Healthy Caesar Salad

Healthy Caesar Salad is made with a simple homemade caesar dressing, crunchy sourdough croutons, and fresh parmesan cheese all served over a bed of romaine lettuce. It’s quick, easy, wholesome, and absolutely delicious. These Kale Caesar and Quinoa Caesar Bowls are also favorites.

If you’re looking for a new healthy salad recipe that you could enjoy every day without getting bored, look no further because you’ve found the one. This Caesar Salad is not only easy to make and loaded with flavor, but it’s made with fresh and wholesome ingredients for a meal you can feel good about eating.

The healthy salad dressing we make from scratch for this dish is beyond easy to make and doesn’t even require a food processor or blender. All you need is a few simple ingredients and a small mixing bowl, then you’ve got your delicious homemade dressing. It really is that easy.

Honestly, I could go on all day about how amazing this Healthy Caesar Salad is. I’ve found myself making it at least once a week lately because I just can’t get enough! It’s got the perfect balance of rich and light, making it a fantastic recipe for the summertime. This dish is also super versatile, so you can serve it with absolutely anything you want.

Add your favorite protein source like grilled chicken or lean steak, along with a side of rice or potatoes, and enjoy one of your new favorite healthy salad recipes. I guarantee you won’t be able to get enough!

What You’ll Need for a Healthier Caesar Salad

To make this tasty salad, you will need the following key ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce: This crisp, crunchy green is used as the base of our salad.
• Parmesan cheese: A delicious and salty staple of any Caesar salad! Feel free to use freshly grated cheese or the pre-shredded kind.
• Sourdough bread: This is what we will use to make our own easy homemade croutons. If you want to cut out this step, you can buy croutons at the store.
• Greek yogurt: We use this as the base of our flavorful dressing instead of mayonnaise for a lightened up twist.
• Lemon juice: This adds just the right amount of acidity to our dressing to brighten up the other ingredients.
• Worcestershire sauce: The intense umami flavor this sauce brings to the table is perfect for balancing out the acidity in the dressing.
• Anchovy paste: This is optional, but I highly recommend it for a more authentic Caesar dressing flavor!

Recipe Variations and Ideas

Looking to spice things up? There are plenty of ways to get creative with this delicious salad. Here are some of my favorite easy swaps to switch up this dish:

• Add some protein: You can keep it classic with a grilled chicken breast or try a different protein source like baked salmon, lean steak, or grilled shrimp. Any of these options would be delicious with this salad!
• Cut out the gluten: Instead of using sourdough bread for the croutons, feel free to swap it out for your favorite gluten-free bread. To avoid bread altogether, try adding crispy chickpeas in place of croutons for a salty crunch.
• Use a different green: If you want to use a green base that isn’t romaine lettuce, you absolutely can. Some of my favorite alternatives for this salad are kale and mixed greens, but you can use any kind you like.
• Give it a kick: Are you a lover of all things spicy? Feel free to kick this dish up a notch by adding a pinch of cayenne pepper or a dash of your favorite hot sauce to the dressing. You could also add diced red chilies to the salad if you’d like.
• Swap out the dressing: If you don’t have time to make your own salad dressing or don’t have the right ingredients, don’t stress. You can use any store-bought Caesar salad dressing you like, if that makes things easier.

How to Store Caesar Salad

When storing this dish, I highly recommend keeping the salad separate from the dressing. If the salad is dressed for too long, it will wind up getting soggy and nobody likes soggy lettuce. If you’ve already combined everything, you can store your salad in the fridge for up to 48 hours.

When stored separately in an airtight (preferably glass) container, the dressing will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 1 week. In an airtight container of its own, the salad can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. To keep your homemade croutons nice and crunchy, I recommend storing them in an airtight bag in the pantry for up to 3 days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Below you will find answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about this dish:

How long do homemade croutons last?

I prefer to keep homemade croutons at room temperature, as I’ve found that this is the best way to ensure that they stay crunchy. When stored on the counter in an airtight bag, homemade croutons will keep for up to 3 days. You can also store them in the fridge for up to 5 days, but they won’t be as crunchy.

What do you serve with Caesar salad?

You can serve Caesar salad with anything you like! I typically pair it with lean protein and some type of soup or healthy grain. Some of my favorite dishes to serve with Caesar salad include my Easy Grilled Chicken Breast, Dijon Baked Salmon, and Chicken and Sweet Potato Soup.

How do you store Caesar dressing?

Our healthy homemade Caesar dressing stays the freshest when stored in an airtight glass container like a mason jar. When stored like this, it will keep well in the fridge for about a week. Because it’s a dairy-based dressing, I don’t recommend storing it in the freezer.

Can Caesar salad be vegan?

Of course! To make this dish vegan, you can use a vegan cheese substitute in place of the parmesan or leave it out altogether. You will also need to sub out the Greek yogurt for a dairy-free alternative like coconut yogurt, leave out the anchovy paste, and find a vegan alternative for Worcestershire sauce. To make it easier, you could use a store-bought vegan Caesar dressing.

More Healthy Salad Recipes

Like this recipe? Try these next:

• Spicy Grilled Chicken Salad
• Grilled Watermelon Salad
• Spicy Cabbage and Corn Slaw
• Turkey Taco Salad
• Strawberry and Spinach Salad