Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich
A chicken Caesar salad is a pretty classic dish that you can find on menus pretty much anywhere. There isn’t really much to not like, chicken, bacon, croutons, parm on a bed of romaine lettuce with creamy and delicious Caesar dressing. Sure, there are different kinds of variations you can make like using fried chicken instead of grilled chicken, using fancy thick-cut bacon bits, using a different, more exciting kind of crouton, or making it a kale Caesar, but I hate to say it, at the end of the day, it’s still a salad. That’s why I decided to make this Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich, all your favourite Caesar salad ingredients but in a delicious fried chicken sandwich format.
For this recipe, I dipped my boneless, skinless chicken thighs in an egg wash and then coated them with Italian blend seasoned flour and fried them in canola oil, in a cast iron pan on the Alchemy plancha. While those were cooking, I made the Caesar dressing by mixing a lot of garlic (like 7-8 cloves a lot), onion, anchovies, pickled green chilies, lemon juice, parmesan cheese and Dijon mustard. All those ingredients get blended together in a blender with olive oil. The amount of olive oil can be adjusted based on how thick or thin you like your Caesar dressing. The more olive oil you add, the thinner it will get.
I used thick-cut sourdough bread for my sandwich, and before adding it to the plancha to toast, I added a layer of Caesar dressing to the bread. The sourdough then toasts, Caesar dressing side down. I added a shredded Italian three cheese blend to the slices of bread to get them a bit melty. Instead of bacon, I used Prosciutto di Parma that I crisped up on the plancha at the same time. To build this beauty of a sandwich, I added the crispy prosciutto and then the fried chicken thighs to my toasted, cheesy, melty sourdough, added the shredded romaine lettuce and drizzled it with the Caesar dressing. I closed it up, cut it in half, and got one seriously good sandwich. If you want to find out how to make my Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.
Add two cups canola oil to a cast iron pan on the plancha, let oil heat to between 325F-350F. To make your fried chicken, beat two eggs in a shallow bowl and add in your chicken thighs. Coat the chicken in the egg wash.
In a separate bowl, add the flour and Italian spice blend and whisk together. Transfer the chicken from the egg wash to the flour and toss to coat, making sure to squeeze the flour coating onto the chicken to keep it packed on.
Add to the oil. Let fry about 15 minutes, flipping midway or as needed.
Peel and crush your cloves of garlic and add to a blender. Chop the 1/3 of an onion and add to the blender with the anchovies, pickled green chilies, a splash of the chili juice, juice from three lemons, grated parm, olive oil, and Dijon mustard.
Blend until smooth, adjusting the amount of olive oil depending on your preferred thickness. The more olive oil you use, the thinner your dressing will get.
Cut two thick slices of sourdough bread. Spread a thin layer of the Caesar dressing on one side of the bread.
Place the bread on the plancha, dressing side down. Sprinkle both slices of cheese with ¼ cup of the Italian three cheese blend on each. Let the cheese melt and the bottom turn golden brown. Add the Prosciutto di Parma to the plancha and allow to grill and crisp up.
To build your sandwich, remove the fried chicken from the oil and drain on paper towel. Remove the bread from the plancha and add the crispy Prosciutto di parma on the cheesy side of the bread and add the fried chicken.
Shred the romaine lettuce and add it on top of the chicken. Drizzle the Caesar dressing on top.
Close the top of the sandwich, cut in half and enjoy.
And now for the full recipe...
Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Makes 1 sandwich
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 eggs
1 cup flour
2 cups canola oil
2 tbsp Italian blend seasoning
7-8 cloves garlic
1/3 onion
2-3 anchovies
2 pickled green chillies
Juice from 3 lemons
1 ½ cups shaved parmesan cheese
½ - 1 cup olive oil, based on preferred thickness
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 thick-cut slices sourdough bread
½ cup Italian 3 cheese blend
6 slices Prosciutto di Parma
3 leaves Romaine
How to Make the Fried Chicken Caesar Sandwich
Add two cups canola oil to a cast iron pan on the plancha, let oil heat to between 325F-350F.
In a bowl beat two eggs and add in your chicken thighs. Coat the chicken in the egg wash. In a separate bowl, add the flour and Italian spice blend and whisk together. Transfer the chicken from the egg wash to the flour and toss to coat, making sure to squeeze the flour coating onto the chicken to keep it packed on. Add to the oil. Let fry about 15 minutes, flipping midway or as needed.
Peel and crush your cloves of garlic and add to a blender. Chop the 1/3 of an onion and add to the blender with the anchovies, pickled green chilies, a splash of the chili juice, juice from three lemons, grated parm, olive oil, and Dijon mustard. Blend until smooth, adjusting the amount of olive oil depending on your preferred thickness.
Cut two thick slices of sourdough bread. Spread a thin layer of the Caesar dressing on one side of the bread and place on the plancha, dressing side down. Sprinkle both slices of cheese with ¼ cup of the Italian three cheese blend on each. Let the cheese melt and the bottom turn golden brown.
Add the Prosciutto di Parma to the plancha and allow to grill and crisp up.
To build your sandwich, remove the fried chicken from the oil and drain on paper towel. Remove the bread from the plancha and add the crispy Prosciutto di parma on the cheesy side of the bread and add the fried chicken. Shred the romaine lettuce and add it on top of the chicken. Drizzle the Caesar dressing on top. Close the top of the sandwich, cut in half and enjoy.
