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Caesar salads are a popular classic salad made from romaine lettuce and croutons, then topped with Parmesan cheese and a zesty dressing typically made with lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and a variety of seasonings – plus a raw egg to give the dressing a creamy texture.
But eating uncooked or undercooked eggs can pose some health risks – and because of that, most people these days don’t make a Caesar salad with the traditionally-prepared dressing.
So today, we’re sharing a recipe for Egg-Free Caesar Dressing – and it gives you all of the same creaminess as the version made with egg – plus incredible flavor!
This Egg-Free Caesar Dressing gets its flavor and creaminess from oven-roasted garlic, rendered bacon fat and parmesan cheese – plus a host of other ingredients that you likely have in your kitchen cupboard.
This recipe is similar to the egg-free Caesar dressings that my husband Jack made when working in professional food service kitchens – and now you can make it at home!
P.S. This Egg-Free Caesar Dressing is also a great marinade for chicken!
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Egg-Free Caesar Dressing (and Marinade)
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
- 1 tablespoon bacon fat
- 1 can anchovy filets, drained
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons white wine
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Trim the top off the head of garlic and place it in a doubled sheet of aluminum foil. Pour the one tablespoon of oil over the cut top, wrap the sides of the foil up and pinch closed.
- Roast for one hour.
- In a blender, squeeze out the roasted garlic from the skins and discard the skins. Add all other ingredients and puree for one minute, or until completely blended.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Note: Mixture thickens when chilled. When ready to use, bring to room temperature and pour over cut romaine, croutons and additional Parmesan cheese for a delicious Caesar salad.
- Also, this mixture makes a great marinade. Just spread over boneless chicken and seal in a zip lock bag overnight. The next day grill chicken on your outdoor grill.
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Hi Martha,
This dressing sounds delicious, especially because it is (raw) egg free.
I wonder if there are others out there–like me– who have an irrational aversion to raw eggs in recipes. Growing up, there was never an egg on my mother’s table that wasn’t completely “well done”!!!!
Funny how some memories are stirred by a recipe…
God Bless
Linda
Oh yes Linda – tons of people!! And actually, it’s not at all an irrational aversion especially since some people have gotten very sick eating raw eggs! (Of course – maybe your Mom did have an impact on you…) 🙂 We ourselves typically coddle the eggs (we have a tutorial on our site showing how – FYI) just enough to kill any bacteria but not so much that the egg is actually cooked. But this recipe is a good alternative – avoiding the egg all together. Hope you enjoy the dressing! Thanks for taking the time to write to us today! Martha