Chicken Caesar Sandwich With Bacon

To round out our month of “all things Caesar”, we give you a delicious, easy Chicken Caesar Sandwich With Bacon Recipe!

This sandwich encompasses all of the great things about Caesar dressing, chicken and club sandwich ingredients all rolled up in one great sandwich!  We have flavorful pan sautéed chicken, Caesar aioli with fresh Parmesan cheese and crispy bacon on a bun as a stand in for the croutons.  Yum!  Ready in under 30 minutes.

How To Make Our Chicken Caesar Sandwich With Bacon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a cast iron or oven proof 12” skillet in oven to preheat, you will be using this to cook the chicken.  Line a baking tray with foil to make clean up easier.  Add bacon in single layer and bake for about 15 minutes or until you get the crispiness you like.

While the bacon is cooking get the aioli and other ingredients going.  The Caesar aioli recipe is super easy to make with store bought mayonnaise, anchovy paste and fresh lemon.

If you want to further cut down on time, you can just add 2 Tablespoons of your favorite store-bought Caesar dressing to the mayonnaise and leave out the garlic, anchovy paste, Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice indicated in our recipe.  I’m biased to our homemade aioli………….just saying.

Mix the Caesar aioli together and set aside.

How To Cook Our Chicken Caesar Sandwich

Place chicken thighs in a freezer zipper bag and lightly pound with a rolling pin (or heavy pan) to even out the thickness of the chicken.  So only pound the thicker side.  A few whacks should do it.

Sprinkle chicken with kosher salt and pepper.

Preheat a skillet over medium heat, add 2 Tablespoons canola oil.  Once hot, add the chicken and cook about 4-5 minutes on one side, flip and finish cooking, about 3-4 more minutes.  It’s hard for me to give exact timing because it depends on the thickness of your chicken, the weight of your pan and the type of stove you are cooking on. 

The key is to not overcook the chicken.  Cut open the thickest part to make sure that it is cooked through, it should still run with clear juice when you cut into it.

Wash and dry Romaine lettuce, tear into pieces that will fit the buns.

Remove cooked chicken to a cutting board or plate and tent loosely with foil. 

Wipe out the chicken pan with a paper towel, you don’t need to get it completely clean.  Put cut side of bread down in the pan to brown the bread.  You may want to spread some mayo (not the seasoned Caesar aioli) on the buns to help give it a golden brown color.

Spread top and bottom buns with the Caesar aioli, place a piece of lettuce on the bottom bun, top with chicken, bacon halves and tomato.

I know tomato isn’t usually included in Caesar salads, but this chicken Caesar sandwich begs for a nice, juicy slice of tomato.

Anchovies and Anchovy Paste

Where do I find anchovy paste……….and by the way, what the heck is it?  You’ll find it in a tube (actually the tube is in a box on the shelf) that’s about 1” X 5” near the tuna section or by the tomato paste section of your grocery store.

 Anchovy paste won’t win a beauty contest, but the umami taste it adds is amazing.  Remember the old saying, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”?  Well, anchovy paste falls in this category.

Anchovy paste is great for people that don’t want to mash the actual anchovies and want a more subtle taste.  It’s a salty paste made from mashed anchovies, oil, vinegar and sometimes sugar.  It’s not as potent as smashing anchovies yourself so no need for a fishy taste or bad breath.  Once opened you can keep the paste in the refrigerator for up to 18 months, same goes for oil packed anchovies.

It’s actually many cook’s secret ingredient.  So much so that you’ll see a full post on anchovy paste soon.

Ingredient Substitutions For Chicken Caesar Sandwich With Bacon

Chicken Thighs – sub with chicken breasts, just make sure not to overcook them since breasts dry out quicker.  They also are usually bigger than thighs so you will need to cut them in half to fit the bun most likely.

Bacon – Pancetta, pastrami or any salty meat will do.

Garlic aioli – mix 2 Tablespoons of your favorite Caesar salad dressing with one cup of mayonnaise.

Anchovy paste – mash up 2-4 anchovy fillets and add a teaspoon of olive oil. 

Kasier rolls – your favorite bread.  Ciabatta or pretzel rolls are good choices.

Make Ahead Tips For Chicken Caesar Sandwich With Bacon

You can make the Caesar aioli up to a week before using, store in refrigerator.

Lettuce can be washed, dried, rolled in paper towels in the morning.  Or place the paper towel rolled lettuce leaves in a resealable plastic baggie for up to a week.

Bacon can be cooked and stored for up to a week in the refrigerator.