This Air Fryer Chicken Caesar Salad is a quick and simple meal that can easily be prepped ahead and tossed together before serving. It's made with fresh romaine, smoky bacon, shredded parmesan, crunchy croutons, and topped with crispy and golden air fried chicken bites. The finishing touch is a creamy homemade caesar dressing made without eggs or anchovies!
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Quick Look: Air Fryer Chicken Caesar Salad
- ⏱ Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 👩🏻🍳 Cook Time: 20 minutes (includes time for both the chicken and bacon)
- ⏳ Total Time: 40 minutes
- 🍽 Servings: 4 light meals
- ⚡ Calories: 592 per serving
- 🔥 Flavor/texture: crisp and crunchy with the classic caesar flavors of salty, garlicky, tangy and savory.
- 👌 Difficulty: easy to make and assemble.
- ❤️ Why you'll love: the air fryer cooks the chicken bites quickly and ensures a crispy breading; caesar dressing is free of raw eggs and anchovies.
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Reasons to love this salad
When I set out to make this recipe, I wanted to take the traditional caesar salad to the next level. Not only did I want crunchy chicken bites tossed in the salad like they were croutons, but I also wanted them cooked in the air fryer for that added crunch without a lot of oil.
I could have used my air fryer chicken bites with breading recipe, but I wanted the chicken cut into even smaller pieces. So, I based the recipe on my air fryer breaded salmon bites, right down to the seasoning and breading technique!
Here's what makes this caesar salad recipe so awesome:
- Air fryer magic: Makes the best crispy chicken without the need for a lot of oil.
- Bite sized chicken: Smaller pieces mean more crispy edges and faster cooking times.
- Zero mess breading: Skip the multi-bowl breading stations, and just toss the chicken cubes in oil and roll them in seasoned panko crumbs.
- No anchovies or raw egg: A rich and creamy dressing made with a base of mayo and sour cream.
Table of Contents
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Chicken: You'll need 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 ½ inch pieces.
- Romaine: I used 2 small heads of romaine but one large should do it. Feel free to use more if you wish. (If you want to change things up, you can also use kale like I do in this vegan kale caesar salad).
- Bacon: In my opinion, a caesar salad is not complete without some chopped, smoky bacon. You'll need ½ cup or about 5-6 slices. To make things a little leaner, you can use this air fryer turkey bacon recipe.
- Croutons: Any kind of crouton will do, but I love sourdough croutons for caesar salads. In this recipe, I used my homemade sourdough croutons with everything bagel seasoning.
- Parmesan: You need some finely grated parm for the caesar dressing as well as for the salad. I always buy a block and grate it myself, which I think is especially important for the flavor of the homemade dressing.
- Caesar dressing: Feel free to use your favorite recipe, or even store-bought, but I promise you, the recipe I'm using is super easy.
Recipe variations
- If you prefer full pieces of breaded chicken instead of bite-sized pieces, feel free to use this recipe for chicken schnitzel in the air fryer.
- Instead of panko breaded chicken, these cornflake chicken tenders get ultra crispy in the air fryer and would work perfectly in a caesar salad.
- Avoid the breading altogether and use these crispy air fryer chicken cutlets, made without flour or panko crumbs.
- If you want to replace the chicken altogether, try this spicy air fryer salmon or these crispy air fryer breaded shrimp.
How to make air fryer chicken caesar salad
Step 1: Add all of the dressing ingredients to a medium-sized bowl and whisk together until combined. Store in the fridge until ready to use.
Step 2: In a shallow bowl, whisk together the panko crumbs, parmesan, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
Step 3: Place the cubed chicken in a large bowl. Drizzle on the oil and gently toss together until well coated.
Step 4: Coat each piece of chicken in the panko crumb mixture.
Step 5: Place the chicken pieces in the basket in a single layer and lightly spritz the tops with oil.
Step 6: Air fry at 400F for 8-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
Step 7: Add the romaine, bacon, parmesan, croutons and chicken to a large serving bowl.
Step 8: Pour on some of the caesar dressing, toss to combine and add more if desired.
Expert tips for making this salad
- Dry your lettuce well. To avoid a soggy salad, make sure your romaine lettuce is thoroughly washed and dried. I usually prep mine a few hours in advance. I dry it in a salad spinner and then store it in a container in between layers of paper towels to absorb any additional water clinging to the leaves.
- Air frying the chicken. For the crispiest chicken bites, make sure you air fry them in a single layer and spritz the tops with oil before air frying. There's no need to flip the chicken bites, so it's pretty hands off.
- Serve the chicken warm. To enjoy the benefits of the crispy chicken, I recommend adding it to the salad when it's warm. Make sure it's not too hot as it will wilt the lettuce. You can add it to the salad cold, just note that the breading will not be crispy.
- Don't drench the salad in dressing. Just pour on a little bit of dressing at a time and toss to combine. You will have some leftover, and that's okay. (It's better to have too much than not enough). If you pour it all on, the salad is just going to be soggy.
Air fryer chicken caesar salad FAQs
The day before, just wash and dry your romaine and store it in the fridge between layers of paper towels. You can also cook your bacon, make the salad dressing and cube up your chicken. The day of, just bread and air fry the chicken, toss everything together and serve. You can also air fry the chicken bites the day before and just reheat them in the air fryer or oven before assembling the salad.
If you know the entire salad will not all be eaten in one sitting, just toss together half the ingredients and the store the remainder separately in the fridge. A fully assembled caesar salad will get soggy in the fridge if it's tossed with the dressing.
While I love this salad on its own for a light meal, for a heartier meal, I usually serve it with garlic bread or this air fryer naan pizza. Throwing some pasta into the salad, like I do with this salmon pasta salad, will also make it more filling.
More air fryer chicken recipes
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📖 Recipe
Air Fryer Chicken Caesar Salad
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- ⅓ cup (90 g) full fat mayo, (or egg-free/plant-based mayo)
- ⅓ cup (90 g) full fat sour cream
- ¼ cup (20 g) finely grated parmesan cheese
- 2-3 garlic cloves, minced or chopped
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the chicken:
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds), cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ cup (45 g) panko crumbs
- 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- spray oil
For the remainder of the salad:
- 1 large head of romaine lettuce, (or 2-3 small), washed, dried and torn into pieces
- ½ cup chopped cooked bacon, about 5-6 slices
- ½ cup croutons
- ¼ cup (20 g) grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Add all of the dressing ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. (Start with ¼ teaspoon of salt and add more to taste). Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use.
- Place the cubed chicken in a large bowl, drizzle on the oil and toss together until the chicken is well coated.
- In a shallow bowl, whisk together the panko crumbs, parmesan, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and salt.
- Coat each piece of chicken in the panko mixture, rolling it around to get all sides.
- Spray the air fryer basket with oil (to prevent the chicken breading from sticking). Place the chicken pieces in the basket in a single layer and lightly spritz the tops with oil.
- Air fry at 400F for 8-10 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165F.
- In a large serving bowl, add the lettuce, bacon, croutons, parmesan and chicken.
- Pour on some of the caesar dressing, toss to combine and add more if desired.
Notes
- Dry your lettuce well. To avoid a soggy salad, make sure your romaine lettuce is thoroughly washed and dried. I usually prep mine a few hours in advance. I dry it in a salad spinner and then store it in a container in between layers of paper towels to absorb any additional moisture.
- Air frying the chicken. For the crispiest chicken bites, make sure you air fry them in a single layer and spritz the tops with oil before air frying. There's no need to flip the chicken bites, so it's pretty hands off.
- Serve the chicken warm. To enjoy the benefits of the crispy chicken, I recommend adding it to the salad warm. Make sure it's not too hot as it will wilt the lettuce. You can add it to the salad cold, just note that the breading will not be crispy.
- Don't drench the salad in dressing. Just pour on a little bit of dressing at a time and toss to combine. You will have some leftover, and that's okay. (It's better to have too much than not enough). If you pour it all on, the salad is just going to be soggy.
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Nutrition Facts per Serving
Disclaimer
Nutrition information is an estimate only and will vary depending on the substitutions made and the brands used.
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