Greek yogurt caesar
A caesar with no raw egg and no litre of oil, built on Greek yogurt instead. It is sharper and lighter than the classic and carries about four times the protein, and the anchovies are optional with a genuine replacement rather than a shrug.
The classic rebuilt on yogurt rather than emulsified egg yolk
Ingredients
Dressing
- 250 g Greek yogurt, full fat, 10 percent rounded
- 50 g parmesan, finely grated, and most is made with animal rennet rounded
- 40 ml lemon juice rounded
- 25 ml olive oil rounded
- 15 g Dijon mustard rounded
- 4 anchovy fillets, optional; a teaspoon of white miso and a few capers replaces them (optional) rounded
- 1 garlic clove rounded
- 4 g coarse black pepper rounded
- to taste fine salt, last, and often none at all rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Blend everything except the salt until completely smooth. The anchovies and garlic must disappear entirely.
- Taste, then salt. Between the parmesan and the anchovies it may well need none.
- Rest 30 minutes. The garlic settles and the whole thing rounds out.
The two things a classic caesar does that this does not
A real caesar is an emulsion of raw egg yolk and oil, which gives it a particular silkiness and means it keeps about a day. This is thicker, sharper and lasts a week, and it is a different dressing that does the same job.
It is also far lighter. A classic caesar is close to 90 percent fat by calories. This is around 45, and a serving carries roughly 6 g of protein rather than 1.
Notes
- For a vegetarian version, leave the anchovies out and use a teaspoon of white miso with a few chopped capers and a splash of their brine. The miso covers the savoury depth and the capers cover the sharp briny edge that miso lacks. Worcestershire is not a substitute, because it contains anchovy too.
- Parmesan and pecorino are usually made with animal rennet, which is the other reason this is tagged as a vegetarian option. Vegetarian hard cheeses work identically.
- Grate the parmesan finely. Coarse gratings will not blend and leave the dressing gritty.
- It keeps a week and thickens. Loosen with lemon juice rather than water, which dulls it.
Ingredient substitutions
- Skyr makes it sharper and higher in protein still. Blended cottage cheese also works and is the highest-protein route of all.
- Anchovies in oil are milder than salt-packed ones. If you use salt-packed, rinse them and use half as many.
Sources consulted
Good with
From Christoph Mayer