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Pesto Caesar Salad with Castelvetrano Olives

January 16, 2024

Pesto brings an herbaceous garlic note to the classic caesar salad party. We add tons of grated parm (of course!), shredded rotisserie chicken, and plump Castelvetrano olives to make this salad shine.

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Pesto Caesar Salad with castelvetrano Olives, shredded chicken, parmesan and homemade croutons on a plate
Photography by Gayle McLeod

Our Best Pesto Caesar Salad Recipe

A classic Caesar salad has almost everything we love. Normally the unctuous lemon dressing is a standalone, but since we want to eat pesto in everything during the summertime, we added a small scoop of pesto to our Caesar Salad Dressing. This salad is great with any grilled meat–you can peruse Our Best Grilled Chicken Recipes or the 30 Best Grill Recipes for ideas.

Romaine, shredded chicken, croutons, castelvetrano olives and ingredients to make pesto caesar salad in prep bowls

Ingredients You’ll Need For Pesto Caesar Salad

  • Classic Caesar dressing – egg yolks, anchovy filets, garlic cloves, roughly chopped, lemon juice, and a neutral oil

  • Pesto – ¼ cup of store bought or Homemade Pesto Dressing

  • For the salad – romaine lettuce, finely grated Parmesan cheese, shredded rotisserie chicken, Castelvetrano olives, Homemade Croutons

egg yolks, anchovies, garlic, salt, and lemon juice in a glass jar next to an immersion blender to make pesto Caesar dressing
egg yolks, anchovies, garlic, salt, lemon juice, olive oil, pepper and pesto in a glass jar  to make pesto Caesar dressing
homemade pesto Caesar salad dressing being scooped out of a glass jar
Pesto Caesar Salad with castelvetrano Olives, shredded chicken, parmesan and homemade croutons on a plate

How to Make Homemade Pesto Caesar Salad

  • Make the dressing. You’ll need a tall wide mouth mason jar and an immersion blender. Add the egg yolks, anchovies, garlic, salt, and1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Blend the dressing in the jar, about 30 seconds. Continue blending and gradually pour in the oil, being sure to keep the blender flat on the bottom of the jar. Slowly lift the blender up to incorporate the remaining oil. Add the remaining lemon juice, pepper, and pesto, then blend until combined.

  • Make the salad. In a large bowl toss the lettuce with the dressing along with half of the grated Parmesan cheese, chicken, and olives. Top with the remaining Parmesan, croutons, and pepper to taste.

Pesto Caesar Salad with castelvetrano Olives, shredded chicken, parmesan and homemade croutons on a plate

How to Store Pesto Caesar Salad + Tips

  • Since romaine lettuce is quite hardy, the dressed salad can withstand a couple of days as leftovers in the fridge. While you can easily freeze pesto alone, we wouldn’t recommend freezing any other parts of this salad.

  • Castelvetrano olives are amongst our favorites. They’re meaty and mild, and less salty than most olives, they are great for snacking and perfect for this caesar salad. Castelvetrano olives are amongst our favorites. They’re meaty and mild, and less salty than most olives, they are great for snacking and perfect for this caesar salad. You can find them in our Baked Cod with Parsley Olive Tapenade and Salami, Jalapeño & Olive Pizza with Honey.

  • On rotisserie chicken: Using shredded rotisserie chicken is an easy shortcut, but if you feel like grilling chicken or have other chicken leftovers to use, go for it!

  • On pesto: We call for a small amount in this recipe, which is ideal for using up leftover homemade pesto you might have lingering in the fridge. If you have pesto from the store, that works great too! Perhaps you made our One Pot Pesto Chicken and Rice and have some leftover pesto to use–this is the time!

Pesto Caesar Salad with castelvetrano Olives, shredded chicken, parmesan and homemade croutons on a plate

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Pesto Caesar Salad with Castelvetrano Olives

  • Serves:  6
  • Prep Time:  10 min
  • Cook Time:  0 min
  • Calories:  558

Ingredients

Pesto Caesar Dressing

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 anchovy filets, roughly chopped
  • 2 medium garlic cloves, roughly chopped
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • ½ cup avocado oil or other neutral oil
  • ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more for serving
  • ¼ cup pesto, homemade or store bought

Salad

Method

  1. Make the dressing. To a tall mason jar, add the egg yolks, anchovies, garlic, salt, and1 tablespoon of the lemon juice. Use an immersion blender to blend the dressing in the jar, about 30 seconds. Continue blending and gradually pour in the oil, being sure to keep the blender flat on the bottom of the jar. Slowly lift the blender up to incorporate the remaining oil. Add the remaining lemon juice, pepper, and pesto, then blend until combined.

  2. Make the salad. In a large bowl toss the lettuce with the dressing along with half of the grated Parmesan cheese, chicken, and olives. Top with the remaining Parmesan, croutons, and pepper to taste.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories 558
  • Protein 28 g
  • Carbohydrates 4 g
  • Total Fat 37 g
  • Dietary Fiber 1 g
  • Cholesterol 159 mg
  • sodium 880 mg
  • Total Sugars 1 g

Pesto Caesar Salad with Castelvetrano Olives

Questions & Reviews

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  • Lily

    This salad is SO good! Ended up using a store bought olive basil pesto to save myself some time and it turned out great! Thank you for another fabulous recipe :)

    Thanks Lily, we are so glad you loved it!

  • Joe

    a great take on chicken caesar. grilled chicken with Italian herb mix and added red onion to the salad. Delicious!

    Thanks Joe, so glad you loved it!

  • Jenn

    My family loves caesar salad but this was such a fun twist on an original. The pesto was such a fun delicious and addition and the homemade dressing is *chef's kiss*. Made the croutons as well and they outshine store bought by far!

    Thanks Jenn, so happy you enjoyed this one!