Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Published Jul 19, 2023

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This grilled chicken caesar salad combines crisp romaine, marinated grilled chicken and homemade sourdough croutons all tossed in a creamy, healthy caesar dressing.

When I was testing my grilled chicken breast recipe I ended up making a chicken caesar salad one day with the leftover chicken and that’s the recipe I’m sharing with you today!

For this recipe I decided to go the more traditional route and use romaine lettuce as the base of this salad, which is then topped with a creamy homemade dressing, sourdough croutons and grilled chicken. The combo is so good!

I love making this salad for lunch or a light dinner. And the best part is that it’s great for meal-prep because you can prep the croutons, dressing and chicken ahead of time for quicker assembly.

Why You’ll Love This Salad

It tastes like a restaurant-quality caesar salad at home, but is healthier!
It comes together quickly, especially if you prep some of the components ahead of time!
Can be served as a side salad or main dish for lunch or dinner.
It’s totally customizable. Feel free to swap and add any ingredients.

Ingredients measured out to make Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad: romaine, caesar dressing, grilled chicken, sourdough croutons and parmesan.

Ingredients Needed

grilled chicken – for the chicken we’re following my recipe for grilled chicken breasts.
sourdough croutons – I love making my sourdough croutons for this salad. They’re packed with flavor and add crunch and texture to this salad.
caesar dressing – my homemade caesar dressing is made healthier with Greek yogurt instead of mayo and without processed oils, but it still has all the classic flavors you’d expect in a caesar dressing. It’s creamy and so delicious!
romaine lettuce – the traditional base for a caesar salad, which provides plenty of crunch.
parmesan cheese – finish off the salad with some freshly shaved parmesan slices for an authentic Caesar salad feel. Use a vegetable peeler for thin, delicate shavings.

Collage of six photos showing the steps to make Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad: marinating the chicken, baking sourdough croutons, blending homemade caesar dressing, grilling the chicken and then assembling the salad.

How to Make

Cook chicken: Marinate and cook chicken according to the instructions below.

Make croutons: Bake sourdough croutons in the oven, following the recipe below.

Make dressing: Blend together dressing ingredients, until smooth and creamy.

Assemble + serve: Chop romaine into bite-sized pieces and add to two bowls. Top with sliced chicken breast, sourdough croutons and shaved parmesan. Drizzle with caesar dressing and serve!

Substitutions & Notes

Grilled chicken – if you don’t want to grill your chicken, feel free to bake it in the oven or cook it on the stovetop. If you want to cook your chicken in an air fryer follow my air fryer chicken breast recipe. For a short cut use shredded rotisserie chicken or follow my recipe for slow cooker shredded chicken.
Swap the protein – feel free to swap the chicken with another protein of choice like salmon, tuna or shrimp. This blackened salmon would pair perfectly with this caesar salad. For shrimp, follow my recipe for caesar salad with shrimp and for tuna, just add in some drained canned tuna.
Romaine – want to amp up the nutritional value of this salad? Swap the romaine for kale, arugula or spinach. I love this kale caesar salad!
Dressing – want to skip the homemade caesar dressing? Feel free to use your favorite store-bought caesar dressing. Some healthier options include this Primal Kitchen Caesar Salad Dressing or Tessemae’s Organic Creamy Caesar.
Add veggies – want to add more veggies to this salad? Go for it! Broccoli, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, avocado or cucumbers would all be great additions!
Add grains – want to bulk up this salad? Feel free to add in some cooked quinoa or pasta to this salad!
Vegetarian – use a vegan caesar dressing that doesn’t have anchovies or eggs like this Primal Kitchen Plant Based Caesar Dressing or Gotham Greens Vegan Caesar Dressing. And swap the protein with a vegetarian option like tempeh, tofu, hard-boiled eggs or roasted chickpeas (these air fryer chickpeas would be perfect).

Grilled chicken Caesar salad in a bowl with two wooden serving spoons nearby.

Do You Have to Use Grilled Chicken?

Nope, not at all. If grilling isn’t an option, you can still prepare this chicken using your stovetop or oven. While these methods won’t have the smoky flavor of grilling, they’ll still yield a tasty chicken dish.

Stove Top: On the stovetop, heat a skillet and cook the chicken, adjusting the cooking time as necessary.
Oven: In the oven, preheat to 425°F, place the chicken on a baking sheet, and bake for 20-25 minutes until it reaches 165°F.

Grilled chicken caesar salad in two separate bowls.

How to Prep in Advance

If you want the real deal but don’t have time to make everything for these chicken caesar salads in one night, you can prep all of the components in advance for faster assembly. Here’s what I would prep in advance:

Chicken – you can either make the marinade the night before you want to make this salad and let the chicken sit overnight and then cook it when you’re ready to make dinner. Or you can cook the chicken 1-3 days prior for quick assembly on the night of.
Sourdough croutons – so simple to whip up in advance! These croutons store well for up to 1 week.
Caesar dressing – another simple component to prep in advance!

How to Store Leftovers

This chicken caesar salad recipe is great because everything stores so well in the fridge! I recommend storing each component in separate containers. Everything should last 5 days in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to eat, assemble your salad and enjoy! The chicken can be served cold or warm.