Romaine Hearts Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Take your chicken Caesar salad to the next level with grilled romaine hearts and seasoned grilled chicken, drizzled with a quick and easy, creamy Caesar dressing. This dinner recipe is gluten free, low carb and keto, and packed with flavor!

This post is paid for by our partners at Tanimura & Antle® through Kitchen PLAY. We have been buying their produce for years and just LOVE working with them!

ROMAINE HEARTS FROM TANIMURA & ANTLE

Romaine hearts are the crisp, yet tender, inner leaves of romaine lettuce. A whole head of romaine is carefully trimmed of the dark green outer leaves. You’re left with the succulent, lighter green, inner leaves.

You may be surprised to learn that romaine hearts are low in dietary fiber, but they’re also low in carbohydrates, sodium, and fat. And romaine is PACKED with vitamins and minerals. One serving gives you 150% of your vitamin A for the day!

I also love that romaine is a good source of magnesium, potassium, and folate. It’s great to get those through my food in addition to my prenatal vitamins.

At Tanimura & Antle, they carefully hand select each head of romaine lettuce for size and quality. Then they trim the lettuce down, and pack it right there in field. This ensures the freshest product you can get.

I’ve bought chopped and bagged romaine hearts in the past, trying to save prep time. But I’ve found that the quality and flavor of the whole head lettuces are SO much better.

Thankfully, romaine wedge salads are gaining popularity. So for entertaining I often just slice my romaine hearts in half. Everyone gets a half that they can cut themselves, and the presentation is absolutely beautiful.

You can make your wedge salads even more flavorful and impressive by grilling the romaine.

GRILLED ROMAINE HEARTS

Did you know that you can grill lettuce? Romaine lettuce is incredibly versatile. While it’s great in any salad, it’s also wonderful as grilled wedges. Romaine holds up to heat in a way most lettuces don’t.

Romaine has a very slight bitterness to it, and grilling it adds a smoky flavor and a slight sweetness from the caramelization. You’ll be amazed by the depth of flavor!

So let’s get into the details of how to grill romaine hearts.

HOW TO GRILL ROMAINE HEARTS

1. Preheat an outdoor grill, or grill pan to high heat. I prefer the smokiness of the outdoor grill, but will use a grill pan in bad weather.
2. Slice the lettuce in half lengthwise. At this point you can rinse and dry your lettuce. But I usually just do a quick check through for dirt or bugs and use them as is.
3. You can grill romaine hearts plain, or drizzle with oil and season them. While olive oil is traditional for salads, I like to use avocado oil which has a higher smoking point.
4. If desired, drizzle the cut side of each wedge with avocado oil, and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. You can also drizzle with a bit of citrus juice or balsamic vinegar.
5. Place the lettuce cut side down on the grill. If using an outdoor grill, keep the lid open.
6. Grill 3-5 minutes until you have some good char marks and the lettuce is slightly wilted.
7. Now you can use your grilled romaine lettuce as-is for a wedge salad, or chop it up.

HOW TO MAKE GRILLED ROMAINE HEARTS CHICKEN CAESAR SALAD

• Preheat your grill on high for 10-15 minutes. Make sure to scrape off any previous grilling remnants from the grate.

QUICK EASY CAESAR DRESSING

• While the grill preheats, place mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon juice, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and 3-4 anchovies into a blender or food processor.
• Blend until anchovies are completely chopped and incorporated, then refrigerate the dressing until ready to use.

PARMESAN GRILLED CHICKEN

• Drizzle four large boneless skinless chicken breasts with avocado oil and sprinkle all over with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan.
• Reduce grill heat to medium, and grill chicken for 5-8 minutes on each side, depending on the size of the meat.
• Chicken is done when the internal temperature reads 165F on a meat thermometer.
• Remove chicken to a plate or platter and cover with foil.

GRILLED ROMAINE

• Turn grill heat back to high.
• Slice romaine hearts in half and drizzle with avocado oil and lemon juice, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Place on the grill cut side down for 3-5 minutes, until charred. Remove and place on serving platter or individual plates.

ASSEMBLING THE SALAD

• Slice chicken breasts thinly and place on serving platter or individual plates.
• OPTIONAL – Arrange lemon halves and anchovies on the platter, and sprinkle everything with shredded Parmesan. This is great for presentation and for allowing people to include more lemon juice or anchovy flavor on their salads.
• Drizzle the dressing over the whole platter, or allow guests to dress their individual salads.

WANT TO BAKE YOUR CHICKEN? TRY THIS LOW CARB BAKED CHICKEN RECIPE TO TOP YOUR GRILLED ROMAINE HEARTS.

PIN TO SAVE GRILLED ROMAINE HEARTS CAESAR SALAD

Don’t lose the recipe! Make sure you pin it to save for later. If you make these grilled romaine hearts and chicken we’d love to see it. You can leave a photo in the comments of the pin.

GRILLED ROMAINE HEARTS CHICKEN CAESAR PRINTABLE RECIPE

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Yield: 6

Grilled Romaine Hearts Chicken Caesar Salad

Print

Take your chicken Caesar salad to the next level with grilled romaine hearts and seasoned grilled chicken, drizzled with a quick and easy, creamy Caesar dressing. This dinner recipe is low carb and keto, and packed with flavor! While the ingredient list may look long, most of the ingredients are the same, I just broke the amounts down by dressing, chicken, and lettuce to make it easier.

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

Caesar Dressing

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup lemon juice, 2 ounces
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 anchovies, canned in oil
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic, AKA garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Grilled Chicken

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons avocado oil
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon grated Parmesan
• 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Grilled Romaine Hearts

• 3 Tanimura & Antle Romaine hearts, halved lengthwise
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 teaspoons avocado oil
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Optional

• 3 lemons, halved
• anchovies, remaining from the can
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

Instructions

1. Preheat grill on HIGH for about 10 minutes.

Caesar Dressing

1. Place mayonnaise, lemon juice, Parmesan, anchovies, garlic powder, salt, and pepper into a blender or food processor.
2. Blend well until anchovies are completely incorporated. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Grilled Chicken

1. Drizzle chicken breasts with juice from half a lemon and avocado oil. Sprinkle all over with the salt, Parmesan, garlic powder, and pepper.
2. Reduce grill heat to medium and cook chicken (with lid closed) for 5-8 minutes on each side.
3. When chicken internal temperature is 165F, remove to a plate and cover with foil.

Grilled Romaine Hearts

1. Turn grill heat back to HIGH.
2. Drizzle cut side of romaine hearts with juice of half a lemon and avocado oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Keep the lid OPEN. Grill cut side down on HIGH heat for 3-5 minutes, until slightly charred. Then remove.

Salad Assembly

1. Thinly slice chicken breasts and arrange with grilled romaine on a large serving platter or board.
2. You can nest lemon halves between the lettuce and chicken, and top with anchovies and shredded Parmesan if desired.
3. Drizzle dressing over just before serving, or allow each person to dress their own.

Notes

Nutrition Info includes ALL the dressing. I find that we only use half of it, but like having the extra to use throughout the week.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

6 Servings
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 438Saturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 72mgSodium: 1347mgCarbohydrates: 9gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gProtein: 21g