Buckle up guys! Let’s take two of the greatest things in life: pizza and Caesar salad and combine them into one epic grilled Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza. It’s everything you love about both, layered onto a crispy, golden crust hot off the grill.
Table of Contents
Why I Love This Recipe
This won’t come as a shock to those of you who’ve been reading or cooking from What’s Gaby Cooking for the past few years, but I didn’t have a Caesar Salad until I was well into my 20s... let alone a Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza! Just another thing I missed out on as I was the pickiest eater for the first 20 years of my life. I know it had everything to do with the fact that anchovies typically go into Caesar dressing, and that was WAY beyond my adventurous side back then.
But we’ve come a long way. This Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza is the perfect balance of crispy, creamy, cheesy, and fresh. You get a smoky, charred crust from the grill, melty mozzarella, juicy grilled chicken, and a bright Caesar-dressed romaine salad right on top. It’s summer perfection and one of my go-to recipes when I’m entertaining, guaranteed to impress.
No matter what kind of grill you're working with, this Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza turns out incredible, but here’s how it varies:
- Gas Grill: Easiest for consistent heat. Preheat to 600 degrees, and you're good to go. Fast, reliable, and perfect for weeknight grilling.
- Charcoal Grill: You’ll get the most flavor here thanks to the smoky vibes from the coals. It takes a little longer to heat and control, but totally worth it for that extra char.
- Pellet Grill: Set it and forget it. Pellet grills give you precision control and subtle wood-fired flavor. Just make sure it’s cranked up all the way for the crispiest crust.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pizza dough (store-bought or homemade)
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Mozzarella (fresh or low-moisture both work)
- Parmesan cheese (grated and a small chunk for shaving)
- Chicken breast (can sub with rotisserie chicken)
- Romaine lettuce (can sub with little gems)
- Kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
- Mayonnaise (can sub with Greek yogurt)
- Lemon juice
- Olive oil
- Dijon mustard
- Worcestershire sauce
*For a full list of ingredients and instructions please see recipe card below.
How to Make Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza
Step 1: Prepare a gas or charcoal grill to high heat. Brush the grill with a bit of oil. While the grill is getting warm, make the Caesar Dressing.
Step 2: In a blender or food processor, process the Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, Worcestershire, salt, pepper and garlic until emulsified and smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Step 3: Shape the dough into 2 medium-ish pizzas while on a clean floured surface. Let the dough sit for 5 minutes and then re-form to make sure it's as big as you'd like. Place the pizza dough on a lightly floured rimless baking sheet, or pizza peel. Transfer the dough over to the grill, and slide the pizza dough directly onto the grill.
Step 4: Grill the dough for about 2 minutes with the lid closed. Using a pair of tongs, lift the lid, and flip the dough over onto the other side and cook for about 2 minutes more. The dough should be golden brown with grill marks on both sides.
Step 5: Once the dough is cooked, remove it from the grill and place it back onto the baking sheet. Brush the olive oil over the pizza and sprinkle with garlic.
Step 6: Arrange the mozzarella, parmesan and chicken breast slices on top and place back onto the grill until the cheese has melted.
Step 7: Using tongs, remove the pizza from the grill and top with the dressed romaine leaves and season with salt and pepper as needed. Garnish the Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza with long strips of parmesan cheese. Slice and serve immediately.
How to Store Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza
While best eaten fresh, you can store this in the fridge for a day or two. Warm it up and add the romaine when its time to eat.
Tips & Tricks
High heat is key: Preheat your grill to at least 600 degrees to get that crispy crust and beautiful grill marks.
Chill your dressing: Make the Caesar dressing ahead of time and refrigerate so it thickens slightly and clings better to the lettuce.
Don’t overload the dough: Less is more when it comes to toppings. You want everything to melt evenly and stay balanced.
Make it ahead: You can grill the dough and prep the chicken and dressing in advance, then assemble everything right before serving.
No grill? Use a cast-iron skillet or pizza stone in a 500 degree oven for a similar effect.
FAQs
How do I keep the romaine from getting soggy?
Dress the lettuce right before topping the Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza and serve immediately.
Can I make this vegetarian?
Totally. Just leave out the chicken and load it up with extra cheese or grilled veggies.
Is anchovy in the dressing?
Not this time! This Caesar is anchovy-free, so it’s great for the anchovy-averse (aka my younger self).
Similar Recipes
If you tried this recipe, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting today
Chicken Caesar Salad Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 lb pizza dough
- Olive oil for brushing crust
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 8 ounces mozzarella sliced
- ½ cup grated Parmesan plus small chunk for shaving
- 1 chicken breast grilled and sliced thinly
- 2 romaine hearts washed and dried, cut into ½-inch pieces
- ½ cup Caesar Salad Dressing recipe below
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Caesar Salad Dressing:
- ½ cup grated Parmesan
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
Instructions
- Preheat a gas, pellet or charcoal grill to 600 degrees.
- Make the Caesar Dressing: In a blender or food processor, combine Parmesan, mayonnaise, lemon juice, olive oil, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic. Blend until smooth and emulsified. Chill until ready to use.
- On a floured surface, shape your pizza dough into two medium pizzas. Let rest for 5 minutes, then reshape to desired size.
- Brush one side of the dough with olive oil. Transfer to the grill, oil side down, and cook for 2 minutes with the lid closed.
- Brush the top side with olive oil, then flip and grill for another 2 minutes until golden and marked.
- Remove from grill, place on a baking sheet, and top with sliced mozzarella, garlic, grated Parmesan, and grilled chicken.
- Return to the grill and cook until the cheese melts.
- Remove from grill, top with romaine tossed in Caesar dressing, and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with shaved Parmesan, slice, and serve.
Made this years ago. Tried today it was great thanks
Straight perfection, so so good!
This was absolutely delicious! Of course, we’ve never made a Gaby Dalkin recipe that everyone didn’t totally love….easy to make & the dressing was fantastic. Perfect summer time pizza to make. Thank you for another winner Gaby!❤️
If I premake the dressing, how long will it last in the fridge?
I store dressings in the fridge for about 4-5 days max
This was great! Don’t have a grill so did in the oven @ 500 and used a grill an for the. Chicken
I made this last night for the family- amazing!! I was going to use bottle dressing to save time then realized (too late) I was out. Good thing because the dressing recipe is extraordinary! I still have lots left over for salads this week. Yay!
I made just the dressing and it's absolutely delicious! Definitely a keeper. Thanks Gaby!