The Best Caesar Salad
The best Caesar salad recipe ever, adapted from iconic San Francisco restaurant Zuni Café. This Caesar salad recipe is the real deal and so good thanks to fresh anchovies, homemade torn croutons (it's easy!), crisp lettuce and lots of cheese.
Servings: 4 to 6 people (about 1 1/2 cups dressing)
Ingredients
For the Croutons
- 4 to 5 ounce hunk of day-old crusty bread
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- generous pinch of salt
For the Salad
- 2 to 3 heads crisp, fresh romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed (about 1 pound of lettuce)
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup mild extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 anchovy filets, preferably salt packed, chopped
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic, from about 3 cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 cold eggs
- lots of freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, from about 1 1/2 lemons
- torn croutons
Instructions
For the Croutons
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut or tear the bread into cubes. Toss with the olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, and roast on a sheet pan for 8 to 10 minutes, until golden brown. Set aside to cool to room temperature.Tip: If the bread is fresh, it may need to cook a little longer to dry out.
For the Salad
- Trim the outer leaves and stump from the heads of romaine. Carefully rinse and dry the whole leaves. To dry the lettuce leaves, pat dry and lay or loosely roll them out on clean dish towels. Refrigerate until ready to assemble the salad.Tip: The leaves must be totally dry, or else you will have "an insipid salad," in the words of chef/owner Judy Rodgers.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, anchovies, salt, and garlic. Add the eggs, about 1/2 cup of the cheese, and 1 generous teaspoon of freshly-ground black pepper.
- Add the lemon juice. Whisk, and taste for seasoning.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the Romaine leaves and most of the dressing and toss thoroughly. Be sure to make sure each leaf is coated with dressing. You may not need all of the dressing. Toss with most of the remaining cheese, reserving a few tablespoons for garnish. Add the croutons and toss again. If you think you need any additional dressing, add it now and toss.
- Divide the dressed lettuce leaves onto salad plates, starting with the largest leaves on the bottom, and stacking loosely from large to small. Distribute the croutons on the salad. The croutons should have absorbed some of the dressing.
- Finish with a final dusting of grated cheese and a few more twists of black pepper. Serve immediately.
Notes
Zuni Café's classic Caesar salad is famously good for a reason, considered by many to be the best Caesar salad recipe ever. This comes from good ingredients, and good technique.
Make sure your Romaine lettuce leaves are perfectly dry to start. Serve your Caesar salad immediately after dressing it so the leaves stay crisp.
Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.
