BBQ Chicken Caesar Salad

The ultimate BBQ chicken Caesar salad! Garlicky croutons, tender chicken breast, avocado, and a tangy homemade dressing.

This really is the best summer salad. You can’t go wrong with tender and smoky BBQ chicken breast, garlic croutons, creamy avocado, oodles of shaved parmesan cheese, and a homemade lemony Caesar dressing.

I’ll fully admit that I will always be a Caesar salad girl. I don’t care if some people think that makes me basic or unadventurous. I just love it! It’s even better when you ditch the bottled salad dressing and make your own.

Let me tell you about the dressing. I love it because it has a nice zip, great consistency, and you don’t have to bother with making your own emulsion. Making mayo isn’t rocket science, but this dressing takes away the added pressure of getting it right and doesn’t scrimp on taste.

If you’re at all worried about using raw eggs in salad dressing, using pre-made mayo also takes care of that for you. The dressing has a little bit of anchovy to give it that awesome umami flavor. Don’t worry, it doesn’t taste fishy at all.

The croutons are simply bread fried in a bit of butter and garlic, and (as you’d expect) they’re GOOD. Those browned pieces of garlic taste wonderful sprinkled on top of the salad. Add in the avocado and the parmesan, and you’ve got the perfect caesar salad.

I used my potato peeler to shave the cheese 🙂

I made a simple marinade for the chicken and let it sit for about 40 minutes, and it was plenty flavorful. You generally don’t really need to let chicken marinate more than a couple of hours (buttermilk for fried chicken is an exception). I used an applewood hickory BBQ sauce for the chicken. You can, of course, use your favorite, and it’ll taste fantastic!

Will you make this fabulous BBQ chicken Caesar salad?

Questions? Ask me in the comments below!

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BBQ Chicken Caesar Salad

By Natasha Bull

The ultimate BBQ chicken Caesar salad! Garlicky croutons, tender chicken breast, avocado, and a tangy homemade dressing.

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 10 minutes mins

Marinade time: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Servings: 6

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 2-3 chicken breasts

Chicken marinade:

• ▢ 1/2 cup (not packed) brown or demerera sugar
• ▢ 1/4 cup olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ▢ Juice from 1/2 lemon

Dressing:

• ▢ 1/2 cup mayo
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• ▢ 1/8 teaspoon anchovy paste
• ▢ Juice from 1/2 lemon
• ▢ 1-2 cloves garlic minced
• ▢ Salt & pepper to taste

Croutons:

• ▢ 1 tablespoon butter
• ▢ 2 slices bread
• ▢ 1 clove garlic minced

Other:

• ▢ Your favorite BBQ sauce
• ▢ 1 head romaine lettuce torn
• ▢ 1 avocado
• ▢ Parmesan cheese shaved, to taste

Instructions 

• Butterfly the chicken breasts and cut them in half so you have thinner cutlets.
• Add marinade ingredients in a large ZipLoc bag. Marinate chicken (in the fridge) for 30 minutes or up to two hours.
• Make the dressing by combining dressing ingredients (I just mix them using a spoon). Refrigerate until needed.
• Make the croutons by slicing the bread into desired size crouton bits then frying on medium heat with the butter and garlic for about five minutes or until they're golden.
• To cook the chicken, oil the grate and pre-heat the grill (we used a BBQ) to high, then turn it down to medium-high heat.
• Meanwhile, tear the lettuce into bite-size pieces, slice the avocado, and shave the parmesan cheese (I just used my potato peeler!).
• Place chicken on the grill, brush the top with BBQ sauce, turn after about four minutes, brush the other side with BBQ sauce, and cook another four minutes or until it's cooked through.
• Assemble salad by tossing the lettuce, croutons, avocado, and cheese with the dressing. Slice the chicken once it's cooked and place it on top.

Notes

• Serves 4 as an entree-sized salad. Serves 6+ as an appetizer/side.

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