Cobb Salad

Versatile, hearty, and easy to make (plus even easier to meal prep), the Cobb salad just might be the perfect dinner salad. This classic recipe creates the perfect balance of textures and flavors, all tied together by the star of the show: my homemade dressing. While you can use store-bought, this homemade vinaigrette is not only easy to make, but truly is the secret that takes this salad from basic to incredible. When you're ready to perfect this classic, filling salad, keep reading on for all of my top tips to make it the best it can be:

What People Are Saying:
"I tried a Cobb salad many years ago. Wanted to try and make one of these salads myself. This was the most perfect recipe! I used everything this recipe calls for and my husband and I almost finished it all. I will definitely make this salad again!" - Regina Mastillo

"First time eating a Cobb salad. Amazing! The dressing is out of this world!! This is my work lunch for the week and I can't wait for lunch time this week! Love it!" - topolino

How To Make A Cobb Salad

INGREDIENTS

• The Dressing: For the dressing, I included a quick recipe for a simple vinaigrette made from red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, olive oil, salt, and pepper. That being said, something creamy like a homemade ranch or Caesar would also be great options, or you can sweeten things up with honey mustard.
• Lettuce: I prefer romaine, but you can do iceberg as well. You don’t want anything fancy here! We’re looking for sturdy and leafy pieces that will hold their own against the rest of the salad.
• Hard-Boiled Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs are a big part of a Cobb salad. I don’t really love overly set hard-boiled eggs, but I also don’t want a runny soft-boiled egg that’s going to make a soggy salad. So, I go for a jammy egg in this salad.
• Chicken: For the chicken, you can poach it, grill it, bake it, or cook it in an Instant Pot. For the most classic Cobb salad, I do recommend poaching it, which will create tender, juicy, and subtle chicken. If you’re looking to get creative, you can replace it with grilled steak or sautéed shrimp.
• Bacon: This meaty, fatty, and crispy bite is my favorite part of a Cobb salad. I highly recommend using thick, high-quality bacon here—it does make a difference.
• Avocado: Sliced avocado adds the creaminess quality that completes the texture equation in this salad, but if you’re not an avocado fan, you can leave it out.
• Blue Cheese: It’s not a Cobb salad without tangy and sharp blue cheese. You can mix it up if you prefer, but a true Cobb salad needs these crumbles.
• Cherry Tomatoes: With all of our savory, strong components, halved cherry tomatoes add that necessary juicy sweetness to complete the bite.
• Chives: Finely chopped chives are the finishing touch here for an added freshness and sharpness, but you can leave them off if you prefer.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

The first step in creating a Cobb salad is to prepare your cooked components. For the bacon, I recommend using a cast iron. Bacon and cast iron have a symbiotic relationship: Cast iron provides even, intense heat which renders the fat and cooks the bacon. Start in a cold pan to start rendering the fat, and cook until your desired texture—avoiding burning it, but you want a crispy bite here.

Next, it's on to the jammy eggs. Start with already boiling water—this helps to control the temperature. Then, lower your eggs in, cook for 6 and a half minutes on the dot, them get them directly in an ice bath to get them set and achieve that jammy texture.

Now it's time to move on to the chicken. Poaching creates tender, juicy, and subtle chicken, so that's what I'm going for here. To poach: Start with cold water or stock to promote even cooking, and salt your liquid well (think pasta water—i’m talking about a couple tablespoons of salt). You can use water or chicken stock, but I prefer to use stock for more flavor and richness. The minute you see movement, flip your breasts, cover, and take off the heat for the remainder of the cooking. Test with a meat thermometer for 150° degrees, then let it rest for 3-5 minutes. The temp might seem low, but resting will help redistribute the juices, and will make it super tender.

Making your dressing in a jar not only allows your dressing to emulsify easily, but makes it fully transportable if you want to take this on the go. Make sure your jar is nice and tight, and give it a shake (like you work at a fancy cocktail bar).

Finally, it's time to assemble! Add your lettuce, then layer on all your ingredients. You can make this as pretty as you like, or simply pile on if you're ready to dig in. Drizzle with the dressing, and get ready for the perfect bite.

The full list of ingredients and instructions can be found in the recipe below.

Cobb Salad Variations

Once you've mastered the classic version, you can get creative with all of our Cobb salad variations! I love to switch up the ingredients based on the season; our spring Cobb salad uses fresh seasonal favorites, our strawberry chicken Cobb salad adds a sweet summer twist, and our Thanksgiving Cobb salad is a top-tier way to use up holiday leftovers. Looking to really take this salad outside the box? Our Caribbean Cobb salad is a salmon-based summer favorite, and our Cobb egg salad will transform your lunch game.

Storage

If you want to make this ahead of time, which I think is a great idea, I recommend storing the lettuce, eggs, chicken, bacon and chives in one container. Then you can peel the avocado and chop it along with the tomatoes before adding to the salad and tossing with dressing. Everything will keep in the fridge like that for up to 3 days.