad, bottled Caesar dressing will do the trick.
Things to add to Caesar Salad
Add in other vegetables such as iceberg lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, daikon, capers, olives, peppers, tomatoes, and green onions for a vegetable Caesar salad. Optionally, add a soft or hard-boiled egg or a bit of anchovy paste to bring those flavors out a bit more.
Sprinkle Maritime Bagel Seasoning or Za’atar Spice over the top for a Caesar salad seasoning. For the longest time I added sumac for a more zesty flavor. Now I add a bit more anchovy paste to make it really pop.
Grilled Chicken
Use one chicken breast or more sliced in half to create two chicken fillets, or about 50g-90g per person, depending on how much chicken you want. You could allot one chicken fillet per serving. Marinate the chicken breast for at least 1 hour.
Grilled Chicken Fillets
Grilled in a double press grill for 8 minutes. Cooled down and diced to add to the Caesar salad.
Or slice and place on top of the Caesar salad for presentation.
Grilled Chicken Marinade
This is the same marinade used for the McDonald’s-style Grilled Chicken Burger and is really good in a Caesar salad. Just toss all the ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Add the chicken and marinate for at least 1 hour.
The chicken can also be seared or baked until done. Rested to cool down and diced or sliced. You can also dice the chicken breast to be marinated and then scoop it out of the marinade to cook in a pan over medium heat until done. Optionally, skewer for chicken kebabs that can be added to the Caesar salad.
Grilled Chicken Marinade
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/4 cup EVOO
- 2 tsp Parmesan Cheese
- 1 tsp Chicken Powder & Sea Salt, each
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Liquid Smoke & Onion Powder, each
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper & Smoked Paprika, each
Chicken Caesar Salad Ideas
Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken Fillet
You can choose to serve one grilled chicken breast fillet as a serving. Either tossed into the Caesar salad or sliced into bite-sized pieces and served on top.
Rotisserie Chicken
Season chicken thighs with Rotisserie Seasoning and bake. Strip the meat off the bone. Include chicken breast seasoned with rotisserie seasoning and grilled. Leftover rotisserie chicken can be used too.
Crispy Chicken
Use the JFC Breading for Chicken Breast Fillets, Chicken Tenders or Popcorn Chicken and deep fry. Let it cool down and slice the chicken breast to place on top of the Caesar salad.
JFC Chicken Tender Caesar Salad
Whole JFC Crispy Chicken Tender per serving.
JFC Chopped Chicken Tender Caesar Salad
Choose chopped crispy chicken tenders or do Popcorn Chicken.
Chicken Kebab Caesar Salad
Dice up chicken breast and marinate in the grilled chicken marinade. Skewer and cook. Let it cool down and top the Caesar salad.
Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap
For a Chicken Caesar Wrap, use a bit more chicken and place the chicken Caesar salad in pita bread or steam the pita bread and open it up to create a pocket and stuff it with the chicken Caesar salad. You can also just make the Caesar salad and stuff it into the pita bread and then add in your seasoned and cooked chicken separately.
A 10–12 inch tortilla wrap works too. Just place the chicken Caesar salad inside and wrap it like a burrito.
Caesar Salad to Go
Use Tupperware or pick up some plastic containers at your local Cash & Carry made for salads. Along with some dipping containers to hold the dressing, lemon juice, bacon bits, Parmesan cheese & croutons. All placed into the container with Romaine Lettuce in a neat package, just the same as the Deli Markets. It makes for a great lunch.
Caesar Salad Portions
Use the below guideline for a scalable Caesar salad. Adding more or less based on preference. The below portions will make 1 main course or 2 lunches/side dishes.
Caesar Salad Portions
- 50g-90g of Chicken Breast
- 50g Romaine Lettuce
- about 90g-100g without Chicken
- 26g – 42g Caesar dressing.
- 2 Tbl (26g) for a Light & 3 Tbl (42 g) for Heavy
- 12g – 15g Croutons
- or just shy of 1/4 C
- 4 g Parmesan Cheese
- 1/2 Tbl Powdered or 1 Tbl of freshly grated
- 4 g Bacon Bits or 1/2 Tbl
- 3/4 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Sumac or 1/8 tsp Anchovy paste
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts - Sliced in half for 4 Fillets
- 200 g Romaine Lettuce
- 3/4 C Caesar Salad Dressing - About 1/2 C – 3/4 C
- 3/4 C Garlic Croutons
- 2 Tbl Bacon Bits
- 2 Tbl Parmesan Cheese - Powder or 4 Tbl freshly grated, plus more on top
- 1 Tbl Lemon Juice
- 1/2 tsp Anchovy Paste - optional
Grilled Chicken Marinade
- 1/2 C Water
- 1/4 C EVOO
- 2 tsp Parmesan Cheese
- 1 tsp Chicken Powder & Sea Salt - each
- 1/2 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/4 tsp Liquid Smoke & Onion Powder - each
- 1/8 tsp Black Pepper & Smoked Paprika - each
Instructions
- Marinated Chicken Fillets: Combine the grilled chicken marinade ingredients together and whisk well. Slice the chicken breast to create fillets and add them to the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Grilled Chicken: Place the chicken on a hot grill and discard the marinade. Cook for about 10 minutes. Flip over halfway. It should no longer be pink in the middle or an internal temperature of 157 F. If using a double-sided grill, your cook time will be less, about 8 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the Caesar salad. You can also sear the chicken breast and set aside to chop and add to the salad.
- Caesar Salad: Place into the salad bowl Caesar salad dressing, lemon juice, Parmesan, bacon bits, and anchovy paste if adding and mix well. Chop or tear the romaine lettuce into bite-sized pieces and wash. Drain and dry really well. Add to the salad bowl with croutons and toss well.
- Chicken Caesar Salad: Dice the rested and cooled chicken fillets and serve on top the plated Caesar salad with more fresh Parmesan grated over the top. The sliced or diced chicken can be tossed in with the salad or served on top or to the side.
Notes
Caesar Salad Portions
Use the below guideline for a scalable Caesar salad. Adding more or less based on preference. The below portions will make 1 main course or 2 lunches/side dishes.- 50g-90g of Chicken Breast
- 50g Romaine Lettuce – about 90g-100g without Chicken
- 26g – 42g Caesar dressing. 2 Tbl (26g) for a Light & 3 Tbl (42g) for Heavy
- 12g – 15g Croutons or just shy of 1/4 cup
- 4 g Parmesan Cheese or 1/2 Tbl of Powdered, 1 Tbl for freshly grated
- 4 g Bacon Bits or 1/2 Tbl
- 3/4 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1/8 tsp Anchovy paste, optional
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