Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts
This Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts is a fresh twist on the classic, featuring crisp romaine, smoky bacon, tender artichoke hearts, crunchy homemade croutons, and a creamy homemade Caesar dressing. It’s an easy gluten-free salad that’s perfect as a side dish, hearty lunch or served alongside grilled chicken, steak, or seafood for an easy dinner recipe.
What I love about Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts
Lately, we’ve really been on a Caesar salad kick, specifically this Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts—and honestly, we’re not mad about it! We’ve been in full salad mode for a while now, rotating through favourites like Greek salad, garden salad, and most recently, this Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts. It’s quickly become our go-to, and for good reason.
This version is absolutely loaded with flavour. It’s packed with the best toppings and tossed in a rich, creamy homemade Caesar dressing that brings everything together beautifully. What makes it even better is the mix of hearty greens I like to use. Instead of just romaine, I usually combine kale, spinach, spring greens, and romaine for an added boost of nutrition—and variety in texture. Of course, romaine on its own works just fine, too!
One of my favourite parts? The homemade croutons. They’re not only incredibly easy to make, but they’re also a great way to use up any old bread you have lying around. And as a bonus, this recipe makes a bit of extra dressing, which you can stash in the fridge for next time—making future salads even easier to throw together!
Recipe Notes and Ingredient Tips for Caesar Salad
A few things to keep in mind:
- Greens – Romaine works best for caesar salad because its hearty and can hold up under the thick caesar dressing. If you want to add more nutrients, consider mixing romaine with baby kale, arugula or spring greens. You could also do a straight kale caesar salad as kale is also hearty.
- Green onions – Slice the green onions thin so that they’re more tasteful and less intense.
- Bacon – You can’t have a caesar salad without bacon! Of course, if you’re vegetarian you can omit this from the recipe; no problem!
- Artichoke hearts – I love artichoke hearts, they’re delicious in dips, on pizzas and in salads! They add a bit of tanginess to this salad. You will need marinated artichoke hearts for this recipe.
- Hard ripened cheese – Moreover, what’s a caesar salad without parmigiana cheese! For this, you can use either Grand Padano, Parmigiana or Asiago; they all work.
For the Homemade Caesar Dressing:
- Real mayonnaise – I recommend using real mayonnaise for best results as it is the base and main ingredient of the dressing. Bonus points if you use all avocado oil mayo with no seed oils!
- Anchovy paste – Anchovy paste is what gives caesar dressing its unique and distinct flavour! You can find this at any grocery store. It’s usually near the seafood counter.
- Garlic – Garlic is an important ingredient as well! I recommend using fresh minced garlic for this.
- Capers – Capers are delicious in this dressing as well. Make sure you chop them super fine before adding to the dressing.
Caesar Salad with Bacon and Artichoke Hearts
Equipment
- 1 Baking Sheet
Ingredients
For the caesar dressing:
- 3/4 cup avocado mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste
- 3/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon capers (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 cup shredded parmigiana cheese
- 1/8 teaspoon each sea salt and black pepper
For the salad:
- 1 medium-sized head romaine lettuce or two romaine hearts
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 10-12 strips organic bacon cooked and chopped
- 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts quartered
- 1 cup shredded parmigiana cheese
- 6 cups gluten-free bread or sourdough, cubed
- olive oil spray
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Make the dressing by adding all of the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until fully combined.
- Make the croutons: preheat the oven to 375F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the cubed bread to a large bowl and spray with olive oil. Toss once and then spray again to evenly coat the bread pieces. Add garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and toss again to coat.
- Lay the bread pieces in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes or until crisp and golden.
- Wash, chop and spin the romaine and add it to a large bowl. Add your desired amount of dressing and toss until all of the leaves are coated.
- Add the artichoke hearts, green onions, bacon and parmigiana cheese on top.
- Garnish with homemade croutons and enjoy!
Notes
- Greens – Romaine works best for caesar salad because its hearty and can hold up under the thick caesar dressing. If you want to add more nutrients, consider mixing romaine with baby kale, arugula or spring greens. You could also do a straight kale caesar salad as kale is also hearty.
- Green onions – Slice the green onions thin so that they’re more tasteful and less intense.
- Bacon – If you’re vegetarian you can omit this from the recipe; no problem!
- Artichoke hearts – You will need marinated artichoke hearts for this recipe. They’re often found near the olives and pickles at the grocery store.
- Hard ripened cheese – You can use either Grand Padano, Parmigiana or Asiago; they all work.
- Real mayonnaise – I recommend using real mayonnaise for best results. I like the avocado oil mayonnaise.
- Garlic – I recommend using fresh minced garlic for this.
- Anchovy paste – Anchovy paste is what gives caesar dressing its unique and distinct flavour! You can find this at any grocery store, usually near the seafood counter.