Meat Smoke Fire

07446 960303 or 07780 605282
hello@meatsmokefire.co.uk

Chicken Caesar Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad

Chicken Caesar Salad is an iconic salad, originally created in Mexico and became mainstream in the US in the 1950s.

This dish was cooked for us by Ross Geach from Padstow Kitchen Garden at the 2025 Big Green Egg Dealer day.  It was delicious and Ross told us that his preferred method of making the dressing was using a coddled egg.

A coddled egg is gently cooked in its shell for about a minute in near-boiling water.  Bring water to a gentle boil, lower the egg into the water for 1 minute.  Remove and crack immediately.  The coddled egg helps thicken the dressing and adds the richness and creaminess that we’ve all come to expect from a chicken caesar salad dressing.

Cooking surfaces

Cast Iron Skillet
200C
Plate setter icon

BBQ Temperature

200C

Ingredients

For the chicken salad

  • 3 chicken thighs
  • 2 gem lettuces, quartered

For the Salad Dressing

  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp dijon mustard
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tin of anchovy fillets

To Serve

  • Croutons (we used 2 stale flatbreads)
  • 1/4 cup grated or parmesan cheese shavings
  • anchovy fillets, optional
  • salt and pepper to season

Method

For the salad dressing

  1. Combine oil, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt, mustard, garlic and lemon juice. Whisk until all the ingredients are blended together.
  2. Coddle the egg.  Heat 3 cups of water to boiling.  Gently lower the egg (still in its shell) into the water and leave for 1 minute.  Remove the egg from the water to cool.  Once cooled, crack and whisk the egg into the dressing.
  3. Add your desired amount of anchovy fillets into the dressing and whisk.  Any spare can be used for garnish.
  4. The dressing should taste a bit salty and be lovely and smooth.  Set aside until you’re ready to assemble the salad.

    To cook the chicken thighs

    1. Setup your Egg for an indirect cook at 180°C with the stainless steel grid and skillet.
    2. When you’re ready to cook, place the chicken in a pan and roast until caramelised evenly on both sides.
    3. It will take about 15 to 20 minutes to cook the chicken to reach an internal temperature of 74°c.
    4. Remove the chicken from the Egg and allow to rest in foil whilst cooking the lettuce.

    To cook the lettuce

    1. Take the lettuce quarters and place in the pan that the chicken was cooked in.  You’re looking to warm and brown the lettuce on all sides.  It takes about 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

    To cook the croutons

    1. We used 2 flatbreads that we had leftover, which we cut up into small pieces.
    2. We added a drizzle of oil to the pan and added the pieces of bread.
    3. We seasoned with a bit of salt and toasted them until golden brown.  It takes about 5 minutes.

    To serve

    1. Place the cooked lettuce in a large bowl.
    2. Remove the thigh meat from the bone, shred or slice the chicken and add to the lettuce.
    3. Drizzle over some dressing and a generous grind of black pepper.  Give the salad a good zhuzh!
    4. Serve the salad onto two plates.
    5. Top with some toasted croutons and parmesan cheese.
    6. Finish with some anchovy fillets, optional
    0