Cobb salad is a colorful, all-in-one meal you can whip up in no time. Packed with protein and fresh ingredients, it’s as filling as it is easy. Perfect for a busy weeknight dinner or a lunch that will wow your guests!
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
What is Cobb Salad? It’s a hearty salad loaded with toppings. This dish, originally created by Robert Cobb of the famous Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant, is found on menus everywhere, and it’s easy to make at home.
- Flavor: Creamy, savory, and smoky flavors in every bite.
- Time-Saving Tip: Rotisserie or leftover chicken works perfectly, and you can speed things up even more by using pre-washed romaine, pre-cooked bacon, and store-bought hard-boiled eggs.
- Prep Note: Cook bacon and chicken and boil eggs ahead to make this a 10-minute toss-and-serve meal.
- Serving Suggestions: I love arranging a Cobb salad on a platter with all the ingredients in neat rows. It makes it easy for guests to customize their plates.
What’s in a Cobb Salad
An easy trick to remember Cobb salad ingredients is to use the acronym E.A.T. C.O.B.B. – Eggs, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, and Blue Cheese!
- Lettuce: Use crisp romaine hearts for extra crunch, chop or tear them, then spin very dry so the dressing clings.
- Eggs: Cook eggs ahead and chill for clean slices, and store peeled eggs for up to a week. They can be made in the Air Fryer, the Instant Pot, or on the stove.
- Avocado: Choose avocados that are slightly soft with no mushy spots, and slice them just before serving to prevent browning.
- Chicken: Slice chicken breasts into cutlets for faster cooking and juicier results. Season with Cajun spice, or swap for Italian seasoning,ranch seasoning, or a simple salt, pepper, and paprika blend. To speed the prep up use leftover chicken.
- Cheese: Dry crumbled cheeses like blue cheese (or feta if you’re not a blue cheese fan) are great in this salad. Shredded cheddar is a good backup.
Dressing for Cobb Salad
Cobb salad dressing can be either creamy or a vinaigrette. My favorites are ranch or blue cheese.
How to Build a Cobb Salad
- Prepare and chill the dressing.
- Cook chicken in oil. Remove from pan to rest.
- Place romaine lettuce in the bottom of a large bowl.
- Arrange the remaining ingredients (full recipe below).
- Drizzle with dressing and serve immediately.
Pro Tips and FAQ’s
- For a thick and flavorful dressing: Chill the dressing first.
- For crisp salad: Spin lettuce very dry or blot with towels.
- For juicy meat: Rest the chicken 5 minutes before slicing so juices stay in the meat.
- For the best leftovers: Keep avocado and dressing separate until serving.
- For cleanly cut eggs: Use a sharp knife, wiping it between cuts.
- If serving a crowd: Arrange toppings in rows on a platter for the classic Cobb look.
Make Ahead and Storage
Store components separately when possible: lettuce, toppings, chicken, and dressing.
- Dressing: Refrigerate up to 1 week.
- Cooked chicken: Refrigerate up to 4 days.
- Hard-boiled eggs: Refrigerate up to 1 week.
- Assembled salad: Best same day; next day is fine if undressed and avocado is added fresh.
Salad that Eats Like Dinner
Did you make this Cobb Salad recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 cups romaine lettuce washed and chopped
- 4 hard boiled eggs peeled and quartered
- 1 large avocado pitted and sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- ½ small red onion sliced
- 8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled
- 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese or feta cheese
Chicken
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts 6 to 7 ounces each
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning or your favorite seasoning blend
Dressing
- ⅔ cup mayonnaise
- ¼ cup sour cream
- ½ tablespoon dried parsley or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh
- ½ teaspoon dried dill or 1 ½ teaspoons fresh
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- milk as needed
- salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- For the dressing, whisk together mayonnaise, sour cream, dried parsley, dried dill, onion powder, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Gradually add milk to reach the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, then refrigerate.
- To hard boil eggs, place in a saucepan and cover with cold water 1-inch above the eggs. Bring to a rolling boil, cover, then remove from heat. Let stand for 15-17 minutes. Cool in ice water for 5 minutes, then peel and quarter.
- To make the chicken, cut the breasts horizontally to make 4 cutlets. Toss the chicken with oil and seasoning. Preheat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 3 minutes per side, until cooked to 165℉. Rest for 5 minutes and then slice into strips.
- Assembly: Place lettuce in the bottom of a large salad bowl. Top with eggs, avocado, tomatoes, onion, blue cheese, bacon, and sliced chicken.
- Drizzle with dressing and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Salad
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
perfect salad full meal
We love this salad! I have made it multiple times. My roommate doesn’t like avocado or eggs so I add cucumbers to his. Perfect for summer time…or any time.
I love a good Cobb salad. I used to get one at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, CA. as a meal when I would go there. The arrangement of the the ingredients were place in strip formation like it was originally service at the famous Brown Derby Restaurant. It was delicious instead of a creamy vinaigrette I like the sweetness of a ready good balsamic vinaigrette. For me it seems to balance the bold favors of the blue cheese, bacon and chicken. I also like that Penny has a selection for serving sizes on her site. Sometimes I will also use a home made honey lemon Dijon vinaigrette too. I would never suggest using a ranch or blue cheese dressing though….the taste of elements of the salad would be lost.
A vinaigrette is a great option for this salad! So many delicious flavors in one salad!
Please have recipes for 2 people only. We really don’t like to eat the same day for 2 -3 days.
Thank you
Hi Suzanne, when you click “print” you can change the servings size by half! I hope that helps.
I just noticed that Penny has a choice for the various serving listed before printing. You may choose whatever servings you would like there. By clicking on the servings it changes the entire amount of the ingrediencies. Give it a try Suzanne.