Chicken Caesar Salad with bacon is a quick and easy salad recipe! Tender chicken and crispy bacon tossed with lettuce, Parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing is a light and flavorful salad that’s perfect for lunch or dinner.
Have you ever had a super disappointing Caesar Salad at a restaurant? You know, the kind with sad limp lettuce, gloopy dressing and, like, three shreds of Parmesan cheese. The worst, right? Well, this Chicken Caesar Salad I’m sharing is the complete opposite – it’s loaded with tender chicken, crispy bacon, the perfect amount of cheese and, since you’re in control, the perfect-for-you amount of dressing.
When the weather warms up, I love a salad for lunch or dinner, but I don’t want to be left hungry after – I want something satisfying! This salad is all of that and it’s so easy to make. Plus, it’s better than any restaurant version I’ve had.
5 Ingredient Bacon Caesar Salad
- Center-cut bacon
- Thin-sliced chicken breasts
- Chopped romaine lettuce
- Shredded Parmesan cheese
- Store-bought Caesar dressing
For the chicken, I prefer the thin-sliced breasts because they cook a lot faster. You can also use chicken tenderloins.
Have you seen how many different dressings you can get at the store? There are a lot of good-quality ones so I don’t even bother with making dressing from scratch. Just pick your favorite bottled Caesar dressing and call it good!
3 Easy Steps to Make the Salad
- Cook the bacon in a pan until it’s crispy. Place it on paper towels to drain and then crumble it.
- Cook the chicken in the bacon fat until it’s cooked through, about five minutes per side. Let it rest on a cutting board while you assemble the salad.
- Place the lettuce and cheese in a serving bowl. Add the crumbled bacon and cheese. Slice the chicken and add it to the salad along with the dressing. Toss and serve!
During the summer sometimes I make a grilled chicken Caesar salad and cook the chicken out on the grill instead of the stove. I love how the chicken gets those pretty grill marks!
How to Make it Ahead
I like to have this salad for lunches, but I don’t always have time to do the whole thing from start to finish in the middle of the day. Luckily, you can easily prep parts of it ahead so all you have to do is assemble it when you’re ready for lunch
- You can cook and crumble the bacon ahead of time. It won’t be as crispy after it’s sat in the refrigerator, but it still tastes good. Just keep in in an airtight container.
- You can also cook and slice the chicken ahead and it will keep in the fridge for three to four days.
- When you’re ready to eat, just toss the bacon and chicken with the cheese, lettuce and dressing and enjoy!
If you want to assemble the whole salad ahead of time, I don’t recommend letting it sit for too long. It will hold for a few hours in the fridge, but the dressing will wilt the lettuce after too much time. So, if you want to assemble it ahead, just keep all of the parts separate until you’re ready to serve it.
This easy Caesar salad is one of my favorite things to make during the summer. It’s so light, but filling and is full of flavor. I love the crisp, cold lettuce with the chicken and all the crumbled bacon with the dressing. It’s so good!
Other Salads You'll Enjoy
Easy Chicken Caesar Salad Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices center cut bacon
- 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts tenderloins or thin sliced is best
- Salt and pepper
- 4-6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/2 – 1 cup Caesar Dressing
Instructions
- Place bacon in a frying pan and place over medium heat. Fry until crispy, then place on paper towels to drain. Leave the bacon grease in the pan.
- Meanwhile, season both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken in the pan the bacon was cooked in with the bacon grease. Cook, about 5 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your chicken breast, until the internal temperature is 165°F and it’s cooked through and no longer pink. Transfer to a cutting board to rest.
- Place lettuce in serving bowl. Add crumbled bacon, parmesan, and dressing. Slice the chicken breast and toss with the salad.
Notes
Nutrition
This Caesar Salad with bacon is a quick and easy salad recipe. You can easily prep parts ahead of time so all you have to do is assemble if you’re crunched for time. Tender chicken and crispy bacon tossed with lettuce, parmesan cheese and Caesar dressing makes this salad irresistible!
Dorothy is a blogger over at CrazyforCrust.com, where she's been sharing recipes with a slice of life for almost 10 years. She's married to Mel, the other half of Easy Good Ideas, and together they are raising a teenager and dog in Northern California.
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