Chicken Cobb Salad

Published: 07/29/2020 | Updated: 03/26/2024

A Cobb Salad is a traditional American salad loaded with chicken, tomatoes, avocados, hard boiled eggs, bacon, cheese and more! It’s a hearty, dinner salad that’s easy to customize and always a crowd pleaser!

When we go out to eat as a family, it’s almost inevitable that someone in our family will order a Cobb Salad. Which means it’s also inevitable that the rest of us will sit there longingly staring at it and wishing we had ordered it too.

Luckily, it’s really easy to make at home so you can enjoy it any time!

What is a Cobb Salad?

Bob Cobb created the first Cobb Salad for the Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles in 1937. People soon starting asking for the Cobb Salad at other places and it’s picked up steam ever since.

A Cobb Salad is a bed of lettuce that usually features chicken, bacon, hard boiled eggs, ripe avocados, fresh tomatoes, bleu cheese and a vinaigrette.

Different variations have popped up throughout the years (one of my favorites is a shrimp cobb salad!). Where we live, it’s really common to serve a cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing and a shredded cheese like we used.

How Do You Make a Cobb Salad?

One of my favorite parts of the cobb salad is how gorgeous it is! Seeing all those pretty vegetable colors lined up just makes the dish taste so much better. You can easily assemble these in individual salad bowls, but this is one of the few salads that I pretty much always make in a big serving platter just because of how beautiful it is!

Chicken: I want as much flavor as possible so we like to use our favorite grilled chicken recipe. The marinade gives it so much flavor and the slight caramelization from grilling it kicks it up a notch too. Feel free to use a rotisserie chicken, though, as I totally get how much easier that is.

Cheese: Bleu cheese or gorgonzola is normally the cheese of choice for Cobb Salads. You can also use cheddar cheese or another one of your favorite cheeses.

Bacon: I fry up about 6 slices of bacon for this salad, but more is always better when it comes to crispy bacon.

Corn: Save some of that bacon grease and fry up some fresh corn sliced right off the cob (hint, I’ve also used a can of corn if I don’t have any corn on the cob on hand). I fry it in a cast-iron skillet for about 8-10 minutes until it has a slight char to it. Corn isn’t a traditional cobb salad topping, but it’s also not that unusual either. And I pretty much always prefer everything with corn on it!

Onion: I always use a red onion for my salad toppings. It has a milder flavor and doesn’t overpower the other toppings.

Avocado: Pretty much the star of the show of nearly any meal if you ask me! I feel like this is the one topping that is non-negotiable! It’s so much better with the avocado!

Egg: A hard-boiled egg is a standard cobb salad topping. While I know hard-boiled eggs are not hard to make on the stovetop, I’m telling you that this little gadget makes it SO MUCH EASIER! We’ve been using this for 2 years and it never fails us. You can make poached, soft, medium, or hard-boiled eggs and there is absolutely no guesswork involved. I’m not even a big egg eater, but we love this little egg cooker and use it at least once a week!

Dressing: The only thing left is the dressing! While a red wine vinaigrette is the standard dressing for a Cobb Salad, you really can use whatever your favorite dressing is so don’t feel limited to the traditional options. Sometimes I make our favorite Honey Lime Dressing and other times I’ll just use a bottled dressing to save on time.

What Do You Serve with a Cobb Salad?

You really don’t need to serve anything with it because it’s hearty enough on its own. Sometimes I love to have a loaf of fresh bread as a side, though, and our Italian Herbs and Cheese Bread fits the bill. It’s a great little vessel to soak up some of that extra dressing!

In conclusion, the chicken cobb salad is a healthy and delicious meal that can be enjoyed by all. This favorite salad is perfect for a light lunch or dinner, and can easily be modified to fit any dietary needs. So next time you are looking for a tasty and nutritious meal, give this awesome filling salad recipe a try for salad lover!

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