Beautiful Steakhouse Caesar Salad
Recreate the upscale steakhouse Caesar salad in the comfort of your own kitchen! With simple-to-follow steps and styling tips, you'll whip up a restaurant-quality Caesar salad at home without breaking the bank!
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*Easily adjust serving size to your liking by clicking the number under servings or with the boxes below in the ingredients section.
Ingredients
- ½ cup Caesar Dressing homemade or store-bought
- 1 medium or large Romaine Hearts
- 4 leaves Radicchio
- ½ medium Carrot
- 5 slices Sourdough Bread sandwich style
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ⅓ cup Olive Oil
- ⅓ cup Parmesan Reggiano Cheese freshly shaved
- ½ teaspoon Flaky Sea Salt for serving, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Black Pepper fresh cracked
Instructions
For the smashed croutons
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Slice the sourdough bread into ½" cubes and add to a baking sheet.
- Drizzle the croutons with olive oil, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. With clean hands, massage the oil and spices into the croutons. Take the time to cover all the bread pieces with the oil. Break up half of the bread pieces into breadcrumbs, and spread in an even layer on the baking sheet.
- Bake the croutons for 5 minutes on the center rack.
- After 5 mins, remove from the oven an allow to cool on the baking sheet for another 5 minutes.Stir the croutons up and rearrange in an even layer.
- Repeat the last 2 steps 2-3 more times, or until the croutons are golden and crispy.
For the salad
- Cut the root end off of the romaine and carefully break the leaves apart, leaving the romaine leaf whole.
- Carefully remove the leaves of the radicchio from the head, leaving the leaf whole.
- Wash and dry the romaine hearts and radicchio. Lay the leaves out on a clean kitchen towel and carefully pat the leaves dry. (Make sure the leaves are nice and dry so the salad isn't watery).
- If you want to toss the dressing with the leaves, grab a large bowl, using clean hands (or food-safe gloves), and gently toss the leaves with the dressing.
- Using a large platter, lay the romaine hearts out in a decorative manner. Alternate to stems and the head of the romaine to create a balanced look. Place the smaller romaine hearts on top of the larger leaves.
- Tear the radicchio into chunks and scatter them around the romaine. Tuck a few pieces underneath, but peaking out from the romaine to create some depth.
- Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrot lengthwise to create some carrot strips. Distribute the strips over the romaine and the radicchio.
- This is the layer to do it if you want to drizzle the dressing over the salad.
- Add the smashed croutons. Be sure to get a good combo of both croutons and breadcrumbs on the salad.
- Shave the parmesan cheese and sprinkle it on top of the smashed croutons.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper, if desired.
Notes
- Make the Caesar dressing 4–24 hours before serving the salad to get the most flavor out of the dressing.
- The smashed croutons can be made in advance, up to 3 days before serving.
- Use a wedge of Parmesan Reggiano cheese for the best cheese flavor. Shave or grate the cheese right before serving.
- Use a large platter or even a sheet pan (for a crowd) to serve this salad. Have fun with the presentation and get creative!
- Smash the bread with your hands when making the croutons. The textural contrast between the toasted breadcrumbs and the bigger crouton pieces is one of the reasons why this salad is so good.
Nutrition
Calories: 575kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 13gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 7gPolyunsaturated Fat: 12gMonounsaturated Fat: 18gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 1268mgPotassium: 152mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1376IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 163mgIron: 4mg
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