This dip makes me so happy. I love living life because of dips like this. THIS is a dip worth sharing with your friends. It’s really good! I created this as part of a series about making popular salads into dips. Caesar salad dip is something I’ve been seeing in the recipe zeitgeist and I wanted to get it in my BELLY! I layered this dip with a creamy cheese, Caesar dressing base then topped it with chicken, romaine, prosciutto, croutons, and shaved Parmigiano Reggiano and wow. I have no idea why cream cheese dips don’t have lettuce on them, but yes they will be from now on. Let’s talk about it!

Cream cheese is root of all delicious dips, hands down. Don’t argue with me. A big lesson I learned from making salads into dips, is cream cheese. Whenever you want to make a dip that hasn’t been a dip on the internet before, just add a soft cheese. It works.

Thinking about Caesar salads, we know a few MUST haves in this dip. Caesar dressing is the number one MUST for the base of this dip. I found a good store brand of dressing in Lighthouse. It does the job and it does it well. The flavor of this dressing is quite strong, so it will masque the taste of the cream cheese and also lighten the texture. Fresh lemon juice will brighten the dip the way it does in the salad which is the second MUST.

The base of the dip is made, now we assemble with mix-ins. I knew I wanted to add chicken because lettuce croutons and cream cheese just doesn’t sound satisfying enough. Use pre-cooked chicken and toss with a tablespoon or two of dressing to add flavor and EXCITEMENT. When I first made this and added the chicken, there was no excitement. It lacked it. The chicken needs to be tossed in something to give it flavor. Even if it’s juicy, freshly made chicken, it still needs something more. I’m even okay if it’s just lemon juice, but please give it some love before laying it.

Then we layer with freshly shredded romaine. The lettuce does surprisingly well holding it’s form with the toppings. My favorite addition to this dip by far is crispy prosciutto. Not enough people know to throw your prosciutto on a pan in the oven and get it crispy like bacon. It adds SO MUCH!

Finish up the dip with last two must have components–broken croutons and GOOD parmesan cheese. This is the thing that will be displayed on top of your dip. Don’t skimp on this step. If you don’t know any good store brand croutons to buy just make them yourself. I almost want to just eat this dip with a spoon because of the delicious croutons. Parmigiano reggiano is a great cheese, but so it Grana Padano, and so is Boar’s Head Parmesan. Shave it yourself, it melts it your mouth so much better. Serve the dip with something crunchy. Crunchy crunchy crispy creamy yummy!