This Healthy Caesar Salad is made with crisp romaine lettuce, crunchy chickpea croutons, Parmesan cheese, and a creamy, lightened up Caesar dressing made with Greek yogurt. It packs all the flavour you’re used from a classic Caesar but with far less calories and fat than the traditional salad.
Of all the salad options, Caesar is easily one of our favorites. It’s hands down by husbands top choice. What’s not to love about crisp lettuce covered in a creamy dressing and sprinkled with crunchy croutons and Parmesan cheese? It’s creamy, a bit salty, a bit lemony, and downright delicious.
While traditional Caesar salad dressing can pack a lot of calories, this healthy Caesar salad recipe is made with a homemade Caesar dressing that uses a Greek yogurt base. This significantly cuts down a good amount of fat and calories found in your traditional Caesar dressing.
It truly does not disappoint in the taste department, though. This flavorful Caesar dressing hits all the right notes, despite being significantly healthier.
Just a handful of simple ingredients come together to make a delicious dressing that is easily better (and more economical) than store-bought Caesar dressing.
Another bonus? This recipe doesn’t involve any raw eggs and you can easily customize this healthy Caesar salad dressing to suit your own palette. Love loads of fresh garlic in your dressing? Add more. Not a fan of anchovies? Don’t include them. In fact, I usually omit the anchovy paste when I make it.
I love topping this healthy Caesar salad with loads of shaved Parmesan cheese and crispy chickpeas in place of traditional croutons. The roasted chickpea croutons add a nice crunch while adding protein too.
Why we love this Healthy Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpea Croutons
- It tastes like a traditional Caesar salad but is healthier!
- The healthy Caesar dressing is made from Greek yogurt and doesn’t include any raw egg yolks like classic Caesar dressings.
- You can easily tweak the dressing ingredients to suit your own taste preferences.
- It is super quick to whip up!
- Using roasted chickpeas instead of traditional bread croutons means the carbs you are adding to this salad are packed with nutrients.
- Since we don’t use bread croutons, this salad can easily be made gluten free.
- This healthy salad is always a crowd pleaser!
- You can add protein like chicken breast and have the best healthy chicken Caesar salad as a meal instead of a side salad.
Ingredients in Healthy Caesar Salad
- Greek Yogurt: the base of the healthy salad dressing.
- Mayonnaise: Just a little mayonnaise is added to the dressing to add some richness and help the Caesar dressing taste more like a classic dressing.
- Lemon juice: fresh lemon juice gives the salad a bit of acidity and brightness. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best flavor.
- Parmesan cheese: grated Parmesan cheese is used in the dressing and shaved Parmesan cheese is used to top the salad before serving.
- Garlic: minced.
- Dijon mustard: for a bit of zip.
- Anchovy paste: Gives it a classic caesar salad flavor so the dressing tastes like the real deal. The anchovies add a rich, umami flavor to the dressing. While it is a traditional ingredient, I listed it as optional as not everyone is a fan.
- Worcestershire sauce: Make sure to use a gluten-free sauce if you are gluten free.
- Seasoning: Salt and black pepper to taste.
- Romaine lettuce: chopped or torn into bite sized pieces. Romaine lettuce is traditionally used in Caesar salads but if you can’t get your hands on some, you could replace it with a different leafy greens like green lettuce. Kale is another great nutritious option for this salad (I love to make a Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash every fall).
- Roasted Chickpeas: used in place of bread croutons. You can use store-bought or homemade Roasted Chickpeas. If you do prefer regular croutons, you can use those.
**Note: Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the recipe card at the end of this post.**
How to make healthy Caesar salad
1. To make the dressing, place all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together until well combined. Set aside.
2. In a large salad bowl, add the romaine lettuce and as much of the dressing as desired. Toss the lettuce and dressing together until the lettuce is coated evenly.
3. Top the salad with the roasted chickpeas and shaved Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Can Caesar salad be made vegan?
With a few swaps, you can make this a vegan Caesar salad. These are several ingredients that would need to be replaced with vegan alteratives:
- Greek yogurt. You will need to replace the Greek yogurt with a dairy-free alternative like a coconut yogurt.
- Mayonnaise. You will also need to use a vegan mayonnaise or leave it out altogether.
- Parmesan. Since Parmesan cheese plays a prominent role in Caesar salad, a vegan alternative would need to be used.
- Anchovy paste: omit it.
- Worcestershire sauce: it contains anchovies or fish sauce so an alternative would need to be used like coconut aminos.
Can you make this salad in advance?
This salad can easily be prepped in advance to make it even quicker to assemble together (though it truly only takes minutes). While you shouldn’t toss the salad in the dressing in advance since it will get soggy as it sits, you can prepare the components.
The Greek yogurt Caesar dressing can be made in advance and then transferred to a jar with a secure lid and stored in the fridge. It will last a few days in the fridge.
You can place the lettuce in your serving bowl and top it with Parmesan cheese. Then cover it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge.
When you are ready to make the salad, simply toss the lettuce in the dressing and top it with the croutons.
Storing leftover Caesar salad
This salad recipe makes several servings so you can save some for future meals if you don’t use it all. That said, the salad components should be stored separately as described in the section above. The lettuce will get limp if coated in the dressing for too long. As described above, store the homemade dressing in a jar with a secure lid in the fridge. The lettuce can be stored in a large bowl covered in plastic wrap or an airtight container in the fridge as well.
We love this recipe at it makes the perfect side salad for a wide variety of dishes or can be topped with your favorite protein to become the meal itself. I hope you enjoy this recipe!
-Cathy
Looking for more healthy salad recipes? Check out:
Kale Caesar Salad with Roasted Delicata Squash
Cobb Salad with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
Radish Cucumber Salad
Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing
Mixed Berry Arugula Salad
Strawberry Fields Salad
Healthy Caesar Salad with Roasted Chickpea Croutons
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon anchovy paste optional
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (or coconut aminos for a gluten-free alternative)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 clove garlic minced
Salad
- 8 cups Romaine lettuce chopped or torn into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 cup roasted chickpeas
- shaved Parmesan cheese to top the salad, optional
Instructions
- To make the dressing, place all of the dressing ingredients in a bowl and whisk them together until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large salad bowl, add the romaine lettuce and as much of the dressing as desired. Toss the lettuce and dressing together until the lettuce is coated evenly.
- Top the salad with the roasted chickpeas and shaved Parmesan cheese. Serve.
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
