Chicken and Escarole Salad With Anchovy Croutons
- Total Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1¼pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs
- Kosher salt and black pepper
- 6tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
- 4anchovy fillets, plus more if you like
- ¼loaf of crusty bread, torn into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
- 1garlic clove, finely grated
- ¼cup fresh lemon juice, plus more as needed
- 1tablespoon soy sauce
- 1large head escarole or 2 heads romaine lettuce, torn into large pieces
- 1cup parsley, tender leaves and stems
- Pecorino or Parmesan, for shaving
- 4large egg yolks (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
599 calories; 40 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 23 grams monounsaturated fat; 6 grams polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 39 grams protein; 1021 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet (preferably cast-iron) over medium-high heat.
- Step 2
Add chicken, skin-side down, and cook without moving until the pieces are golden brown and crispy, 5 to 8 minutes. Flip the chicken and continue to cook until well browned on the other side, another 5 to 8 minutes.
- Step 3
Move the chicken to one side of the skillet and tilt the skillet a little so that the fat and drippings pool on one side. Add the anchovies and let them sizzle a bit to melt down. Add the croutons, along with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss them to coat in the anchovy-chicken fat.
- Step 4
Place the skillet in the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through and croutons are golden brown and crispy, 12 to 15 minutes.
- Step 5
Meanwhile, whisk the grated garlic, lemon juice and soy sauce in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper.
- Step 6
Place escarole and parsley in a large bowl or on a platter and dress with lemon-garlic mixture. Season with salt, pepper and more lemon juice if you like. Drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and shave some pecorino over the whole thing.
- Step 7
Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest a minute or two. Cut the meat off the bone and thinly slice. Place on top of the salad, along with the croutons. Top each serving with an egg yolk, if using, and more anchovies, if you like.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Wendy
Regular soft-boiled eggs have a liquid yolk, which is probably not cooked enough to kill salmonella. Jammy eggs have a thicker yolk, still bright yellow, but cooked long enough to ensure bacteria are killed. Not just “cute”, but a reference to a specific Bon Appetit cooking method.
Perignon
In my 30+ years as a cook and chef, I find that many people who prefer thighs over breasts in many recipes do so because they don't adjust cooking times and temps properly between breasts and thighs. To each their own, which is what cooking at home is all about, but this recipe works great with bone-in breasts. (I used Romaine hearts)
CJ
Made this exactly as written except minus the shaved cheese at end. Couldn’t resist the anchovy chickeny croutons - and they were delicious. But I followed the advice to use chicken breasts and was reminded of how much I dislike chicken breasts. Will use thighs next time.
Lino
Next time: reduce lemon juice (too acidic this time), and whisk olive oil with lemon/garlic/soy the way they do in France. Also, easy on the salt since cheese,anchovies and soy are salty already.
Kaitlin Y.
I am here for this! Crispy, crunchy, salty, zesty, cheesy, and fresh. It's a beautiful, impressive, easy dinner.
Allan D.
Peter, I've made my own aioli (raw egg yolk)for more than 10 years; never had an issue. Go for it!
RJ
You will find it at the un-gentrified grocery stores!
Kati
The croutons are the best! I tried it with Iranian lavash, and they are perfect - tasty and crunchy! Superdelicious.
Richard
My neighborhood produce stand, on Court Street opposite Union Market, always has escarole.
Cid
Our Caesar salad is made with raw eggs dropped onto the lettuce and then drizzled with lemon juice. I too was freaked out about eating raw egg in my salad when my husband first introduced this concept to me. However, in the 20+ years we've been making this salad, we have never had an issue with the raw eggs.
Lynette
Mmm outstanding. I forgot the anchovies, next time I will add them. Also I used a single thigh and made a perfect one person meal. The baguette croutons were delicious over oven roasted tomatoes. I used Fresh spinach as the base.
Lauren Owen
This was delicious and going into our regular rotation. Just the right combo of crunch, salt, lemon, and flavor. Used romaine hearts and skin-on, boneless chicken breasts. I would recommend a splatter guard for the first part. We'll move the prep for this to our grill when it gets warmer this summer. Thanks!
Sunny
It was delicious! I was afraid it would be too bland but the chicken was very tasty & the dressing was/ lemon /soy sauce/ olive oil with garlic was really yummy.
Denny
Was excited to make this dish, the only thing I didn’t like is that I felt like cooking the croutons in the chicken fat, overpowered them, and gave them an aftertaste. I think I would brush olive oil on them and put some salt and pepper and cook them that way..
Eli W
Delightful! As others have noted, the schmaltzy, anchovy-y croutons are a revelation. I added some thyme to the chicken/croutons which paired beautifully. The rest of the recipe is creative but I found it unnecessary (especially the parsley). Next time I will just make the chicken/croutons and for the rest do a classic ceaser. I found the dressing was a bit too lemony and still missed anchovy, Worcestershire and more Dijon.
Nancy
This was a stunning salad! The croutons were to die for. I used 'jammy eggs' at the end and they worked well. Thank you Alison.
Gaby
So good. Made it as instructed but I did do jammy eggs instead of the yolk because I just didn't trust the eggs I got this time. Next time I'll try it with a yolk.
Laurel W
Wow, this was really really good! Five stars. I made as written, topping with “jammy” egg (simmer 6.5 mins, plunge into ice bath). The escarole is a nice change from romaine.
Henry
Marinated the chicken over night with chopped garlic and cumin in addition to salt and pepper to be better matched with parsley. Other than that, matched all the ingredients and steps with the recipe. Fabulous dish to kick off the summer.
Kirsteen
This recipe is a winner, but we modified it and didn't use salt at each step specified as we felt that it was a bit much--a good move. I adore anchovies, but next time around I'd chop them instead of adding them whole as the odd bite contained a whole, or near-whole, fried anchovy which was a bit too salty. We used a combo of bone-in breasts and thighs, and it worked out perfectly. The crunchy chicken skin was a definite bonus. We also soaked the escarole in cold water to ensure crispness.
Kim C
Inspired by Sam Sifton newsletter, made this last night with CSA romaine plus chicken nuggets sautéed in garlic, anchovy & oil, lots of cheese, extra lemon in dressing, no egg yolk. Delicious.
Barbro Beckett
Used leg quarters with bone in very yummy!!
Melissa
I just have skinless chicken breast. How should I adjust cooking time?
chuckles51
Sam Sifton's advice about substitutions in recipes is the best advice I've heard. In many years of cooking I did the "freak out" thing if I didn't have something. Now I know better and just use whatever I have in the house that's similar to the called-for ingredient. Thank you, Sam Sifton!
Frans Vogels
I like to add poached eggs in stead of raw yolks. Like they do in Lyon- France
Gloryn
Frans did you know that you can make up to 6 “poached” In the oven in a muffin tin? One tablespoon water in each muffin circle bake @ 350 for about 14 minutes....
jmee
This was delicious and an easy one-pan meal. But one word of caution: I way overdid the salt (and I love salt). I salted the chicken, the salad dressing and the croutons as directed. With the anchovies, soy sauce and cheese it was a lot of salt. So will cut way back next time.
Miranda
Totally delicious. Served with jammy eggs on the side so people could add if they wanted. To make more room for the croutons in the skillet, I transferred chicken to a baking sheet to cook. After both chicken and croutons came out of the oven, I poured chicken cooking juice over the croutons and then placed the thighs on top of the chicken to cool before slicing. That way they absorbed plenty of the delicious chicken drippings.
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