Hot Pepper Chicken Caesar Sub with Burrata & Crunchy Croutons

Loaded spicy chicken sub with Caesar salad, burrata, and chilli oil on grilled focaccia.

This sandwich came together the way a lot of my best ones do—starting with one bold idea and layering it with elements that just made sense. I knew I wanted a chicken Caesar vibe, but not the usual grilled fillet, and definitely not anything dry. So I took ground chicken, seasoned it like a spicy burger mix, and smeared it straight onto a halved focaccia loaf, treating the bread itself like a grill tray. Then I cooked it until the bottom crisped up. The result? A savoury, juicy base with just enough heat and a charred edge from the grill. The meat might not stick to the bread, so bare this in mind when you remove it from the grill.

From there, I built what might be one of the best Caesar-style salads I’ve made for a sandwich—loaded with crunchy rosemary croutons doused in bacon fat (obviously), ribbons of romaine tossed with homemade garlic aioli, shards of pickled red onion, and the bacon itself chopped into chunks and folded through. And then came the burrata. That creamy middle takes the place of egg yolk in a traditional Caesar dressing and adds a luxe texture contrast when you bite through all those crispy, crunchy, juicy layers.

This sandwich lives in the messy-but-worth-it category. You’ll want to eat it fast before the burrata starts oozing and the chilli oil kicks in. It’s smoky, garlicky, creamy, spicy, salty—basically it ticks every single box I care about in a sandwich, and it’s exactly the kind of sub I’d queue for if I saw it being made at a street food stall.

It also turns Caesar salad on its head. Instead of being served with the sandwich, the salad becomes the sandwich. It’s structural. It’s textural. It does the job of lettuce, bacon, dressing, and croutons all in one layer. Plus, I’ve folded in some pickling liquor to cut through the richness and give it a sharper bite, balancing the chilli oil and cheese.

If you want to make it your own, you could swap in grilled chicken thighs or even use leftover roast. But the smeared, grilled ground chicken version adds something a bit mad—in a good way. Think sausage patty meets spicy chicken burger, cooked straight onto bread.

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Why you’ll love this sandwich

1. It flips Caesar salad on its head—literally.
Instead of being a side dish, the Caesar becomes the centrepiece. The bacon, croutons, and lettuce are all tossed together in garlic aioli and stuffed into the sub for texture in every bite. You don’t get a token leaf of lettuce or sad strip of bacon here—it’s a full-fat Caesar layer.

2. The chicken is grilled into the bread.
By smearing seasoned ground chicken directly onto focaccia and grilling it, you get maximum flavour from minimal effort. The fat from the chicken soaks slightly into the bread, crisping up underneath, while the top stays juicy with that smoky heat from the chilli.

3. Burrata and chilli oil take it into indulgent territory.
That rich, soft-centred ball of burrata adds creamy depth in the middle, which gets topped with chilli oil, extra virgin olive oil, and parmesan. It's messy, it’s over the top, and it gives you that proper cross-section moment when sliced.

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This sandwich’s success depends on a few things done right. One: seasoning. Don’t go shy on the garlic powder, Dijon, or the rosemary salt on those croutons. Two: balance. A hit of lemon juice and vinegar from the pickled onion stops it from being overwhelmingly rich. Three: structure. It’s all soft cheese and saucy salad without that crispy bacon and those air-fried croutons.

And finally, don’t skip the burrata. If you’re going to make a Caesar sandwich this extra, you might as well go all the way. Slice into it and let it run.

You’ll find the full step-by-step recipe below—including ingredient amounts, method, and prep/cook times. Let me know if you give it a go—I’d love to see what spin you put on it.