Grilled Romaine and Creamy Caper Dressing

Grilled Romaine Lettuce with a simple creamy caper dressing, topped with crispy pancetta and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. This recipe is easy and good, solid served with steak or grilled meats.

Grilling romaine lettuce is one of those things that sounds weird.. like it's not going to work yet it totally does.

The lettuce is grilled on a high heat for a couple of minutes giving it a beautiful smoky char and wilting it ever so slightly.

We like to top the grilled romaine with a simple and really good creamy caper dressing that mainly uses some of our fridge staples followed by crispy pancetta and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Finish it with some freshly cracked black pepper and you're good to go. It's good on its own for lunch or served with steak for an good dinner.

We hope you love this one as much as we do!

See the recipe below including notes on ingredients, step by step photos and tips. See the full printable recipe below.

An overhead shot of all the ingredients needed to make a grilled romaine salad with a creamy dressing and pancetta.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

Romaine lettuce – you can go for medium or large-sized lettuce here depending on how you're serving it. On its own, we'd go large or if serving as a side dish a medium-sized lettuce will do. wash it and dry it before grilling.
Pancetta or guanciale – We usually go for pancetta when making this but have used guanciale a few times and it works as well so use whatever you have. You want it to be nice and crispy.
Parmigiano Reggiano – there isn't a cheese we'd substitute here. We like to use a vegetable peeler to sprinkle shavings of cheese over the top but you can also use a large grating.
Anchovies – for those who don't like anchovies, we only use 3 so you definitely can't taste them. They're worth using in our opinion but you can leave them out if you want.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

Chop the ingredients – finely chop all ingredients for the dressing. We like to use a mezzaluna knife for cutting it finely but that's our preference (photos 1 and 2).

Four photos in a collage showing how to make a creamy caper dressing.

Mix the dressing – mix all the ingredients for the dressing together until well combined (photos 3 and 4).
Fry the pancetta – add the pancetta (or guanciale if using) to a cold pan and turn on the heat. Fry for a few minutes until crispy, set aside (photos 5 and 6).

Four photos in a collage showing how to fry pancetta and grill romaine lettuce.

Grill the romaine – heat a grilled pan until hot (you can also use a bbq grill) and place the romaine lettuce cut side down. Grill for 1-2 minutes until charred and starting to wilt. Remove and set aside (photos 7 and 8).
Serve – place the romaine lettuce on a serving plate and top with some of the dressing (you might not need all of it) followed by crispy pancetta and shavings of Parmigiano Reggiano. Sprinkle over some black pepper and serve.

Recipe tips and FAQs

Don't grill for too long – once your grill is hot your romaine lettuce only needs 1-2 minutes or it'll start to wilt too much and turn soggy.
Leftover dressing – the dressing makes a little more than you'll need for serving. It'll keep for up to 4-5 days in the fridge and can be used as a dip for roast potatoes veggies or on more salad.
Don't over season – the dressing shouldn't need any salt because of the mayonnaise and anchovies. We're then adding salty pancetta on top of the salad so we don't add any salt to this dish at all.

Can we make this in advance?

Yes, you can make all the components in advance and assemble the salad before serving. The salad is best served warm or at room temperature so we recommend preparing the dressing and pancetta then grilling the romaine last minute.

An overhead shot of grilled romaine lettuce topped with pancetta and a creamy dressing.

Ways to serve it

On its own – if you use large romaine lettuces this makes an good lunch all on its own.
As a side – one of our favourite ways to serve this as a side dish to steak…it's SO good!
Grilled meats – serve this as a side to any BBQ grilled meats such as chicken spiedini chicken breasts or sausages. If you're having a BBQ, grill the romaine before the meat then plate it up. It's fine at room temperature for a while.