A favorite restaurant meal that you can easily recreate at home, this ultra-filling Cobb salad is ready in about 30 minutes.
Main-course salads are delicious, fresh, and filling. I often make Thai chicken salad, Chinese chicken salad, and taco salad. Cobb salad is one of my favorite lunches to order at restaurants. It's so wonderfully rich and flavorful. I was surprised and delighted to learn how easy it is to make this salad at home.
Ingredients and Variations
See the recipe card for exact measurements. Here are my comments on some of the ingredients.
- Sliced hard-boiled eggs: Sometimes, I slightly undercook them, so they're not exactly soft-boiled eggs but medium-boiled eggs. The yolks are not liquid but soft. Yum.
- Crispy bacon, chopped: Even if you usually like your bacon chewy, it's best to make it crispy for this recipe. You can pan-fry your bacon, make microwave bacon, or cook your bacon in the oven. You can use cubed deli ham instead of crumbled bacon.
- Cooked chicken breast, sliced: I use baked chicken breast, grilled chicken breast, or broiled chicken breast. Sometimes, I use leftover Cajun chicken. You can also use rotisserie chicken and slice or cube it. Just make sure to remove the skin. Cold chicken skin is rubbery.
- Crumbled cheese: I love using gorgonzola or stilton, but you can use any number of crumbled cheeses, including goat cheese and feta. You can even use slices of grilled halloumi cheese.
Instructions
Despite its complexity, making this salad isn't difficult, especially if you prep some of the ingredients ahead of time. The detailed instructions and step-by-step photos are included in the recipe card. Here's a quick overview.
Whisk the dressing ingredients until they emulsify into a smooth, velvety salad dressing.
Arrange the mixed greens on a large serving platter. Arrange the remaining ingredients on top. You can arrange them in any order you like. I usually add them in the following order: chicken, tomatoes, avocado, eggs, bacon, and blue cheese.
Drizzle the dressing on the salad and serve.
This salad is my favorite lunch. I make it every week. I could eat it daily!
Melissa P
Read more comments
This salad is my favorite lunch. I make it every week. I could eat it daily!Recipe Tip
This salad contains quite a few ingredients, and you need to pre-cook chicken, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs to make it.
So, I keep things simple by preparing these ingredients the day before and refrigerating them. They need to be cold anyway. The next day, assembling the salad is a breeze!
Recipe FAQs
Yes, but it won't be as good. Even the Applegate brand, which I'm a big fan of, isn't as flavorful as bacon from the same brand that you cook by yourself.
You can use any salad dressing you like. I like to dress this salad with a simple vinaigrette made of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic. I also add a small amount of Dijon mustard and mayonnaise, which serve as emulsifiers while also adding flavor and creaminess.
This is the salad dressing that I use for almost all my salads. It's simple and delicious. But if you prefer a creamy dressing such as ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing, that's fine. Both go well with this salad.
You could serve smaller portions as an appetizer, but it's usually meant to be eaten as a main-course salad.
The salad greens will become soggy if stored, and the avocado might turn brown, so I don't keep those. But the rest of the salad keeps fine in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Serving Suggestions
The presentation is important here, as you can see in the photos. It's such a gorgeous salad! So it's best to serve it as shown rather than mixed.
You can drizzle half the dressing over the greens and the remaining half over the other ingredients. Alternatively, arrange the salad first, present it at the table without the dressing, and then pour everything into a large bowl, add the dressing, and gently mix.
The perfect drink to go with this salad? A refreshing glass of cucumber water!
Recipe Card
Cobb Salad Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Dressing:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil - extra-virgin
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- Pinch salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
Salad:
- 2 hard-boiled eggs - large, sliced
- 4 strips cooked bacon - crispy, chopped
- 2 baked chicken breasts - medium-size, sliced, 6 ounces each
- 2 cups salad greens
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes - halved
- 1 Haas avocado - sliced
- 2 ounces blue cheese - crumbled
Instructions
- In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients (olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, and garlic powder) until they emulsify into a rich salad dressing.
- Arrange the salad greens on a large serving platter.
- Assemble the salad toppings on top of the greens. I usually add them in the following order: chicken, tomatoes, avocado, eggs, bacon, and blue cheese.
- Drizzle the dressing on top of the salad and serve.
Notes
Make Ahead Tips
This salad contains quite a few ingredients. And you need to cook chicken breast, bacon, and hard-boiled eggs to make it. So, I keep things simple by preparing these ingredients the day before. They need to be cold anyway. I make baked chicken breast (or broiled chicken breast), oven bacon, and hard-boiled eggs the day before, and refrigerate them. The next day, assembling the salad is a breeze!Storing Leftovers
The salad greens will become soggy if stored, and the avocado might turn brown, so I don't keep those. But the rest of the salad keeps fine in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.Nutrition per Serving
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Most recipes are low-carb and gluten-free, but some are not. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate. Please verify it independently. The carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Please read these Terms of Use before using any of my recipes.
Melissa P says
This salad is my favorite lunch. I make it every week. I could eat it daily!
Vered DeLeeuw says
I'm so glad you like this recipe so much, Melissa!