This Garlic Shrimp Caesar Salad combines the classic romaine lettuce with homemade dressing, fresh croutons, and juicy shrimp for a satisfying salad! This is a meal any shrimp lover will adore.
I have a confession to make... Caesar salad is definitely my fake-healthy guilty pleasure. Oh, I know it's a salad, but between the creamy dressing and buttery croutons and parmesan cheese, I really can't say it's good for me. But it's so good! Today, I whipped up this amazing Garlic Shrimp Caesar Salad with homemade dressing and homemade croutons. And, okay, I guess since there's lettuce involved it can't be a totally awful choice right? 😉
If you've hung around this blog for any significant length of time, I'm sure you've noticed I have a very obvious love affair with shrimp. I've got soup and enchiladas and pasta and coconut shrimp and tacos. And probably some other things I'm forgetting. This Caesar salad with garlicky shrimp is definitely one of my new favorites! The combination of crisp lettuce, creamy dressing, crunchy croutons, and juicy shrimp is seriously ta-die-for. You can even get real fancy with it and top the whole thing with shavings of parmesan cheese!
If this salad was going to happen, I decided that it needed to be fancy and sound like a real recipe. Being a food blogger, as well as a completely ridiculous human being, I thought it necessary to make both the dressing and the croutons from scratch. I couldn't exactly share a recipe that was like, "Combine lettuce with store-bought dressing and a bag of croutons and throw some shrimp on there". A girl's gotta respect herself 😉 I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly everything came together! While traditional Caesar dressing uses raw egg yolk as a base, I decided to use a mayo base. This made prep supremely easy, and it stretched the fridge life of the dressing a little bit! As for the croutons, I just tossed some French bread with olive oil, butter, herbs, and baked until golden brown. SO simple, and you will love how much better these taste than store-bought!
{crouton recipe adapted from Nutmeg Nanny, dressing adapted from Add a Pinch}
- *for the dressing*
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 2-3 anchovy fillets
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- *for the croutons*
- ½ loaf French bread, cut into cubes
- ½ stick (¼ cup) unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon dry parsley
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- *for the salad*
- 8 cups fresh romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
- ¼ cup shaved Parmesan cheese
- 1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- First, prepare the dressing. In a blender or food processor, combine all of the dressing ingredients, and pulse until smooth and creamy. Set aside until ready to use.
- Next, make the croutons. Preheat oven to 375F, and spread the cubed bread in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake until bread is dry and lightly golden brown, about 10 minutes.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, olive oil, and spices. Toss in the dried bread cubes, then place them back on the baking sheet, and bake for about 10 more minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
- When ready to serve, prepare the shrimp. In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat. As soon as the garlic starts to sizzle, add in the shrimp.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip, season with s&p, and cook for a couple more minutes. The shrimp should be light pink and completely opaque, with a lightly crispy golden crust.
- In a serving dish, arrange the lettuce, top with the shrimp, croutons, parmesan shavings, and finally the dressing. Serve immediately!
Kim says
This sounds amazing! I see it says 4 servings... how big is a serving roughly? Thanks ☺️