Equipment
Ingredients
Garlic Croutons
- 150 g stale sourdough or ciabatta bread, cut into 2cm cubes
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 g garlic powder
- 2 g kosher salt
Caesar Dressing
- 4 anchovy fillets, finely minced
- 1 garlic, finely grated or minced
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 30 ml fresh lemon juice
- 10 g dijon mustard
- 120 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 30 g parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 g black pepper, freshly cracked
Salad Base
- 2 romaine lettuce hearts, washed, dried, and chopped
- 30 g parmesan cheese, shaved into thin ribbons
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 547 kcal
- Protein
- 12 g
- Carbohydrates
- 24 g
- Fat
- 45 g
- Fiber
- 3 g
- Sugar
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 933 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 8 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 30 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 5 g
- Cholesterol
- 110 mg
- Potassium
- 315 mg
- Calcium
- 236 mg
- Iron
- 1.8 mg
- Magnesium
- 26 mg
- Phosphorus
- 184 mg
- Zinc
- 1.0 mg
- Vitamin A
- 502 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 7 mg
- Vitamin D
- 0.6 mcg
- Vitamin E
- 5.9 mg
- Vitamin K
- 126 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.1 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 0.4 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.11 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.18 mg
- Niacin
- 1.0 mg
- Folate
- 153 mcg
- Water
- 115 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius or 375 degrees Fahrenheit to prepare for baking the croutons.
Toss the cubed bread with olive oil, garlic powder, and salt on a baking sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown and crisp, then set aside to cool completely.
Using the side of your chef knife, mash the minced garlic, anchovy fillets, and a pinch of salt together on the cutting board until it forms a smooth, uniform paste.
In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk together the egg yolks, fresh lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and the prepared garlic-anchovy paste.
While whisking vigorously and constantly, drizzle the olive oil into the egg mixture drop by drop at first, then in a slow, steady stream until completely emulsified into a thick, creamy dressing.
Stir the finely grated parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper into the emulsified dressing.
Add the thoroughly dried, chopped romaine lettuce to the bowl with the dressing and toss gently but thoroughly until every leaf is perfectly coated.
Transfer the dressed lettuce to a serving platter or individual bowls. Top immediately with the cooled garlic croutons and shaved parmesan cheese ribbons.
Chef's Notes
- To achieve a restaurant-quality texture, ensure your egg yolks and mustard are at room temperature before you begin whisking, which stabilizes the emulsion.
- Making the anchovy and garlic paste using the flat side of your knife and coarse salt creates micro-abrasions that release more flavor than simple mincing.
- Do not dress the salad until the exact moment you plan to serve it. The acid and salt in the dressing will rapidly degrade the structural integrity of the romaine lettuce.
- If you prefer a lighter, less pungent dressing, substitute half of the extra virgin olive oil with a neutral vegetable or canola oil.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Store dressing separately from lettuce and croutons to prevent sogginess. Dressed salad does not keep.
Troubleshooting
Dressing becomes thin, watery, or separates into pools of oil
Cause: The emulsion broke because the oil was added too quickly or whisking was insufficient
Fix: In a clean bowl, whisk a teaspoon of warm water or a fresh egg yolk, then very slowly whisk the broken dressing into it to re-emulsify
Prevention: Add oil extremely slowly at the beginning, ensuring each addition is fully incorporated before adding more
Dressing tastes overly bitter
Cause: The extra virgin olive oil was highly robust, or whisking the olive oil aggressively caused its bitter polyphenols to release
Fix: Cannot be completely fixed once bitter, but adding a tiny drop of honey or more parmesan can slightly mask the flavor
Prevention: Use a milder olive oil or blend half olive oil with a neutral oil like avocado or grapeseed
Cultural Context
Despite its enduring association with Italian cuisine, the Caesar salad was actually invented in Tijuana, Mexico, in the 1920s by Italian immigrant restaurateur Caesar Cardini. The original recipe famously omitted anchovies entirely, relying exclusively on Worcestershire sauce for its savory depth, though modern iterations universally champion the anchovy fillet as a foundational ingredient.
