Name: Grilled Caesar Salad with Homemade Caesar Dressing
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 2 organic hearts of romaine; 1 tbsp olive oil (for brushing on the romaine); 1/4 cup red onion (diced); 4 tbsp parmesan cheese; 6 slices thick cut bacon (diced and cooked); 2 cups croutons; 8 tbsp homemade caesar salad dressing; 1 large free range egg; 1 tbsp mustard; 1 tbsp anchovy paste; 2 cloves garlic (red russian is best! ); 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; 2 tbsp lemon juice; 1 tsp salt; 1/2 tsp pepper; 3/4 cup olive oil

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This delicious grilled caesar salad is a fun and classy way to serve a caesar salad to guests and especially great for a backyard BBQ with your family and friends.

It’s delicious with some little charred bits and the homemade caesar dressing is so easy and good. You will never buy caesar dressing at the store again!

Debbie and I are loving this grilled caesar salad. It tastes so good with that little char on them and this creamy, garlicy homemade caesar dressing drizzled all over, topped with red onions, crispy bacon and parmesan cheese. You eat this caesar salad with a knife and fork or you could pick it up and eat it with your hands.

I first had a grilled caesar salad when Kevin’s good friend, Eldon, made one for us when we were camping last year. He drizzled his in olive oil, fresh minced garlic, bacon bits and red onions, wrapped it in foil and grilled it on the bbq. I fell in love instantly.

We ate it alongside our steak and potatoes while we sat around the fire, talked all night, drank copious amounts of wine and listened to the loons across the lake from our campsite.

I recommend a couple glasses of wine with this salad. Everything is better with a couple glasses of wine. No?

Toppings for the Salad

Here is the list of everything you could put on this grilled Caesar salad or any in caesar salad. Pick and choose what you like:

romaine lettuce or hearts of romaine
bacon
parmesan cheese
croutons
onions
garlic
tomato
grilled chicken
caeser salad dressing

Classic Caesar Salad Toppings

When you read the list above you might have been taken aback by a few of the choices. Maybe the tomato? We’re just saying that you could put that in and I have and I liked it! However, the traditional ingredients in a caesar salad are as follows:

romaine lettuce
parmesan cheese
croutons
caesar salad dressing with lots of garlic
salt and pepper

What is the heart of the romaine lettuce?

The heart of the romaine is the inside part of a head of romaine lettuce. The leaves are tender and sweet and perfect for any salad. They are also more compact than the rest of the leaves which makes them easy to grill.

We use hearts of romaine in this grilled caesar salad. You can buy them in any grocery store, usually in a pack of 3.

How to Make this Grilled Caesar

First get your toppings ready. Chop and cook your bacon, get out your croutons or better yet, make your own amazing croutons, chop your onions.
Make the caesar dressing. Get all your ingredients except for the oil into a good blender or food processor. Blend those up until they are smooth and then pour in the oil VERY SLOWLY as the blender or processor is on. The mixture will become thick and beautiful! Season with salt and pepper and pour into a serving container.
Heat up your grill and when its nice and hot, cut your romaine hearts in half and brush them with a little olive oil. Place the cut part down on the grill and grill for two or three mins or until the greens start to wilt just slightly and you have nice grill marks on them.
Take them off the heat and place half a heart on a plate, top with your toppings and the dressing, Serve right away.

So so SO good!

Caesar Salad Dressing

We make our own caesar dressing. It’s easy and it tastes a million times better than anything you can get in the store. However, if you use a pre made one, choose one that’s stored in the fridge section. They taste the most like homemade, we think…

We really encourage you to try to make your own. Give it a shot! Check out our Caesar salad dressing recipe and I don’t think you will ever go back!

I am going to go out on a limb here and announce that this is the best Ceasar salad and dressing that I have ever had!

What to serve with your grilled salad:

try our homemade croutons with this salad – if you have never made your own, you are in for a serious treat!
grilled flank steak – soooooooo good and perfect with this salad
potatoes with garlic and dill – our favorite!
this hibiscus lemonade sangria or our blackberry & peach sangria are perfect bbq cocktails and always great for entertaining!

Other Salad Recipes You Might Like

Kick Ass Homemade Salad Toppings

maple roasted pecans – simply THE BEST
homemade croutons – so easy & good that you will never want to buy them again

If you’ve tried this grilled caesar salad recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments below. We love hearing from you!

We love to see your creations! Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM