Caesar Salad

This Homemade Caesar Salad is tangy, delicious and the perfect compliment to almost any meal. If the whole raw egg and homemade emulsion thing either makes you nervous, or it’s just too much work, you can make a simpler, equally delicious version that will last you longer in the fridge – just substitute the 1 cup vegetable oil and the raw egg for 1 cup of mayo (preferably Kewpie, but any mayo will work great).

This post last updated 04/14/2025

Ingredients

1. About 1 cup vegetable or Canola oil (olive oil will get bitter if you beat it up too much)
2. 1 raw egg
   
   Note: Yeah, I know – if this freaks you out, substitute the eggs and oil (ingredients 1 & 2 above) and for 1 cup mayo, and combine with ingredients 3 -9, below
   
   
3. 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4. 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
5. 2 teaspoons dry ground mustard (preferably Coleman’s)
6. 1 tablespoon Anchovy Paste (optional, adds umami!)
7. 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
8. Juice of 1 lemon
9. 2 tablespoons olive oil
10. 2 bunches Romaine Lettuce hearts, roughly chopped
11. 1.5-2 cups croutons (you can make your own, but I usually just use store-bought)

Instructions

In a Food Processor: Combine ingredients 1-8 in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to break things up a bit.  With the motor running, slowly drizzle oil into the mixture until a thick emulsion begins to form.  Go slowly at first; you can add the oil in more quickly once the emulsion begins to stabilize.

Using an Immersion Blender:  An Immersion Blender makes for easier clean-up.  Find a cup the bottom of which is the same size as the head of your immersion blender.  Combine ingredients 1-8 in the bottom of this cup and insert the head of the blender all the way to the bottom.  Pulse a couple of times to break things up.  With the motor running, slowly drizzle oil into the mixture until a thick emulsion begins to form.  Go slowly at first; you can add the oil in more quickly once the emulsion begins to stabilize.

Once emulsified, stir in olive oil.

Combine ingredients 9-10 in a large salad or tossing bowl, season aggressively with fresh ground black pepper and more freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and mix well.  Add desired amount of dressing to salad and toss.