Boost Your Chicken Caesar Salad With One Additional Step To The Poultry

Ever thought the thinly sliced chicken sitting atop your Caesar salad was a little bland? Us too. That's why The Takeout turned to Megan McCarthy, founder of Healthy Eating 101 and Atlanta Botanical Garden's Edible Garden Chef, and David Kirschner, founder of dineDK for advice.

One reason why chicken can turn out bland is the type of cut used. "Most chicken for Caesar salad is boneless, skinless chicken breasts, which are seasoned and grilled," Kirchner says. Without the bone or skin, it's tough to impart flavor to the meat, so most restaurants sprinkle on seasoning.

"Traditionally, chicken is grilled or pan-seared with basic seasoning (salt, pepper, olive oil), before being sliced and added to the top of a Caesar salad," McCarthy continued. Unfortunately, bare-minimum seasonings don't always help. Both chefs agree there's an easy way to revive the chicken's flavor. "Marinating will always improve the flavor of the chicken," Kirchner says. "It gives the chicken time to absorb flavors prior to cooking, and helps bring seasoning and additional moisture into the meat itself."

"For tender and flavorful chicken, use acidic ingredients like lemon juice or yogurt in your marinade," McCarthy says. She recommends incorporating the traditional flavors of a Caesar dressing into the marinade, using ingredients like olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, Dijon mustard, anchovy paste, Parmesan cheese, and Greek yogurt. A store-bought dressing that's free of excess sugar and preservatives would work, too. McCarthy whisks the ingredients together and pours them over the chicken, making sure to thoroughly coat the meat with the marinade. She says to let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes or up to 2 hours, but no more. 

Kirchner takes a similar approach. "When you put a marinade together, you should think of it like a sauce. It should have a balance of seasoning, acidity, and fat," he says. "I love to build marinades in a blender and include things like raw Spanish onions and garlic, which can bring big flavor to the marinade, but tenderize the chicken as well." 

To marinate chicken for a Caesar salad, Kirchner offers a couple of ideas. "My ideal marinade would be Spanish onion, garlic, lemon zest and juice, parsley, anchovy, grated Parmesan, and olive oil. I would blend all these ingredients, then pour them over chicken breasts that have been liberally seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, and let it sit wrapped up in the refrigerator overnight." But a marinade isn't the only way to up the ante on your chicken.

If you're not sold on a Caesar marinade to create more flavorful chicken, McCarthy and Kirchner have a few more suggestions. Instead of defaulting to your standard cooking style, switch it up. "Sous vide cooking gives ultra-juicy chicken, wood-fired grilling can add a smoky dimension, or you can try basting the chicken in lemon or herb butter," McCarthy says. Using garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika in a dry rub is another way to boost the flavor factor of the chicken.

Kirchner offers one last option for elevating bland chicken. "I love to use rotisserie chicken as the slow roasting 'on the bone' helps develop a ton of flavor that you can't get from a boneless, skinless chicken breast," he says. If you can't find high-quality rotisserie chicken at the grocery store, Kirchner says to use roasted bone-in chicken thighs instead. "After they're cooked, make sure to let them rest for half the amount of time they were cooked, then cut them off the bone into bite-sized pieces before incorporating them into your salad."