You can never go wrong with a grilled chicken Caesar salad, and this chopped chicken Caesar salad bagel version is quick, easy, and DELICIOUS. Simply layer your ingredients on a board, and chop away. A wonderful, high-protein idea to prep for lunches throughout the week, or as a speedy, light meal at the end of a busy day.
Chopped Caesar Bagels, at a Glance
⏰ Time: 15 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 2
🛒 Key Ingredients: Cooked chicken, bacon, cottage cheese, Romaine lettuce, parmesan, garlic, Dijon, miso paste, fish sauce
🧠 Skill Level: Super easy
💪 Protein: 58g per bagel
🍳 Make Ahead: The Caesar filling can be made up to 4 days ahead and stored in the fridge.
💃 Perfect For: Quick lunches, meal prep, speedy dinners, using up leftover chicken
💕 Why You’ll Love: All the gorgeous bits of a chicken Caesar salad, chopped together so you get all the flavor in every bite, then stuffed into bagels for a very easy, quick meal.
Big Caesar Flavor in Every Bite
The chopped salad trend has been going on for a while now, and while I was dubious at first (surely it would be much more trouble than it’s worth?), I am very happy to be proven wrong.
The idea is simple – lay out all your ingredients on a large board, then chop them into bite-sized pieces on top of each other. It’s so easy and works surprisingly well.
The wonderful thing about preparing a salad in this way is that, for one, it’s quicker to chop everything at once, plus it means you get all the flavor in every bite.
I’m switching things up with a high-protein version of the Caesar dressing (thank you whipped cottage cheese!), which I HIGHLY recommend, but you can use any Caesar dressing you like if you prefer. If you have time, I also really recommend trying my super easy two-ingredient dough Greek yogurt bagels as well – they take about 30 minutes to make, and you can top them however you like.
While the salad makes a wonderful filling for a bagel, you can use it in any way you like. Try it as a filling in a regular sandwich, as a chunky dip with baked crispy pita chips, or just enjoy it as a chopped salad. It’s a lovely one for lunches or speedy dinners on busy weeknights.
If you’re as much of a chicken Caesar fan as I am, you might want to try these smash chicken Caesar tacos, chicken Caesar pasta salad, chicken Caesar crispy rice salad, chicken Caesar flatbreads, or creamy chicken Caesar dip.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Chicken. Use cooked chicken breast or thighs, or a rotisserie chicken for ease. This is also a great way to use any leftovers you may have from a juicy herb roasted chicken. If you’re looking for a marinade or a recipe to cook the chicken from scratch, I love using this chicken Caesar salad recipe.
- Caesar dressing. For ease, use your favorite store-bought dressing, or you can quickly and easily make your own. For this recipe, I’m using my high-protein Caesar dressing – you’ll need cottage cheese (or Greek yogurt), parmesan, black pepper, garlic, white miso paste and fish sauce.
- Scallions. While not traditionally in a Caesar salad, I love adding them here for a hint of freshness.
How to Make Caesar Chopped Bagels
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the chopped bagels – the full instructions with ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Lay out the lettuce, chicken, and bacon on a chopping board, then chop into smaller pieces.
- Add the Caesar dressing and parmesan, then chop again, making sure to mix all the ingredients with the dressing.
- Fill your bagel with the chopped Caesar salad.
- Slice and enjoy!
Watch How to Make the Bagels
Caesar Bagels FAQs
You can make the chopped salad itself 3 to 4 days ahead of time, then just store it in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.
Use it as a sandwich filling, as a chunky dip to serve with your favorite chips or crackers (I highly recommend pita crisps) or simply as a salad.
Like this recipe? Try these quick ideas next
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Chopped Chicken Caesar Salad Bagels
Ingredients
Method
- Make the dressing.You can either mix the ingredients in a bowl, or pop them into a blender or mini chopper and blitz into a super smooth sauce. I prefer to blend the dressing so the cottage cheese becomes gorgeously creamy!
- Cook the bacon.Add the bacon to a small pan and set over high heat. Cook until super crispy, about five minutes. Remove from the pan.
- Chop the salad.Place your lettuce, scallions, chicken, and bacon on top of each other on a board. Chop everything into small, bite-sized pieces, then add the dressing, parmesan, and a good grind of black pepper. Chop again to mix it all together. You can add more dressing if you like things saucier.
- Arrange the bagels. Slice your bagels in half, then divide the chopped salad between them and enjoy.
