Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad – an easy grilled chicken Caesar Salad recipe with a fun grilled chicken marinade option! Healthy + Delicious!
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad 101
There is just something about grilled chicken breast, parmesan cheese, and caesar dressing (try this dairy-free caesar too!) – the flavor combination is out of this world and we can’t get enough! This salad is a regular weekend lunch at our house plus it is so easy to grill up some extra chicken to have on hand for making salads for lunch all week long. So easy and so good!
What You Will Need
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – toss them on the grill and they are ready in minutes! You could use grilled chicken thighs if you prefer.
- Batch of the Best Chicken Marinade – you probably already have the ingredients on hand and the flavor combination will really take your chicken to the next level.
- Romaine lettuce – the base of the salad. You could use iceberg or another lettuce but romaine is definitely our favorite.
- Croutons – choose your favorite and generously toss them on top. Love that crunch! You could also serve with a baguette or grilled bread!
- Shredded parmesan cheese – feel free to use dairy-free if you want but definitely don’t skip it.
- Caesar dressing – we love this Homemade Caesar Dressing (recipe included in recipe card below) or this Dairy-Free Caesar Dressing!
How To Grill The Chicken
We love to give the chicken a little seasoning before grilling the chicken. This can be done by either using a Dry Rub or a Marinade. Either one gives the chicken some great flavor. Once you have your chicken ready to go you can simply follow the easy steps of how to grill chicken breasts. It will ensure that you have juicy, fully-cooked chicken every time!
What Can You Add To A Chicken Caesar Salad
We kept it simple with grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, croutons, parmesan cheese, and caesar dressing but there are so many other items you could also add to the salad. We also love hard boiled eggs, bacon, cherry tomatoes, or avocado!
Meal Prep
This would be a great recipe for meal prep. If you are grilling chicken, toss on some extra to store in the fridge! Then store it separate from the salad so that you can heat it up before you eat. The lettuce can be cut up ahead of time and portioned out into lunch size containers with some parmesan cheese. The croutons should be tossed on right before eating so they don’t get soggy and the dressing should also wait until last so that it doesn’t make any of the items soggy.
How To Make Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
Pat your chicken dry.
Season with chicken dry rub or let it sit in the chicken marinade (you can also just use kosher salt and ground black pepper if you prefer to keep it simple).
Place your chicken on the grill until it reaches an internal temp of 165 degrees, flipping half-way.
Cut up your grilled chicken and add it to a bowl with all your other ingredients.
Enjoy!
Other Recipes You Might Like
Grilled Cilantro Lime Chicken
Chicken Caesar Wrap
Crispy Buffalo Chicken Salad
Easy Shrimp Caesar Salad
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Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 salads 1x
- Category: Salad
- Method: Grill
- Cuisine: American
Description
Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad – an easy grilled chicken Caesar Salad recipe with a fun grilled chicken marinade option and homemade Caesar Dressing! Healthy + Delicious!
Ingredients
The Dressing
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise of your choice
- 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced or grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoons anchovy paste
- 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
The Marinade
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or avocado oil)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce (or tamari or coconut aminos)
- 2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, minced
The Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
- 4 medium-sized boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 4–6 cups romaine lettuce, roughly chopped
- 2 cups croutons of your choice
- 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
The Dressing:
- Combine in ingredients in a small bowl or wide mouth mason jar with lid.
- Whisk to combine in the bowl or put the cover on your mason jar and shake to combine.
The Marinade:
- Combine ingredients in a small bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- Place chicken in a large dish, bowl or silicone bag. Pour over chicken and let marinate for at least 30 minutes.
The Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
- Heat grill to medium heat (approximately 400 degrees F) and ensure grill grates are clean.
- Place chicken on direct heat (direct flame) and cook at medium heat for 4-5 minutes per side.
- Move chicken away from the direct heat (direct flame) so that it is cooking on indirect heat (maintaining the same grill temp) and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes (you don’t need to flip during this point because the chicken will cook as if it is in an oven) or until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reads 160 on your meat thermometer.
- Remove from grill and let rest at least 5 minutes (the chicken will continue to cook during this time and the internal temp will continue to rise up to 10 additional degrees).
- While chicken is resting divide the romaine, croutons and parmesan cheese between 4 large bowls.
- Cut chicken into thick slices or bite-sized pieces and divide between bowls as well.
- Serve with your favorite Homemade Caesar Dressing.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- How to Grill Chicken Breasts: For even more FAQs on grilling chicken breasts, please check out our tutorial post here!
- Parmesan Cheese: Feel free to use regular or dairy-free! We love this dairy-free one!
- Caesar Dressing: This one is paleo is our favorite store-bought version but this homemade version is amazing too! We also have a Dairy-Free Caesar Dressing option!
Yesenia says
THE ABSOLUTE BEST!! My family and I love it.
Jennifer says
This is a new family favorite. The chicken is juicy and the homemade Caesar dressing really takes it over the top. I use homemade bread cubes fried up in olive oil for the croutons. I’ve made it several times now–it keeps finding its way back on the menu!
Erin says
Yay!! Love hearing that, Jennifer!
Alesha says
This salad is absolutely delicious!! I’m dairy-free, so I adjusted as needed, but we ate this for lunch and dinner two days in a row! Lol. My husband said it was the best caesar salad he’s ever had. Will definitely be making this again!
Erin says
So happy to hear that, Alesha!! Thanks for coming back to leave a review!
Gerri says
I made the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad tonight and we throughly enjoyed it. I used the marinade and made the dressing and the croutons and they both were spectacular. Great recipe, Erin!
Erin says
So happy to hear that!! Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave a review!