Fusilli Caesar Salad
The best caesar salad ever with a secret ingredient – Hawaiian bread croutons! The croutons are so good, you’ll want to eat all of them first before digging into the salad!
Caesar salad is one of my absolute favorite salads to order when eating out. But I always feel a little silly paying $12 for a salad when it has such few ingredients – romaine lettuce, parmesan cheese, croutons and dressing. So I decided to whip up a super easy, budget-friendly caesar salad right at home, along with a secret ingredient that will knock your socks off .
Yes, I so went there. I croutonified my all-time favorite rolls – King’s Hawaiian. And here’s the best part – making your own croutons is the easiest thing ever! All you have to do is slice up your rolls into cubes, toss them with melted butter and your favorite herbs, and pop them into the oven for 5-6 minutes. That’s it!
And seriously, these are the best croutons I’ve ever had. They were amazingly crunchy but still sweet and tender on the inside, just soaked with all that buttery goodness. I even got the approval from Butters!
Fusilli Caesar Salad
Ingredients
- 8 ounces fusilli pasta
- 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
for the croutons
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 (12-count) package KING'S HAWAIIAN Original Hawaiian Sweet Dinner Rolls, diced into 1-inch cubes
For the dressing
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 anchovy fillet, rinsed, dried and chopped, optional
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, butter, parsley, oregano, basil and garlic powder.
- Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Stir in olive oil mixture and gently toss to combine. Place into oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 4-5 minutes; set aside.
- To make the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, Parmesan, lemon juice, olive oil, Worcestershire, anchovy, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste; set aside.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well and let cool.
- To assemble the salad, place romaine lettuce in a large bowl; top with pasta, Parmesan, salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the dressing on top of the salad and gently toss to combine.
- Serve immediately, garnished with croutons.
Did you make this recipe?
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Disclosure: This post is sponsored by King’s Hawaiian. All opinions expressed are my own.
Chung-Ah: I have been looking for “just the right” Caesar Salad Dressing recipe for longer than I care to remember; your recipe looks spot on! Will make this soon. Great idea to use sweet Hawaiian bread for the croutons. The sweetness should pair nicely with the dressing and lettuce flavors, and will be a nice change from the sourdough bread I normally use.
That pic of salad is just too gorgeous and Butters sniffing it..awww too cute!
Caesar Salad is my husbands favorite meal, and he’s going to love this variation on the classic!
This is so simple yet so delicious looking. Love the twist on the croutons.
A great salad. Thanks so much.
Looks damn delicious indeed! Pinning!
I lovve salade caesar ! Is beatiful photography 🙂
Bye
Manuella
I love the pasta in this salad! It looks so yummy. Also, your puppy is so freaking cute 🙂
That picture of your dog is SO cute!
I just made bread pudding out of Kings Hawaiian and fell in love with the stuff…you’re right, I want to eat the croutons before they go in the salad! Yummo! Pinned!
King’s Hawaiian is the best! I could seriously eat the entire package of 24 buns in the blink of an eye.
This looks so delicious – i love your secret ingredient! Perfect for the summer 🙂
Anisa – The Macadames. xx
http://www.themacadames.com
I love love love Caesar salads too, especially when featuring smokes salmon, mmm!
That’s great you bulked it out with a bit of pasta as well, will keep you fuller for longer 🙂 Great recipe, and the crusons sound magic! x
This salad looks delish! Perfect for summertime. Love the idea of Hawaiian roll croutons. Can’t want to try it.
Hawaiian bread croutons??!! Be still, my heart. Now THAT is a crouton! and you used my favorite shape pasta for this salad, too 🙂 I love this whole recipe!
I had a feeling you’d like this one! And fusilli is my favorite too. That and rotini, although they’re pretty much the same!