This is the ultimate American garden salad. Made with fresh, crunchy vegetables on top of salad greens. Tossed with crispy bacon, grilled chicken breast, hard boiled eggs, avocado and cheese in a red wine vinaigrette. This is an amazing salad. It is a healthy and filling meal just on its own!
I love all variations of a Cobb Salad. It can be made with whatever vegetables you have on hand. I used mostly what I'm currently grow in my garden. Fresh summer corn, crispy cucumbers, bell peppers, radishes, lettuce, fresh herbs and the last of the season's cherry tomatoes. I added small creamer potatoes that I roasted together with the chicken breast, bacon and chickpeas.
Alternatively, the chicken can be substituted with chopped ham or turkey. You can take any cheese of your liking. Cheddar, Monterrey Jack, or blue cheese are all perfect for this salad.
DRESSING
Traditionally, a Cobb Salad is made with a red wine vinaigrette. This is what I used for this recipe today. Because this is a hearty salad, I wanted to keep things light and fresh with a simple vinaigrette. Try my easy Lemon Vinaigrette, Honey Dijon, or Brown Derby Vinaigrette.
However, ranch and other cream-based dressing are also amazing with this salad.
The best part is, this dinner salad comes together in less than an hour. It's a colorful, healthy and a very flavorful light dish, that is perfect for a busy weeknight dinner.
MY TIPS:
Always marinade your chicken! For best flavor leave chicken marinaded in the refrigerator over night, or at least for 3 hours.
While the chicken and bacon roast in the oven, boil some eggs, chop all your veggies, and toss together your salad. If using chickpeas, you can roast them in the same pan. As for the eggs, I prefer a more "jammy egg". For me this would be about 7-8 minutes boiling. A more hard boiled egg would cook about 9-10 minutes.
What I love about this salad is the warm and cold combination. Adding warm chicken and potatoes makes it the perfect full meal that is great for any time of the year. A salad that is warm, light and fresh, at the same time.
Also, this salad is a great option to make ahead for meal prep. Just chop all the veggies, the chicken, and make the salad dressing ahead. All ingredients will last up to 3 days in the refrigerator. On the day of serving, just assemble the salad greens, add your toppings and dressing. That way nothing gets soggy!
Recipe
Cobb Salad
Ingredients
- 2 heads of romaine, or butter lettuce (or a combination)
- 8 slices of bacon
- 1 ripe avocado
- 2 whole skinless boneless chicken breast, cocked
- 2 tomatoes (or 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved)
- 2 tablespoon spring onions, or chives
- 3 hard boiled eggs
- ½ cup cheese (Cheddar, Monterrey Jack, or Blue Cheese)
- 1 cup corn, or 1 ear fresh corn (optional)
- ½ red pepper (optional)
- 3 radishes (optional)
- 10-12 small fingerling potatoes (optional)
- 1 cup chickpeas (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
Brown Derby Dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- ¼ cup water
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic
Instructions
- 1. Season your chicken with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, paprica and the juice of one lemon. Marinate chicken at least for 3 hours in the refrigerator. 2. Grill or bake marinated chicken breast in the oven until cooked through. Chop and cook the bacon in the oven a skillet on medium heat until crispy on both sides. Remove from skillet and lay out on a paper towel to absorb the excess fat.3. Hard boil your eggs.4. While your eggs, bacon and chicken are cooking, wash and chop vegetables, and prepare the dressing. 5. Compose the Salad. Wash & dry letuce. Chop into bite sized pieces. Arrange the lettuce on a big platter. Add chopped vegetables. Slice the chicken, avocado, eggs, and bacon decoratively over the greens, along with your cheese and garnish the salad with the chopped green onions6.Prepare your Dressing.Serve seperately or toss in with the salad. Enjoy!
Brown derby dressing
- In a small bowl whisk together the oil,vinegar, water, lemon juice and worcestershire sauce. Add sugar, pepper, mustard and minced garlic. Mix until combined.
Nutrition
If you make this recipe, I would love for you to comment and/or give this recipe a rating! You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook .
COMMENTS