Chicken Caesar Salad

Caesar salad is a classic and it’s been a favorite of my family for many years. While growing up I used to only have it as a side to other Italian dishes, over the last few years I’ve made it into a whole meal by adding chicken.

Chicken caesars are delicious and make an excellent togo meal. I often prepare 3 at once and then eat them over the next 3 days for lunch.

After much experimentation, I finally feel like I have a really solid Caesar recipe, including a homemade dressing, that I love so I’m really excited to share it with you today!

One of my favorite parts of Caesar salad is that it’s a great way to get anchovies in. Although it’s often overlooked, anchovies are an incredibly nutrient rich food as you can see in the graphic below.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the recipe!

With love from my kitchen to yours,

Kayley

Chicken Caesar Salad

Yields1 Serving
Total Time40 mins

Ingredients:
1 Serving Salad-
  lb chicken breast with skin
 salt to taste
 pepper to taste
 a dash of extra virgin olive oil
 2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
 3 anchovy fillets, broken into pieces (make sure to check the ingredients label to avoid any vegetable oils)
 2 -3 tbsp dressing
 1.50 tbsp parmesan cheese
 juice of 1/2 a lemon
Dressing (Makes 1 cup and 3 Tbsp)-
 1 egg yolk
 1 tbsp anchovy paste or 6 anchovy fillets
 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
 1 tbsp dijon mustard
 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
 1 tbsp garlic, minced
 a few twists black pepper
 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
 0.50 cup parmesan cheese

Recipe:
1

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2

Place your chicken on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, and a dash of olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until done. It's done when a cut into the thickest part reveals no pink meat and the juices that spill run clear not pink.

3

Meanwhile prepare the dressing. Combine the egg yolk, anchovies, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper in a blender. Blend till smooth. Then very slowly add the oil while the blender is on medium speed. It should take no less than 5 minutes to add all the oil. If you add the oil too fast or add too much at once, the dressing will not emulsify and you will be left with a not creamy weird dressing with little clumps of white in a sea of oil. It is especially important to go slow in the beginning. Once all the oil is added, add the parmesan and blend till smooth. If you don't have a blender, you can make it by whisking everything together in a bowl, however still follow the same steps and be sure to add the oil slowly! Then transfer the dressing to another container and chill in the fridge.

4

Assemble your salad (or salads if you're making more than one) by placing the lettuce, anchovies, dressing, parmesan, and chicken in a bowl and tossing until the dressing is evenly distributed. Transfer to a plate or bowl, top with some pepper and fresh squeezed lemon juice and enjoy! If prepping for later, keep the dressing and lemon juice separate and wait to add till right before eating.

5

Store leftover dressing in a sealed container in the fridge. Most people say it will keep up to 7 days, however I will use it for like a month to be honest.

Ingredients

Ingredients:
1 Serving Salad-
  lb chicken breast with skin
 salt to taste
 pepper to taste
 a dash of extra virgin olive oil
 2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
 3 anchovy fillets, broken into pieces (make sure to check the ingredients label to avoid any vegetable oils)
 2 -3 tbsp dressing
 1.50 tbsp parmesan cheese
 juice of 1/2 a lemon
Dressing (Makes 1 cup and 3 Tbsp)-
 1 egg yolk
 1 tbsp anchovy paste or 6 anchovy fillets
 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
 1 tbsp dijon mustard
 2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
 1 tbsp garlic, minced
 a few twists black pepper
 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
 0.50 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

Recipe:
1

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

2

Place your chicken on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper, and a dash of olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until done. It's done when a cut into the thickest part reveals no pink meat and the juices that spill run clear not pink.

3

Meanwhile prepare the dressing. Combine the egg yolk, anchovies, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper in a blender. Blend till smooth. Then very slowly add the oil while the blender is on medium speed. It should take no less than 5 minutes to add all the oil. If you add the oil too fast or add too much at once, the dressing will not emulsify and you will be left with a not creamy weird dressing with little clumps of white in a sea of oil. It is especially important to go slow in the beginning. Once all the oil is added, add the parmesan and blend till smooth. If you don't have a blender, you can make it by whisking everything together in a bowl, however still follow the same steps and be sure to add the oil slowly! Then transfer the dressing to another container and chill in the fridge.

4

Assemble your salad (or salads if you're making more than one) by placing the lettuce, anchovies, dressing, parmesan, and chicken in a bowl and tossing until the dressing is evenly distributed. Transfer to a plate or bowl, top with some pepper and fresh squeezed lemon juice and enjoy! If prepping for later, keep the dressing and lemon juice separate and wait to add till right before eating.

5

Store leftover dressing in a sealed container in the fridge. Most people say it will keep up to 7 days, however I will use it for like a month to be honest.

Notes

Chicken Caesar Salad

Nutrition:

Dressing

IngredientsCaloriesFatCarbsProtein
1 egg yolk554.5g0g2.7g
6 anchovy fillets251g0g4g
1 cup extra virgin olive oil1,920224g0g0g
1/2 cup parmesan16811.2g1.6g16g
Total (Makes 1 cup and 3 tbsp)2,168240.7g1.6g22.7g
1 serving (3 tbsp)342.538g0.3g3.6g
1 serving (2 tbsp)228.325.5g0.2g2.4g

Whole Meal-

IngredientsCaloriesFatCarbsProtein
1/3 lb raw chicken breast w/skin 25213.6g0g30.6g
2 cups romain160.3g3.1g1.2g
3 anchovy fillets12.50.5g0g2g
2 Tbsp Caesar Dressing228.325.5g0.2g2.4g
1 1/2 Tbsp parmesan31.52.1g0.3g3g
Total (serves 1)540.342g3.6g39.2g

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Notes:

  • Nutrition is based on the products I use. I provide a nutrition table so that you can quickly check to see if your food products match or so that you can easily calculate the nutrition for any changes you want to make to the recipe. I think this helps if you have very specific diet goals and/or fitness and/or health goals. I also wanted you to be able to see exactly where I get the numbers for my nutrition facts so that you can see that they are reliable and learn more about macro breakdowns of food.

Works Cited

1. Nutritionix. Gladson. https://www.nutritionix.com/ Accessed 5 October 2021.

2. Calorie Kinghttps://www.calorieking.com/ Accessed 5 October 2021.

3. Eat This Muchhttps://www.eatthismuch.com/ Accessed 5 October 2021.