Pan-Fried Chicken Caesar Salad
This pan-fried chicken caesar salad is going to make all other chicken caesar salads pale in comparison once you take your first bite. Flavourful panko-crusted chicken, crisp romaine lettuce, garlicky homemade dressing and the easiest croutons you will ever make, you won't want to go back!
Equipment
- Salad Spinner
- 12" Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
CLARIFIED BUTTER:
- 1/2 lb butter
PAN-FRIED CHICKEN:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup panko or bread crumbs
- 1 tbsp parmesan grated
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
SALAD:
- 3 heads of romaine chopped
- 4-5 slices of bacon
- sourdough bread cubed
CAESAR DRESSING:
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp parmesan grated
- 3 anchovies minced
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 2-3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
CLARIFIED BUTTER
- Make the clarified butter in advance. In a glass bowl, pop it into a 200ºF/95ºC oven for 30 minutes.
- Skim off the crusty foam and allow it to cool and set.
- Using cheesecloth, squeeze out the set butter until all the milk solids have been released. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
CAESAR DRESSING
- Using a bowl and whisk, a stand mixer or a food processor, add the yolk and 1-2 tbsp of the lemon juice to the bowl.
- Whisking constantly, slowly stream in a bit of olive oil, hitting the side of the bowl first. You might need to hold off on streaming oil to incorporate everything before continuing. This will thicken into a basic mayonnaise.
- Season the mayonnaise with the anchovies, garlic, parmesan cheese and Worcestershire sauce. Add additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.
PAN-FRIED CHICKEN
- If possible, salt the chicken breasts the night before or the morning of making the salad, if not, salt the chicken half an hour before frying and allow the chicken to warm up.
- Heat a 12" cast-iron skillet and fry the bacon to the desired crispness.
- While the bacon is sizzling, mix the flour, garlic powder, salt, pepper and lemon zest in a shallow baking dish.
- Beat up the egg with a bit of salt in another dish.
- In a third shallow baking dish, mix up the panko bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
- Transfer the bacon to a paper towel and chop it once cool.
- Using a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken a bit to thin it.
- Dredge the chicken in the flour and egg, shaking off the excess, then dredge it in the panko bread crumbs.
- Once the bacon is removed, melt half or all of the clarified butter in the skillet.
- Fry the chicken for 3-4 minutes on each side. When the chicken is done, remove it from the skillet and let it rest for a couple of minutes before slicing.
CROUTONS
- Toss the cubes of bread into the buttery pan and stir them around until they're toasty and golden brown.
THE SALAD
- Toss the salad with the dressing, then assemble it by adding the chicken, bacon, parmesan cheese and croutons.
Notes
CLARIFIED BUTTER:
- This recipe makes a lot of clarified butter. If you don't want to use the full amount for frying, you can halve the recipe, or keep a jar of clarified butter in the fridge for other use. Clarified butter can withstand higher temperatures than regular butter can.
- Use your own judgement when making croutons. Use as much or as little bread as you like.
- I don't flavour the croutons because there's enough flavour in the grease, but if you'd like, you can toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper and your favourite herbs and spices.
- I really encourage you to use the same pan for the bacon, chicken and croutons. Don't wash it in between. The bacon grease imparts a wonderful smokiness to the chicken and you won't need to add anything to the croutons because the grease in the pan is full of buttery flavour.
