Cobb Salad With the Best Dressing

Let’s make a delicious and refreshing Cobb Salad with a slightly sweet and savory vinaigrette! It’s packed with veggies, protein, and healthy fats for the perfect light dinner or filling lunch.

What Is Cobb Salad?

If you never had Cobb Salad, it’s the chopped salad of your dreams. No more boring basic salads ever again after this recipe. Here is the breakdown:

• Chopped Greens: Traditionally, the greens used are iceberg lettuce, watercress, endive, and romaine lettuce. However you can use any greens you’d like to make it to your taste. I chose to use a blend of mixed greens and romaine lettuce because it’s my husband and I’s favorite but the possibilities are endless.
• Boiled Eggs: More fats and protein!
• Blue Cheese: Now blue cheese is very strong and not always a crowd pleaser but it’s a Cobb salad staple. If you don’t like blue cheese, you can swap it out for feta cheese for a similar taste profile or just add some parmesan which has a different taste but still good. Roquefort cheese is also used traditionally like blue cheese.
• Bacon: I use beef bacon and it adds a nice salty bite with a sweet taste from the caramelization. I like to cook my beef bacon in brown sugar and it’s a game changer.
• Chicken: Grilled chicken breast adds so much protein to this salad and tons of flavor! I have the perfect chicken marinade recipe already up on the blog and it’s so easy to make. You can even meal-prep it ahead of time and use the chicken throughout the week to make your salads.
• Tomatoes: For some brightness and acidity! You can use any tomatoes you like – cherry, Roma, beefsteak tomatoes.
• Avocados: You can never go wrong with adding avocados.
• Homemade Dressing: Homemade is always better! You can use any dressing you’d like – doesn’t have to be a vinaigrette.

Making the Chicken, Bacon, and Eggs

The only components that need to be cooked for this salad are the chicken, bacon, and eggs! The best part is that all three can be prepped ahead of time like at the start of the week and then thrown together the day of to save time.

To make the bacon, I just add beef bacon to a pan over medium-high heat with some brown sugar and cook until each side is golden brown and crispy. PRO-TIP: Make sure to save the fat in a jar and pop in the fridge to add flavor in future dishes! Then chop the bacon into small pieces and it’s ready to add into the salad.

You can prep the chicken however you like or use my perfect go-to chicken marinade. No more boring plain grilled chicken with salt and pepper in your salads! Add lots of flavor using spices without making the salad more heavy.

I typically like to add breast to my salad but you can use thighs or even swap it for a plant-based protein option like tofu, chickpeas, or beans. It comes out so juicy as long as you don’t overcook it. You can also cook a lot of chicken using the recipe above and store it in the fridge to easily throw together meals throughout the week. Use it to make salads, wraps, or even rice bowls!

To make the boiled eggs, just add the desired amount of eggs to the bottom of a deep pan or pot. Add cold or room-temperature water to fill the pot and turn the heat on high to bring water to a boil. Once it is boiling, cover the pot with your lid and take off the heat. Allow it to sit for 8 to 10 minutes depending how firm you like the yolk. either 8 to 10 minutes will give you a firm yolk but 10 minutes is even more firm. Once the time is up, transfer the eggs gently to a bowl with ice water and allow to cool down. Lastly, remove the shell completely. I like to do this by first tapping it on a hard surface to create some cracks and then rolling it against the surface gently to crack it all around. The shell should come off very easy in large sections. Just rinse under water to make sure there are no small shell pieces left behind. Now chop the boiled eggs and it’s ready to add to the salad.

To Make the Dressing:

The go-to dressing for a Cobb-Salad is a vinaigrette so of course, that’s what we made in this recipe! It’s honestly my new favorite dressing to make and eat. It’s tangy but sweet while also packed with tons of flavor from the dried herbs, fresh garlic, and parmesan. You just throw all the ingredients down below in a jar and shake shake shake. That’s it. It will last about 2 weeks in the fridge in an air-tight container if it even lasts that long.

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon fresh garlic, finely minced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• pinch of red pepper flakes, to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Feel free to add or take away anything to your taste. You can also use any vinegar you like or already have on hand. If you don’t like vinaigrettes, you can opt for a more creamy dressing like Caesar, Ranch, or my favorite, Avocado Lime Cilantro. Let me know if you want to see a recipe for that last one!

Once your salad is ready to serve, toss it in the salad. Make sure to add the dressing right before you eat the salad so it doesn’t get too soggy.

Here are some ideas of other ingredients you can add into your salad that is typically not found in a Cobb:

• Croutons or pita chips for some crunch
• Dried cranberries for some sweetness
• Quinoa for fiber
• Red or green onion
• Fresh herbs or fresh fruit!

You may also like:

• The Perfect Chicken Marinade
• Caesar Salad
• Chicken Skewers in the Oven
• Chipotle Chicken and Fajitas

If you have any questions about this recipe, let me know in the comments! If you make this recipe, send me a picture on Instagram! I love seeing your remakes SO much.