If you’ve spent more than five minutes on the internet at any point this past month, you’ll have noticed many people claiming a Caesar salad with fries and a dirty martini is perfection. A cure-all! The only “correct” thing to eat. But if you’ve spent more than five minutes on Serious Eats at any point this year, you’ll have discovered the Caesar salad has been our Roman Empire for the better part of 2024.
Some of this is to do with the unavoidable era of Girl Dinner. More of it has to do with the fact that people are nostalgic, and most of it is because the Caesar Salad is turning 100 years old on July 4, 2024. All of these things create the perfect environment for a 100-year-old salad to thrive.
So, to celebrate Miss Caesar’s birthday (and, sure, yeah, provide our beloved super fans with some of the most bonkers salad-related content of all time), we’ve put together a little party package. We’ll start with a toast to the salad’s history and rise to ubiquity by Jessica Carbone. We’ll then pour one out for the most classic Caesar salad recipes—the ones that made this all possible. From there, we’ll go full-steam Caesar, with new recipes for things like Caesar Crispy Roasted Potatoes (channeling Cardini’s reinterpretations of a classic moment, of course) and a Caesar BLT, to name a few. We’ll revisit Caesar building blocks in our ‘Essentials’ section, with tips on how to perfect shatteringly crisp croutons. Last but not least, we’ll introduce you to the future of Caesar. It begins with Caesar dust, a shelf-stable Caesar-inspired seasoning blend by Antara Sinha. Our parting gift, in true Serious Eats fashion, is a challenge to see just how many of our beloved Fourth of July recipes we could Caesar-ize for you. Happy Independence Day? Happy triple-digits to a salad?! What a time!
You probably know some of the Caesar salad’s history, but do you know just how much it’s impacted our love of salads? Here’s a look at this iconic salad’s origin story and its evolution into a cornerstone of accessible American cooking.
Sure, she’s perfect just the way she is: crisp, savory, generously salty, and even a little briny. But she’s also capable of growth and change! (See: These are our three interpretations of the classic Caesar salad, as well as our recipe for *the* dressing that binds them all together.)
That crowd-pleasing salad of crisp romaine leaves, crunchy croutons, and a little (or a lot!) of anchovy.
This version has been kicking around on restaurant menus long enough; it was time we give the kale Caesar a Serious Eats-y moment. Here, kale leaves are roughly chopped and massaged until tender before they’re tossed with a creamy, salty, briny Caesar dressing.
Go all out and grill the chicken, the romaine, and the croutons for a grilled chicken Caesar salad that’s a cut above the rest.
Rich with egg and parmesan, and with savory depth from anchovy and garlic, our Caesar dressing is delicious on any salad (not just its namesake).
We at Serious Eats are firm believers that “Caesar” is a mindset. You can, therefore, Caesar (v.) just about anything edible and it’ll improve it. These are the recipes to back up our claim. We encourage you to go forth and Caesar your pasta, sandwiches, potatoes, deviled eggs—whatever! If you can dream it, you can Caesar it.
Thicker like a classic mayonnaise, but with the unmistakable cheesy-garlic-briny flavors of a Caesar dressing. It’s great on everything.
This Caesar BLT is our Roman Empire. It’s got all the components of a BLT paired with briny anchovies, a salty-sweet Parmigiano-Reggiano frico, and lots of black pepper reach imperial levels of flavor.
Exactly as the name implies: the perfect marriage of deviled eggs and Caesar salad.
The main ingredients of Caesar salad—anchovies, garlic, olive oil, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese—reimagined as two different pasta sauces.
This Caesar dip pairs the assertive garlicky anchovy flavor of Caesar dressing with the texture of a cream cheese-based dip. Scoop it up with crunchy vegetables, chips, or salty crackers.
Our favorite crispy roast potatoes, but with a cheesy, umami-rich Caesar spin.
In this twist on the classic Caesar salad, a savory vinaigrette is paired with crisp leaf lettuce, salty Parmesan cheese, and a medley of sweet roasted vegetables.
It’s a simple as it sounds! Dress up sweet and nutty roasted broccoli with savory, crisp Caesar-flavored breadcrumbs. You won’t regret it.
Making a Caesar salad isn’t that hard, but making a Caesar salad great requires attention to details. In classic Serious Eats fashion, here is…more detail than you thought possible to get this iconic salad’s key components perfect.
Extend the shelf life of your stale bread by turning it into crunchy, snackable croutons.
If you’ve reached this far in your Caesar journey, you are now equipped with the skill set to embrace Caesar as a verb. These are the recipes that will give any snack, side, salad, or even hearty main meal a flair of assertive Caesar flavor. Sprinkle with abandon.
A shelf-stable Caesar-inspired seasoning blend. Sprinkle this tangy-savory dust over popcorn, hard-boiled eggs or just about anything.
These breadcrumbs get their savory kick from anchovy paste, grated fresh garlic, and Parmesan cheese. They’re and instant upgrade to any meal.
Serious Eats / Amanda Suarez
