How To Make A Cobb Salad

What To Serve With Cobb Pasta Salad

This salad makes a great stand alone mealits full of chicken, eggs and noodles, making it hearty and filling enough for dinner. I mean, just look at all those delicious ingredients! But if you wish to serve it alongside other dishes, this salad is a great side dish for barbecued steak, roasted chicken, burgers and ribs.

Cobb Salad Recipe Ingredients

This salad is full of protein and packs a lot of flavor!

• Chicken: Use sliced or chopped cooked chicken breast. Leftover chicken works well here, or see below for options for how to cook the chicken.
• Hard Boiled Eggs: Cook them on the stove or make Instant Pot Hard Boiled Eggs.
• Bacon: You cant beat the savory, salty flavor that bacon brings to a salad. Cook the bacon in the oven or make Air Fryer Bacon.
• Romaine Lettuce: I love using romaine in cobb salad because its crisp texture stands up well to all of the other salad components.
• Avocado: A ripe, creamy avocado is one of my favorite salad ingredients.
• Tomatoes: Use cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes or chop up whole ripe tomatoes.
• Red Onion: Slice it thinly so that it doesnt overpower the other flavors.
• Blue Cheese: A classic cobb salad ingredient, the blue cheese packs a punch of flavor. Feel free to substitute feta cheese if you prefer.
• Fresh Parsley or Chives: Adding fresh herbs is optional, but I love the fresh pop of flavor that they bring to the salad.

A Pretty Dinner Salad

When you have all of your ingredients ready to go, it is time to put the salad together. You can make one big salad in a large bowl or platter or make individual salads.

Put the greens in a bowl or on a platter to form the base of the salad. You want to place the chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese in lines to create a decorative salad. Garnish with the chives and drizzle the dressing over the top.

Toppings If you want to add homemade croutons, go for it! Not traditionally a Cobb salad topping, but they are SO good!

Main or Side Dish? You can serve this salad as a main dish, it is certainly filling. You can also serve it as a side dish in smaller portions. You really cant go wrong!

This colorful salad is a beauty! The presentation really makes the salad and it doesnt take long. You cant go wrong with a classic Cobb Salad! Get the ingredients ready and make a salad for lunch or dinner! You will enjoy every bite.

Recommended Reading: What Salad Vegetables Are Keto Friendly

How To Keep The Dressing From Separating

A salad dressing creates an emulsion by mixing two ingredients that dont typically combine and keeping them suspended. Most dressings are semi-permanent emulsions, meaning eventually, they separate over time. Mustard helps to keep a longer suspension and acts as an emulsifying agent. You can also use a small amount of mayonnaise if storing the dressing for longer than a few hours.

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Can You Make Homemade Cobb Salad Ahead

Yes, you can definitely make this cobb salad recipe ahead of time, but it should be assembled and dressed right before serving, so the lettuce doesnt get soggy and avocado doesnt brown.

All of the ingredients can be cooked and/or prepped ahead of time so when it comes time to eat, you can throw this salad together in minutes. In particular, I recommend making the following ahead:

• Cook chicken You can slice baked chicken breasts, make shredded chicken, or even cut the meat from chicken drumsticks.
• Make cobb salad dressing See dressing ideas above!

Also Check: How To Make Tuna Salad Without Mayo

Can I Make Cobb Salad Ahead

You can make the salad and the dressing 2-3 hours ahead of your dinner. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Keep the salad and dressing separate until ready to serve. Here are some make-ahead tips:

• Dressing make this in a mason jar so you can shake it well just before serving in case it separates. Serve it right out of the mason jar.
• Lettuce can be rinsed and dried ahead , then refrigerate until ready to use.
• Avocado should be sliced shortly before serving since avocado tends to discolor when it comes in contact with air.
• Chicken Breast can be pre-cooked and chilled .
• Bacon can be browned ahead. Drain on paper towels and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Eggs can be made several days in advance. Cook hard-boiled eggs and refrigerate until ready to use.

This Chicken Cobb Salad is easy to assemble but sure looks stunning when served. Everything about this salad is good! This homemade version blows the Chick Fil a Cobb Salad and Cheesecake Factorys salad out of the water.

Free Printable: Low Carb & Keto Food List

• Healthy Keto Cobb Salad Recipe

I originally created this easy, healthy cobb salad recipe for my Easy Keto Cookbook, but it was too good not to share with you on the blog, too. It has always been one of my favorite meals, both at home and at restaurants. The cobb is flavor packed, nutrient dense, satisfying, and so delicious. Besides, with the right cobb salad dressing , almost variation happens to be a keto cobb salad as well. This one is no exception. And while this happens to be low carb, its just plain delicious. Its perfect for everyone.

There are a few other recipes from my cookbook on the blog , but this one is different in a way, because it shows that easy keto recipes dont have to use any specialty ingredients. Cobb salad ingredients are super basic and found at any grocery store, and if you have friends or family who arent keto, theyll love this just as much as you do.

If this healthy cobb salad is appealing, here are some other recipes in the Easy Keto Cookbook that are crowd-pleasers for all kinds of eaters:

• Double-Berry Smoothie
• Caprese Chicken Thighs
• Bacon-Cheddar Stuffed Mushrooms

Thats just a little preview for you the whole book has 100 easy keto recipes total, with 80 of them brand new and exclusive to the book. Every recipe has a photo, macros, and helpful tips included, too.

Recommended Reading: Marzetti Asian Sesame Salad Dressing

Whats In A Cobb Salad

A good Cobb salad contains lots and lots of toppings, all chopped up into bite-sized pieces. The lettuce base gets a burst of flavor and texture by using several types varietiesromaine, butter, Boston, frisee, endive or watercressbut you can use any type of lettuce you happen to have on hand. Just make sure to chop the lettuce into pieces that are small enough to fit on your fork.

As far as the toppings go, the classic preparation includes chicken, bacon, hard-boiled eggs, tomatoes, avocado and blue cheese. Its important to cook the chicken, bacon and eggs far enough in advance to let them cool, as hot toppings will cause the lettuce to wilt. You can use any method you like to cook the chicken. We like pan-roasted or grilled chicken breasts to ensure the chicken stays juicy as it cooks.

The Best Order For Preparing A Cobb Salad

Cobb salad is a basic chopped salad defined by its combination of cooked chicken breast, blue cheese, hard-cooked eggs, and crisp bacon. If you have leftovers from meal prep say, cooked chicken or eggs you should absolutely use them. If you dont, prepping all the ingredients from scratch wont take long if you prepare them in the following order:

Also Check: Chicken Salad Chick Job Application

Prepping Skinny Cobb Salad

Were still in the winter months, so soups, stews, and heartier meals are what Im mainly craving. But I like to balance those heavier options with something a little lighter, especially for lunches.

This recipe works as a fantastic lunch prep for the week! Layer the ingredients in meal prep containers or oversized mason jars on the following order, bottom to top:

• Dressing
• Cheese
• Lettuce

The idea is to keep the wet ingredients lower in your container so that they dont wilt the lettuce.

When youre ready to serve, just shake everything up in your container to disperse the dressing. So easy!

What Makes A Cobb Salad

Look at all those toppings!

Below is an overview of the specific toppings I use and any substitutions:

Hard boiled Eggs: You can easily make hard boiled eggs yourself using fresh eggs, or you can purchase pre-made hard boiled eggs from your local grocery store.

Tomatoes: You can use halved Cherry, Roma, or Grape tomatoes. You can also use diced Heirloom, Beefsteak, or Campari tomatoes.

Avocados: Hass avocados are the most commonly used variety, although there are many with slight differences. When perfectly ripened, they should be dark green in color. The best way to determine if it is ripe, however, is going by feel. It should be somewhat soft with gentle pressure applied to the skin. If its mushy, or you can feel the skin separating from the flesh, its over ripened and shouldnt be used for salads but for your favorite guacamole recipe.

Blue Cheese Crumbles: I use Roquefort Blue Cheese, but if blue cheese is not your thing, feel free to swap it out! The recipe can easily be tweaked by substituting goat cheese, feta or gorgonzola.

Danish and Gorgonzola will have the mildest flavor. Stilton blue cheese will be slightly stronger. If you prefer a tangy, pungent blue cheese flavor, Maytag and Roquefort are your best bet.

Chicken: This salad makes perfect use of a store bought rotisserie chicken. Make sure the chicken is completely cooled and pull the meat from the bone using two forks to shred into bite-sized pieces.

Recommended Reading: Acacia Wood Salad Bowl Set

More Keto Salad Recipes

If you like this healthy cobb salad, you might like some of these other low carb keto salad recipes:

• Chef Salad This salad comes together in just 15 minutes and is a full meal thats naturally keto.
• Cajun Shrimp Caesar Salad Spicy shrimp, creamy Caesar dressing its a match made in heaven!
• Thai Beef Salad Packed with Asian flavors, this salad is perfect for summer nights.
• Classic Wedge Salad If youre a fan of classics, then the wedge salad should be on the top of your list!

How To Make A Chicken Cobb Salad

It’s so easy! Scroll down to the recipe card for the detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps:

Start by whisking the dressing ingredients until they emulsify into a smooth, velvety salad dressing.

Next, arrange the salad greens on a large serving platter.

Now arrange the remaining ingredients on top of the greens. You can pretty much arrange them in any order you like – you can see how I do it in the photos and in the video below.

The last step is to drizzle the dressing on top of the salad and serve.

Also Check: Where Can I Get A Taco Salad

What Dressing To Use

You can use any dressing you like. I like to dress chicken Cobb salad with a simple vinaigrette made of olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic.

I also add a bit of Dijon and mayonnaise, which mostly serve as emulsifiers. Although they also add flavor and creaminess to the dressing.

This is actually the salad dressing that I use for almost all my salads. It’s simple and delicious.

We Give This Homemade Cobb Salad An Eleven Out Of Ten Stars

Crispy, panko-crusted chicken, crumbled bacon, creamy avocado, perfect six-minute eggs and sharp blue cheese lay together atop a bed of crunchy romaine and thenbecause youre JUST THAT GOODyou pour homemade buttermilk dressing over the whole beautiful mess. And thats the moment, the day, the hour that youll never forgetthe one when your family began to beg to have salad for dinner.

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What Is Cobb Salad

Cobb Salad is a hearty, protein-packed salad that is bursting with flavor. A good homemade cobb salad typically boasts hard-boiled eggs, chicken, bacon and lots of yummy veggies. It is typically served as a main course but can also be served as a side salad at potlucks or to complement a lighter meal. Because of the good amount of protein, this salad is very filling and can keep you full for hours!

Tools To Make Keto Cobb Salad

Tap the links below to see the items used to make this recipe.

• Salad Chopper The best best cobb salad recipes are made with a base of chopped greens, this helpful tool gets the job done quickly, just like when you get salads from restaurants.
• Egg Slicer Easily cut hard boiled eggs dices, slices, or cuts into wedges.
• Avocado Saver If you dont use up all your avocado at once, this will keep the rest from browning. The only method that really works!

Also Check: What Is A Chopped Salad

Isn’t This A Very Complex Recipe

Not necessarily. It’s true that it contains quite a few ingredients. And you need to cook chicken breast, bacon and hard-boiled eggs to make it.

But I keep things simple by preparing these ingredients the day before. They need to be cold anyway.

So I make a baked chicken breast , oven bacon, and hard-boiled eggs the day before and refrigerate. The next day, assembling the salad is a breeze!

How To Make Your Chicken And Dressing

If you really want to cut back on your prep time, you can rely on your favorite store-bought light ranch dressing for this.

But I HAVE to emphasize how making your own Light Ranch Dressing takes this recipe to the next level. It takes just a few minutes to make and is so worth the extra step.

Another quick recipe of mine that will put this salad over the flavor-edge for you is my Blackened Chicken Strips. You can make them ahead and chop them up cold for this salad

Thats the chicken I used pictured here:

Id love to hear from you if you make this recipe! Leaving a starred review and comment below helps my blog grow. Im always grateful when you can take the time to do that!

It also makes my day when you share your pics on Instagram and tag me . Dont forget to use #litecravingsrecipes to make sure I see it. If I dont get a chance to scroll through my tags quickly enough, I wont see your post. I always make a point to look through the hashtags, though, so Ill see it there!

Read Also: What Goes In Tuna Salad

The Ingredients You’ll Need

The classic salad is made with chopped salad greens, tomato, crisp bacon, chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese, and red-wine vinaigrette.

But like all salads, it’s a very flexible recipe that has countless versions. I often use spinach leaves instead of salad greens, and I love using gorgonzola as my blue cheese. Here’s an overview of what I typically use:

For the dressing: Olive oil, vinegar, avocado oil mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, kosher salt and pepper, and garlic powder. If using fine salt, you should reduce the amount you use.

Sliced hard-boiled eggs: Sometimes I slightly undercook them, so they’re not exactly soft-boiled eggs but actually medium-boiled eggs. The yolks are not liquid, but soft. Yum.

Crispy bacon, chopped: Even if you normally like your bacon chewy, for this recipe, it’s best to make sure it’s crispy.

Cooked chicken breast, sliced: You can also use rotisserie chicken and slice or cube it. Just make sure to remove the skin. Cold chicken skin is rubbery. If you’re curious about how I season the chicken prior to baking it, I often use salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and smoked paprika.

Vegetables: Salad greens and sliced cherry tomatoes

Sliced avocado: I’m a big fan of the very creamy Haas avocado. Other varieties are often too watery.

Crumbled cheese: Blue cheese is classic, but I’ve used goat cheese or even feta and both were excellent.

How To Make Balsamic Vinaigrette

A simple homemade balsamic vinaigrette allows the individual flavors to shine. Ive included the recipe below. This vinaigrette recipe is light, tasty and easily concocted with common kitchen staples. Simply place in a presence cruet and go.

Here is an overview of what you will need and what I use to make salad dressings:

Balsamic Vinegar You can use white or regular balsamic vinegar. White Balsamic tends to be less syrupy with a cleaner aftertaste. I honestly used white balsamic just for the photos, so either is good.

Light Oil I use a very light tasting olive oil, but grapeseed and vegetable oil are a little milder in taste.

Dijon Mustard I use stone-ground Dijon mustard since that is what I have in the pantry.

Honey I use honey that I have in the pantry, but agave nectar or stevia would work.

Minced Garlic 1 clove of fresh garlic or 1 teaspoon of store bought minced garlic is perfect.

Making this salad dressing is as easy as whisking together the ingredients in a small dish. It may settle and separate as it sits, so give a good stir before putting on the salad.

Also Check: No Oil Salad Dressing Brands