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Cobb Salad

The best Cobb Salad recipe is fully loaded with all the classic proteins and fixings and smothered with a light and creamy homemade blue cheese dressing. Enjoy this hearty salad as a main, or serve it as a side dish at your next dinner get-together.

Close up of Cobb salad topped with avocados, tomatoes, eggs, and chicken and drizzled with blue cheese dressing.

I make a lot of salads. From my Tomato Burrata Salad to Jennifer Aniston’s Bulgur Salad, there are plenty of easy salad recipes to go around. A classic Cobb salad happens to be one of my favorite salads that also doubles as dinner! This salad is chock-full of high-protein chicken, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, blue cheese, and creamy avocado. My recipe is an easy, lightened-up version that’s still insanely flavorful and filling. The best part is the dressing! It’s not a buttermilk dressing, as the classic should be, but it is made with a tangy combination of plain yogurt, Dijon, and blue cheese. When made on the fly, a Cobb salad is the best solution to a bunch of leftovers. Even better, you can roll this salad up into a wrap for an easy meal on the go! 

Why I Love This Cobb Salad Recipe

  • Light and Satisfying: My version of the Cobb salad is an easy, lighter take that doesn’t skimp on flavor or satisfaction. It’s the perfect big salad that leaves you feeling full without the heaviness.
  • Homemade Dressing: Veering away from the traditional buttermilk, I opt for a zesty blend of plain yogurt, Dijon mustard, and blue cheese.
  • Convenient: Cobb salad is my go-to for utilizing leftovers and transforming them into a delicious meal.

Cobb Salad vs Chef’s Salad?

The Cobb salad, created by Robert Cobb at Hollywood’s Brown Derby in the 1930s, stands out with its ingredients neatly arranged in rows over lettuce, combining creamy avocado and eggs with salty bacon for a rich taste. It differs from a chef salad by including tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese, and often features a mix of greens, like arugula and radicchio, adding depth and flavor.

Ingredients You’ll Need

With a few ingredient swaps, this version hits all the notes we love about a classic Cobb salad. Here’s an overview of what you’ll need to make the best salad ever, with the full amounts available in the recipe card further down the page.

  • Plain Yogurt: Non-fat plain yogurt is a great light option, but you can use regular plain yogurt.
  • Oil and Vinegar: The basis for any decent salad dressing is a nice quality extra virgin olive oil and vinegar. I like to use white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, or cider vinegar. 
  • Dijon Mustard: I love the creaminess of Dijon mustard, though regular yellow mustard will also work.
  • Blue Cheese: I keep this dressing light with low-fat, crumbled blue cheese or Roquefort. Feel free to use full-fat if you prefer. If you’re not a fan of funky blue cheese, other good options are crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese.
  • Salt and Black Pepper
  • Mixed Salad Greens: Pick up a bag of mixed greens from the grocery store, or use any combination of your favorite salad leaves. Crisp romaine lettuce, iceberg lettuce, swiss chard, frisée, arugula, and/or radicchio are all good options.
  • Chicken: Use cooked and shredded tender chicken breast. I almost always use leftover chicken that’s been in the fridge or get a store-bought rotisserie chicken.
  • Bacon: Crumble up cooked crispy bacon, and you can also use turkey bacon if you’d prefer.
  • Hard-Boiled Eggs: Make a batch of Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs, then peel and slice them.
  • Tomatoes: I love cherry tomatoes for their sweetness, but regular diced juicy tomatoes will also work.
  • Avocado: Evenly sliced.

How to Make A Cobb Salad

I really enjoy a good classic salad recipe. This salad blends convenience with flavor, making it an ideal choice for quick meals or dinner parties. Let’s get started on creating this dish that’s as nutritious as it is satisfying.

  1. Prepare the Dressing: In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt, oil, vinegar, mustard, blue cheese crumbles, salt, and pepper until thoroughly combined.
  2. Assemble: Next, add your mixed greens to a large platter or a large bowl. Arrange the rest of the salad ingredients over the top, then crumble a sprinkle of blue cheese. You can arrange the toppings in pretty rows or pile them in any way you like.
  3. Finish: Finally, give the whole thing a generous drizzle of delicious dressing. All that’s left to do is dig in!
Overhead view of a homemade Cobb salad next to a small bowl of blue cheese dressing.

Tips for Success

  • Make extra dressing. I love this homemade blue cheese salad dressing so much, I double the batch whenever I make it. It’s easy to shake it up in a mason jar, then store it in the fridge for up to one week. Just give it another shake before you use it.
  • Customize the ingredients. Any worthy salad recipe is easy to customize, and this one’s no exception. Try changing up the ingredients to suit your personal preference(s). Add olives and feta to make Mediterranean Cobb Salad, or include an oven-baked salmon filet as I do in ​​my Salmon Cobb Salad with Spinach and Feta. If you’re looking for another delicious seasonal variation, be sure to try my Summer Cobb Salad!
  • Make a vegetarian Cobb salad. For an easy vegetarian version of this recipe, swap out the bacon and chicken for tofu, roasted chickpeas, beans, grilled halloumi cheese, and/or coconut bacon.

Serving Suggestions

This Cobb salad recipe lives rent-free in my kitchen as a main dish, an easy lunch, or an anytime snack. It’s already a meal all-in-one, but if you’re looking for something equally delicious to serve alongside it, here are some ideas:

How to Store Leftovers

  • Due to certain ingredients, this salad is at its best the day it is made. However, if you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container without any dressing. Close the container and store it in the refrigerator for 2 days.
  • To serve the leftover salad, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Cobb Salad Recipe

Katerina | Diethood
This Cobb Salad is tossed with shredded chicken, tomatoes, avocado, and eggs, and is smothered in a light homemade blue cheese dressing.
5 from 4 votes
Servings : 4 servings
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cooking Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

For the Blue Cheese Dressing
For the Salad

Instructions
 

  • Prepare the dressing by combining yogurt, oil, vinegar, mustard, bleu cheese, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl; whisk together until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
  • Lay out the salad greens on a large plate.
  • Arrange chicken, bacon, egg, tomatoes, avocado, and blue cheese on top of the salad greens.
  • Drizzle the salad with the prepared dressing.
  • Serve.

Notes

  • Lettuce: Use crisp, fresh lettuce and ripe tomatoes and avocados.
  • Add protein: Grilled or roasted chicken, eggs, and bacon are common ingredients in a Cobb salad, but you can also try adding cooked salmon, beans, tofu, or even shrimp!
  • Dressing: I like to make my own lightened-up bleu cheese dressing to use in this Cobb salad, but if you’d like to use something lighter and not creamy, I suggest mixing up some lemon juice with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper.
  • Add-ins and swaps: While the traditional ingredients of a Cobb salad are amazing, you can also try adding other things to give the salad more variety. You can include diced bell peppers, sliced cucumbers, radishes, or diced vegetables.
  • Assemble the salad just before serving: To prevent the salad from becoming wilted or soggy, it is best to assemble the salad just before serving. This will also help to keep the ingredients fresh and vibrant.
To Make Cobb Salad Wraps:
  • Spread about 2 tablespoons of the dressing over the flour tortilla.
  • Place a few salad greens in the middle of the flour tortilla.
  • Add some chicken, a bit of crumbled bacon, a couple of slices of eggs, some tomatoes, and a slice of avocado, then sprinkle with crumbled blue cheese and drizzle with dressing.
  • Roll it up tightly; cut it in half and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 383 kcal | Carbohydrates: 14 g | Protein: 17 g | Fat: 30 g | Saturated Fat: 10 g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3 g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14 g | Trans Fat: 0.03 g | Cholesterol: 171 mg | Sodium: 509 mg | Potassium: 759 mg | Fiber: 4 g | Sugar: 5 g | Vitamin A: 1754 IU | Vitamin C: 37 mg | Calcium: 243 mg | Iron: 2 mg

Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.

Course: Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chicken cobb salad, cobb salad dressing, healthy salad recipes
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