I’ve had many a mediocre Caesar salad in my day. I’m sure you have as well. Sometimes the lettuce isn’t very crisp, sometimes the dressing is bland and tasteless, but when a Caesar salad is done right…it’s heaven on your plate! There aren’t a lot of ingredients needed to make this salad. What takes a ho-hum salad and makes it an outstandingly delicious salad is making sure you use the absolute best ingredients. No bottled dressing allowed!!!
How To Make A Rich & Creamy Caesar Salad With Crisp, Garlicky Toasted Croutons:
Today I want to walk you through the easy steps to making a truly phenomenal Caesar salad. It’s not hard and even if you take the time to shred the cheese, grind the pepper, freshly squeeze the lemon juice and make the croutons, it won’t take more than about 15 minutes to toss this delectable salad together. Your efforts will be greatly rewarded with this absolutely crave worthy, delicious salad!!!
Use the freshest, crunchiest romaine lettuce you can get your hands on. Grate real Parmesan cheese yourself, don’t use the tasteless sawdust in the green canister! Use freshly squeezed lemon juice, grind the black pepper, and take the few extra minutes to make homemade croutons. Yes you can use bottled dressing, and canned cheese, yes you can use store bought croutons, yes you can use lemon juice from the plastic lemon shaped containers. It will still taste a hundred times better than the store bought bagged salads but if you use the best, freshest, ingredients you will end up with the best tasting Caesar Salad to ever grace your plate.
Now many of you, myself included, probably turn up your nose when someone even mentions Anchovies. I typically run away from anything that smells or even remotely tastes fishy. I couldn’t choke down sushi until I discovered soy wraps. The nori wraps ruined it for me. But in all honesty I really think the addition of the anchovy paste in this salad makes a world of difference in the flavor of this dressing. I promise you, the dressing is not fishy tasting at all! If I’m advocating for it, the biggest fishy hater around then you know this is going to be good. The anchovies add that something-something you can’t quite put a name to but makes the dressing oh so very, very tasty! Just trust me on this and add the anchovy paste, you won’t regret it, I promise.
I purchased a tube of anchovy paste at the supermarket (you should be able to find in the aisle near the tuna fish). It was a little pricy but it’s well worth the investment! Heck I’ve spent more on spices for new recipes than what it cost for this tube of anchovy paste. It will keep in the fridge for months so you will have it on hand anytime you get a hankering to make this delicious salad. And once you try it you will be making this salad often!!!
Alright, let get going already! Start by making the croutons. Cut a garlic clove in half.
Rub both sides of each slice of bread with the cut side of the garlic clove.
Cut slices of bread into 1/2 inch cubes.
In a heavy bottom skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Once oil is hot, add the bread cubes. Toss to coat with the olive oil. Stir and cook until bread is toasted and lightly golden brown.
Transfer toasted croutons to a plate lined with paper towels to drain.
Next it’s time to make the dressing. In a mixing bowl stir together Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, anchovy paste, mayonnaise, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, salt and freshly grated black pepper.
Thin with addtional Worcestershire or leamon juice if dressing seems to thick.
Dressing will keep in the fridge for about a week in an airtight container.
Finally it’s time to assemble the salad. Chop ice cold Romaine lettuce and place it in a large bowl.
Add a few tablespoons of the dressing to the chopped lettuce and toss to coat.
Add croutons and toss.
For the crispiest salad, wait to toss the lettuce with the dressing until right before you are serving this salad. The lettuce will start to wilt after it’s tossed with the dressing and sits out for a while.
Serve immediately, garnished with additional freshly shredded Parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.
A HUGE shout out to my best foodie friend Veronica, for turning me on to this recipe, and a big thank you to Jenn at onceuponachef.com for her inspiration for this fabulous recipe!
This post was originally published March 2021 and republished with updated photos, recipe notes, and new content August 2025.
Creamy Caesar Salad with Homemade Toasted Croutons
Equipment
- Anchovy Paste
Ingredients
For the croutons:
- 1 clove garlic, cut in half
- sliced stale French bread
- 2 tbsp olive oil
For the dressing:
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp anchovy paste
- 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- ā cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Ā½ tsp Kosher salt
- Ā½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
For the salad:
- Romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- Shaved Parmesan curls, for garnish
- Freshly cracked pepper
Instructions
Make croutons:
- Rub each slice of French bread with the cut side of a garlic clove.
- Cut slices of bread into Ā½ inch cubes.
- In a heavy bottom skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Once oil is hot, add garlic clove halves and the bread cubes. Toss to coat with the olive oil.
- Stir and cook until bread is toasted and lightly golden brown.
- Disgard garlic halves, they have imparted their garlic essence.
- Transfer the toasted croutons to a plate lined with paper towels to cool.
Make dressing:
- In a mixing bowl whisk together Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, Dijon mustard, and lemon juice.
- Once combined stir in the anchovy paste, mayonnaise, grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
- Dressing will keep in the fridge for about a week in an airtight container.
Assemble salad and serve:
- Place chopped Romaine lettuce in a large bowl.
- Add a few tablespoons chilled dressing and toss to coat lettuce.
- Add croutons and toss.
- Serve immediately, garnished with additional Parmesan cheese and additonal freshly cracked black pepper if desired.
Did You Make This?
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