Cobb Salad with eggs, avocado, crisp bacon, cherry tomatoes, edamame, corn, and cheese, tossed with a tangy herb blender vinaigrette that steals the show!
The Best Cobb Salad Recipe
Cobb Salad is always my go-to restaurant order, so I created my ultimate version with eggs, creamy avocado, crispy bacon, and plenty of fresh veggies, all tossed in a flavorful homemade dressing.
This recipe includes marinated chicken (it soaks in the dressing—easy!), but you can swap in steak, shrimp, or skip the meat for a vegetarian twist. However you make it, this salad is packed with delicious possibilities!
Recipe Short-Cuts
This salad takes time, so I use a few shortcuts to speed things up:
- Chicken: Skip it or use rotisserie or leftover grilled chicken.
- Eggs: Buy pre-cooked hard-boiled eggs to save peeling time.
- Bacon: Use pre-cooked bacon and warm it in the microwave.
Cobb Salad Variations
This salad is flexible—swap in any seasonal produce while keeping quantities balanced.
- Greens: Top with microgreens for extra freshness.
- Protein: Chicken, bacon, and eggs add plenty of protein, but you can use just one or two. Try salmon, shrimp, or steak for variety.
- Cheese: Feta or bleu cheese crumbles.
- Veggies: Cucumbers, roasted carrots, peas, onions, green beans, or bell peppers.
Quick Tip
Leftover dressing may separate or solidify—normal for olive oil. Let it sit at room temp for 20 mins, shake, and drizzle over the salad.
Storage
Leftovers?
Cobb Salad doesn’t store well once dressed, so only toss what you’ll eat.
For leftovers, keep the dressing and toppings separate, and store in the fridge for up to 3 days—except avocado.
More Delicious Salad Recipes
- Panzanella Salad with a balsamic dressing
- Mango Salad with a cinnamon yogurt dressing
- Quinoa Fruit Salad with a citrus vinaigrette
- Chipotle Chicken Salad with a chipotle dressing
- Thai Quinoa Salad with a peanut dressing
Cobb Salad with Herb Vinaigrette
This Cobb Salad is loaded with goodies—avocado, bacon, eggs, cherry tomatoes, edamame, corn, and goat or feta cheese. The real star? A fresh herb vinaigrette that everyone goes crazy for!
Equipment
- Grill or grill pan
Ingredients
Herb Vinaigrette Dressing (See Note 1)
- 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley
- 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro or fresh basil
- 2-1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Optional Grilled Chicken Addition (See Instruction #1)
- 2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 of the dressing recipe see note 1
Salad
- 8 cups mixed green lettuce I use 50/50 blend spinach and spring mix leaves
- 2 to 3 hard-boiled eggs peeled and diced or sliced, see note 2
- 1/3 cup crumbled center-cut bacon 6–7 slices
- 1/3 cup frozen shelled edamame or sweet peas
- 2/3 cup grape tomatoes halved
- 1 large avocado diced
- 1/2 cup corn fresh corn you’ve grilled, or fire-roasted canned corn, or thawed frozen corn
- 1/2 cup goat cheese or feta cheese, goat is my favorite
- 1 lemon optional
Instructions
- Optional Recipe Shortcuts: Either leave out the chicken or add rotisserie chicken. Rotisserie chicken saves time and energy, plus it’s delicious and tender. You can also use leftover grilled chicken.Use store-bought hard-boiled eggs. While hard-boiled eggs are simple to make, they can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating to peel. A lot of stores sell prepared hard-boiled eggs.Microwave bacon. Another shortcut is to buy precooked bacon. Warm it through according to package directions, and it’s ready to go.
- Dressing: See note 1. Add the red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, parsley, cilantro, salt and pepper (I use about 1/2 teaspoon each; add to taste preference), and sugar to a small blender. Blend until smooth, then add the olive oil. Pulse to emulsify and incorporate, being careful to not over-blend. Taste and adjust the dressing to preference (salt, pepper, sugar). Transfer to a jar and refrigerate until ready to use. Shake before topping the salad.
- Optional Grilled Chicken: Place the chicken breasts (halved horizontally) in a large plastic bag and pour 1/3 of the dressing (just eyeball it) on top. Seal without air and knead the dressing into the chicken. Refrigerate for 30 minutes up to 4 hours (not longer than 4 hours or the acidity from the vinegar starts to “cook” the chicken).
- Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the marinade. Cook on a grill (or in a grill pan) over medium-high heat for 4–5 minutes on each side or until the juices run clear (160°F on a food thermometer). Remove chicken from grill and tent with foil. Let it rest and cool for about 10 minutes, then slice or chop into bite-size pieces (see note 1).
- Peel and dice or slice the hard-boiled eggs (see note 2), cook and crumble or finely dice the bacon, boil the edamame according to package directions and drain, halve the grape tomatoes, and dice the avocado. (Optional: squeeze some fresh lemon to keep avocado from browning.) Prepare the corn (drain from can, grill fresh corn, or thaw frozen corn—see note 3). Place the lettuce in a large bowl or platter.
- Layer ingredients on the lettuce. Add feta or goat cheese. Drizzle dressing, adding to preference, right before eating (do not dress anything you want to keep leftover, as the dressing doesn’t sit well with this salad—see note 4).
Recipe Notes
Note 1: If you want to add grilled chicken, make the full dressing recipe and use 1/3 of the dressing for the grilled chicken. If you don’t want the chicken, you can halve the dressing recipe (or make it all and store in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 week).
Note 2: Hard-boil eggs: Place eggs in a large saucepan/pot. Cover them with cold water by 1 inch. Cover with a lid and bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to medium high and boil for 6–7 more minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to a large bowl with ice cold water to cool for a few minutes. (Or place under cold running water.) Peel the eggs and chop.
Note 3: To grill corn on the cob, I have detailed directions in this Elote post. I generally use 1 ear sweet corn and grill it on an indoor grill pan for this recipe. Let it cool, cut off the cob, and add.
Note 4: This salad doesn’t store well once dressed, so only mix what you’ll eat. Keep toppings and dressing separate.
Nutrition Note: Nutrition information doesn’t include optional grilled chicken and 1/3 cup dressing set aside for it.
Storage: Keeping toppings and dressing separate, this salad lasts up to 3 days—except for avocado, which browns quickly. Store leftover avocado with lemon or olive oil to keep it fresh.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 444kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.3g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 38.2g | Cholesterol: 115.5mg | Sodium: 345.3mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8.4g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Wow, this Cobb salad looks incredibly refreshing and flavorful! The addition of the herb vinaigrette is genius – I can almost smell the aromatics. Can’t wait to try this out this weekend!
I’m so excited for you to give it a try! Let me know what you think!
PLEASE, please, please, figure out how to coy cat Chic-Fil-A’s Charred Tomato Crispy Red Bell Peppers! Alone, they don’t taste that great but for some reason when you put it in the salad, it tastes just like BACON! (Have you noticed that?) I know there are dried Crispy Bell Pepper packs in the grocery store next to the salad aisle, but none of them taste like Chicks. It may be because of the smoked flavoring and the charred tomato. Thanks! Luv your articles.
Thanks Anne!! I can add that to the list of things to work through! 🙂
Wasn’t sure why there was no egg or avocado, plus there was fried instead of grilled chicken on my Cobb Salad from the drive-thru. A little disappointed. ????
From Chick-fil-A?
This is absolutely the best salad my husband and I have ever had. It’s a weekly request in my household!
I’m so glad to hear this! It’s a favorite at my house too! I hope you continue to enjoy! 🙂
I’m always looking for fresh and healthy salads to put in my lunch box. Looks like this fits the bill. Thanks!
I’m a sucker for a good salad; It’s all we’ve been eating for dinner lately. I’m excited to try this one! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I can never say no to a delicious salad! I love all the flavors you used