Upgrade your Caesar salad with oven roasted shrimp, homemade croutons, and a fresh, made from scratch Caesar dressing. This restaurant-quality Shrimp Caesar Salad is easy perfect for a quick and satisfying lunch or dinner.
Shrimp Caesar salad is one of my favorite things to order whenever I see it on a restaurant menu. Thankfully, it’s a meal that is easy to recreate at home.
It’s an absolutely lovely choice for a light dinner on a warm summer evening. A glass of crisp white wine is all need to complete this happy situation.
Recipe Highlights
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Big Flavor – My easy 5-minute Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing is loaded with flavor from garlic, anchovies, and fresh lemon. Along with plenty Parmesan, it adds a TON of flavor to this salad.
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Oven Roasted Shrimp – Roasting shrimp in the oven is a great method for quickly and easily cooking a large batch all at once. It turns a basic Caesar salad into an easy but elegant meal.
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Homemade Garlic Parmesan Croutons – A world apart from dry, flavorless store-bought croutons. These easy croutons are toasted in the oven until they are crisp but still a bit chewy. Delicious enough to snack on and heavenly in this salad!
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Quick and Easy – Make the dressing and croutons in advance and it takes just minutes to get this salad on the table.
Ingredient Notes
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Homemade garlic Parmesan croutons – Slice a loaf of French bread into 1-inch cubes. You’ll toss them with extra virgin olive oil, melted butter, garlic powder, and shredded Parmesan before toasting them in the oven.
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Roasted shrimp – Extra large raw shrimp, (26-30 count), peeled and deveined (if frozen, defrost completely according to package directions), extra virgin olive oil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, and fresh lemon juice.
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Greens – For a classic Caesar experience, go with chopped romaine lettuce. You can use one good sized head of romaine or two romaine hearts.
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Cheese – You don’t have a Caesar salad without plenty of grated or shaved Parmesan cheese.
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Dressing – For a restaurant quality salad, use Homemade Caesar Salad Dressing. If using store-bought dressing, look in the refrigerated salad dressing compartment in the produce section for a high quality dressing.
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Lemon – Grab an extra lemon to slice into wedges for serving with the salad.
Ina’s Oven Roasted Shrimp
I first saw the method to roast shrimp in the oven on The Barefoot Contessa. The mighty Ina Garten was making her Roasted Shrimp Cocktail and as soon as I stopped drooling and pulled myself away from the screen, I knew I had to try it.
Why is this a great method? First, I love that you can cook a great big batch of shrimp, quickly and all at once. And, second, I love that it’s a hands-off method that allows you to use those precious dinner-time minutes working on the rest of the meal while the shrimp cooks up perfectly in the oven.
How to Make Shrimp Caesar Salad Make the Croutons
- Place the bread cubes on a rimmed baking sheet and combine the melted butter, olive oil, and garlic powder in a small dish.
- Pour the butter mixture over the bread cubes and sprinkle the Parmesan over the top. Toss until the bread is coated.
- Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until toasted.
Make-Ahead Tip
The croutons can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container, like a zippered plastic storage bag. They will be at their best if used within a day or two.
Roast the Shrimp
- Place the shrimp in a colander and rinse with cold water . Remove tails, if necessary. Drain well, pat dry with paper towels and place them on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Drizzle the shrimp with the olive oil and season with the salt and pepper, to taste.
- Roast in a preheated 400 degrees F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from the oven, squeeze the lemon juice over the shrimp and toss to combine. Set aside to cool slightly while you prepare the other salad ingredients.
Assemble the Salad
- Place the chopped romaine in a large serving bowl. Drizzle a little of the salad dressing over the top and toss well to coat. Add about half the Parmesan and toss again.
- Top with the roasted shrimp, croutons, and remaining Parmesan.
- Drizzle the top of salad with a little additional dressing. Serve with remaining dressing and lemon wedges on the side.
Tips for the Best Shrimp Caesar Salad
Fresh Ingredients – The key to a great Shrimp Caesar Salad is using fresh ingredients. Make sure to use fresh romaine lettuce, super fresh shrimp or frozen shrimp that has been recently thawed, and fresh lemon juice.
Don’t Overcook the Shrimp – Overcooked shrimp can become tough and rubbery, so be careful not to overcook them. The shrimp should only take about 8 to10 minutes to cook in the oven, depending on the size.
Homemade Dressing – Caesar dressing is surprisingly easy to make at home, and it tastes so much better than store-bought. This is the what will make your homemade Shrimp Caesar salad truly restaurant quality.
Serve Immediately – Shrimp Caesar Salad is best served fresh, so make sure to assemble it just before serving.
What Else Can You Add to Caesar Salad?
BLT(A) Caesar – For a pop of color, especially in the summer months, I like to add bright red cherry tomatoes. Garnish the salad with a little crumbled bacon and you’ve got yourself a BLT Shrimp Caesar Salad. Add sliced avocado for the full BLTA experience!
Additional Crunch – Add some toasted nuts to your salad. Walnuts, slivered or sliced almonds, or pine nuts are great choices.
Switch Up the Greens – Swap out half of the romaine for kale to create a kale Caesar salad. Tuscan kale is milder and sweeter than curly kale and adds great crunch to salads. Some people think kale has a bitter taste but the lemony, garlicky Caesar dressing mellows it out. I recommend doing a half romaine/half kale ratio for the best flavor.
Protein – You can swap the shrimp for chicken like in my Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. Chopped rotisserie chicken works well and is a great shortcut. We also love my Blackened Salmon for this salad. The seared, Cajun-spiced fish is just dreamy with the creamy Caesar dressing and crunchy romaine lettuce.
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