Julia Child's Surprising Secret for the Best Caesar Salad

Depending on who made it or where you bought it, a Caesar salad can take on many forms. However, the one thing it must have is its distinctive creamy dressing, although even this can vary.

Culinary icon Julia Child included Caesar salad in her repertoire, but even hers strayed a bit from what’s often considered the norm. The French Chef's involves some clever techniques and also leaves out an ingredient some think is crucial to the dish.

How Is Julia Child's Caesar Salad Different?

I don’t mind taking some risks when it comes to cooking. I think that’s mostly because I like to eat what I cook. Sure, I mostly make meals for my family, and I take their preferences into consideration, but I’m the one cooking it, so I better like it, too. It’s why there are often pizzas with one-of-a-kind toppings and tacos filled with anything but ground beef on my dinner table, instead of baked chicken and meatloaf.

While I didn’t personally know Julia, I get the sense that she was a risk-taker as well. Of course, The French Chef admired tradition, but she didn’t always adhere to it. For example, Julia's Caesar salad doesn’t rely on anchovies—often a go-to choice for the dressing.

How Did Julia Child Make Her Caesar Salad?

Instead of using anchovies, Julia skips them just like Caesar Cardini, the dish's inventor. Juila was inspired by a childhood visit to Cardini’s restaurant in Mexico, where she also picked up another Caesar technique: keeping the leaves whole and tossing them with each ingredient separately. Sure, this is a bit more time consuming, but building flavor this way ensures each leaf is perfectly dressed and flavorful.

It starts with the tender inner leaves of romaine lettuce, which are left whole and tossed first with olive oil, then a bit of salt and pepper, followed by some fresh lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. After tossing and tasting, she adds a coddled egg—which is gently cooked to maintain a runny yolk—and tosses again until the leaves are evenly coated.

To finish, she adds Parmesan and homemade garlic croutons. After another quick toss, the salad is ready. Originally, the dish was intended to be eaten with hands—a fun but messy experience—so if you’re not quite that adventurous, dig in with a fork and knife.

To Anchovy, or Not?

To me, it doesn’t matter if there are anchovies in Caesar salad; I like it most ways. If I’m making the dish at home, I often leave them out because I don’t usually have any on hand and my daughter isn't a fan. However, if I do have some, I'll use them because they add the perfect saltiness and a subtle umami flavor that works so well with the other flavors in the dish.

Like I said, I’m a risk-taker, so I’ll often play around by swapping ingredients for "traditional" ones and creating my own takes. Maybe I won’t dress each leaf for Caesar individually like Julia or Cardini, but I’m definitely not afraid to eat with my hands.