This Caesar salad with tender chicken, crispy bacon, crunchy homemade croutons and my easy caesar dressing makes a lovely summer dinner, packed with flavour.It's filling, but not too heavy, so it makes a great lunch too!
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, over a medium-high heat.
2 tsp oil
Add the bacon and fry for 5-6 minutes, turning a couple of times, until the bacon is browned and crispy.
6 rashers streaky bacon
Remove the bacon from the pan and place on a chopping board.
Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the salt and pepper.
2 chicken breasts, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
Add the chicken to the pan you fried the bacon in.
Fry over a medium-high heat, for 6-7 minutes, turning once, until the chicken is lightly golden and cooked through.
Remove the cooked chicken from the pan and place on a chopping board.
Chop the bacon and chicken into chunky pieces and allow to cool slightly.
Add the chopped lettuce, chicken, bacon, croutons and caesar dressing to a large bowl.
2 heads Romaine lettuce, 100 g (3.5oz) crispy croutons, 4 tbsp Caesar dressing
Toss together until everything is evenly coated in the dressing.
Divide between four bowl and sprinkle on the shaved Parmesan. Serve with extra Caesar dressing.
4 tbsp shaved Parmesan, extra Caesar dressing
Notes
Slicing the Romaine
Slice the end of the romaine lettuce and discard. Separate the leaves and place in a colander. Rinse well under cold water, then give the colander a shake to remove the excess water. Place the leaves on pieces of kitchen paper and pat dry. Layer the leaves on top of each other and slice into strips (I slice mine into 1½cm - 2 cm thick strips).
Can you air-fry the chicken & bacon?
Yes, place the chicken and bacon in the air frier basket with the bacon on top of the chicken and air fry for 15-20 minutes at 180c. Remove the bacon when it is crisp (usually at the 15-18 minute mark) then place the chicken back in and allow to cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, until piping hot throughout and no longer pink in the middle.
Can I make it ahead?
I don't recommend making this ahead fully as the dressing can make the lettuce and croutons quite soggy. However, you can make the chicken and bacon ahead to refrigerate, just cool and store them in an air-tight container.
How to scale up and scale down this recipe
This recipe can be doubled up for a crowd or halved for two people, sticking to the same ingredient ratios.
The nutritional info is approximate per serving, this recipe serves 4, including one serving of crispy croutons, and 1 tbsp of Caesar dressing per serving. It does not include the serving suggestions of shaved parmesan and extra dressing.