Original Caesar Salad

Today, we are going back to the basics and recreating the original Caesar salad with the homemade dressing. Crispy, tangy, and oh-so delicious!

Disclaimer: Please note, no actual original Caesar salad recipe has been used. This salad recipe has been recreated by using the information from online sources, personal knowledge and experience.  

Jump to:

• The brief history of Caesar salad
• Ingredients
• Preparation
• How to make original Caesar dressing
• Tossing and plating
• Do not forget
• Recipe tips
• Other Caesar salad recipes
• Recipe
• Reviews

The brief history of Caesar salad

Trying to get to the true original recipe, I had to collect the bits from different sources, and articles, including the comments of those who actually tried the salad in the famous Caesar’s Restaurant, in Tijuana, Mexico. 

That’s where the salad was first created in 1920 by Caesar Cardini. He was an Italian restaurateur, who moved from the United States to Mexico to avoid the restrictions of Prohibition.  

Some debate, that the salad might have been created by his brother, Alex Cardini, who named it first “Aviator Salad”. 

It is worth mentioning that to this day at Caesar’s Restaurant, the salad, and the dressing is still prepared table side. The dressing is made with coddled egg yolks, lime juice, Worcester sauce, olive oil, fresh garlic, and Dijon mustard.

Then, the whole romaine leaves are tossed in the dressing and served with extra Parmesan cheese and a single crostini on top. I hope, one day to visit it myself and try the most original Caesar Salad.

BBC Travel has a great article, where you can read about the beautiful preparation performance of the original salad and it also explains why the classic recipe used lime juice instead of lemon. 

Yes, the first-ever Caesar salad was made with lime juice (not lemon) and there were no anchovies added to the dressing (only the Worcestershire sauce). I actually believe it because in Mexico, lime is more common than lemon. 

Ingredients

You can find the ingredients’ quantities in the recipe card below. 

Romain lettuce: you have to use whole leaves. I usually buy a head of romaine head and separate them by leaves. 

Parmesan cheese: you will need some for the dressing and extra for the salad. 

Baguette: original recipe serves it with a single crostini instead of croutons. But you can also make cubed croutons using any time of bread. 

Olive oil: extra virgin olive oil for the dressing and to make the crostini.

Garlic: fresh garlic is used for the dressing and to make the crostini. 

Egg yolk: I use briefly boiled eggs for safety. The yolk needs to remain runny. If you do not like runny yolks, I have the mayo-based Caesar dressing recipe you will like. 

Lime juice: I am using lime juice as it was the original version. You can also use lemon juice or a combination of both.

Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce: these two condiments are for the dressing. You can also use anchovies paste instead of Worcestershire sauce, as it used to be added by preference. The chef believed that the anchovies flavor is way too strong for this salad. 

Preparation

First, follow this step-by-step direction to prepare all the necessary ingredients to make the salad:

Crostini

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper. Slice the baguette thinly and place it on parchment paper. Drizzle it with some olive oil and sprinkle with some salt. Bake for about 8 minutes or until crispy, flipping them once. 

Lettuce

Cut off and discard the stem. Separate the lettuce head into leaves and place them in a bowl with cold water. Gently swirl the water with your hands to get rid of any dirt. Remove the leaves and place them on a towel to dry. 

Raw egg yolk

Unless you see “pasteurized” on a cardboard, the store-bought eggs have not been through the pasteurizing process.

You can easily do it by yourself by placing the egg in a pot with cold water and heat it until it reaches 140°F. Keep the egg in hot water for 3 minutes to kill any possible bacteria on a shell. The water needs to maintain 140°F all time. You will need a kitchen thermometer for this process.

If you do not have a thermometer, you can coddle the egg (my favorite method). I describe how to do it below.

Bring water to a gentle boil. Slowly place a whole egg in boiling water and simmer on the lowest heat for 2-3 minutes. The whites will slightly cook. But you need only the running yolk for the dressing.

Place the egg in cold water after pasteurizing or coddling to stop the cooking process. Crack the egg and scoop the running yolk out. If the yolk cooks slightly you can use it to make the dressing.

How to make original Caesar dressing

Once you have your egg pasteurized or coddled, it’s time to make the dressing. It is surprisingly very easy and takes only a few minutes: 

• Step 1: I am making the dressing in a large enough bowl to toss the whole salad. In a large bowl, add grated or finely chopped garlic clove, the juice of half of the lime (or lemon), Dijon mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. Mix it well with a whisk. 
• Step 2. Now add the coddled egg yolk and mix it well egg until one consistency. 
• Step 3. Add ⅓ cup of grated Parmesan cheese and whisk it again to incorporate the cheese. 
• Step 4. After that, slowly pour the olive oil while keep whisking the dressing. Because of grated Parmesan, it might stay crumbly as it should.  

Tossing and plating

Once you made the dressing, add washed and dried whole lettuce leaves to the large bowl.

Use clean hands or 2 wooden spoons to toss the salad until the leaves are evenly coated with the dressing.

Prepare two plates. Using tongs, divide the salad between the plates and arrange it neatly in a mound. Spoon the leftover dressing form the bottom of the bowl and drizzle it on top if desired.

Add one crostini on top of the salad. Then, sprinkle extra Parmesan and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately!

Do not forget

It is not recommended to consume raw eggs. Handle and cook raw eggs properly to avoid the risk of Salmonella. In my opinion, coddling is the safest method to make the original Caesar dressing. 

Recipe tips

• Serving: the classic Caesar is made with whole romaine leaves, so it should be served with a fork and a knife. It is also a great idea to offer some extra Parmesan and black pepper. 
• Make ahead: you can store washed romaine leaves for up to 3-4 days. Wrap them in a paper towel and store them in an airtight container in the fridge. The homemade dressing with raw eggs should be made right before serving. The mayo-based dressing will remain fresh for 3-4 days in the fridge. 
• Tossing: tossing has been an important step in making original Caesar salad. It helps to coat the leaves evenly with the dressing. You can use clean hands or wooden spatulas to toss the salad. 

Other Caesar salad recipes

Caesar salad is one of the most famous salads in the world. It is not a surprise that after the original recipe, you can find a lot of other delicious variations of this salad:

• Blackened chicken Caesar salad
• Tuna Caesar salad

Recipe